Students

Chemistry 121: Structural Chemistry, with Application to Chemistry of the Elements

Course Level: 
First Year
Academic Year: 
2020/2021

Textbook: Chemistry 121: Integrated Resource Package (ChIRP)

Outline

  • Chemical Bonding and Lewis Structures
    • Chemical bonding (covalent, polar covalent, ionic)

    • Lewis structures of polyatomic species

    • Resonance structures

    • Chemical reactivity: acids/bases

  • Shapes of Molecules and Ions

    • Molecular shape and VSEPR

    •  Molecular polarity

  • Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics

    • Wave-like properties of matter

    • Wave and probability concepts

    • Quantum mechanics basics

    • One dimensional particle-in-a-box

  • Electronic Structure of Atoms and Ions

    • Energies of one-electron species

    • Graphical representations and shapes of orbitals (s, p, d)

  • Interactions between Light and Matter

    • The nature of light

    • Photoelectric effect

    • Absorption/emission transitions between quantum states

    • Atomic spectroscopy

  • Multi-electron Species and Periodic Properties

    • Electronic configurations

    • Magnetic properties

    • Periodic properties

  • Introduction to Molecular Orbital Theory and Valence Bond Theory

    • Molecular orbital theory – an introduction with H2

    • Molecular orbitals of second row homonuclear diatomic species

    • Valence bond theory

    •  Hybridization and conjugated systems

  • Chemical Origins of Colour

    • Colour vision and colour theory​

    • Metallic bonding

    • Vibrational and rotational transitions

  • Physical Properties and Chemical Reactivity

    • Physical properties (phase changes, intermolecular forces)

    • Types of solids

    • Chemical reactivity: condensation reactions

  • Introduction to Polymers

    • Line-bond drawings

    • Polymer synthesis and characteristics

  • Chemistry and Society: Chemicals in our World

    • Natural vs. synthetic chemicals

    •  Pharmaceutical drug development

    • Chemistry and sustainability

    • What do chemists do?