The schedule below outlines each day's main topic(s) along with reading assignments and suggested end-of-chapter problems from the textbook, and additional essays that cover topics not included in the textbook. Unit exams are shown in bold. An extra day is built into each unit to allow us time to catch-up if we need to devote additional time to a topic.
Quick links: thermodynamics, equilibria, kinetics, wrapping up, final exam
Unit I: Thermodynamics
In which we develop an understanding of why some reactions are favorable and other reactions are unfavorable, and in which we learn how to predict if a reaction is favorable and how that favorability is affected by temperature and the composition of the reaction mixture.
- January 27: introduction to course
- January 29: review of chemical reactions and an introduction to thermodynamics
- read: 7.2, 9.1
- problems: 7.15, 17, 19, 21
- January 31: measuring the flow of heat in a chemical reaction
- read: 9.2
- problems: 9.7, 9, 11, 19, 25, 27
- February 3: a first look at enthalpy - heats of reaction
- February 5: a second look at enthalpy - atom combinations and the importance of state functions
- February 7: a third look at enthalpy - heats of formation
- read: 9.3
- problems: 9.55, 59, 61, 69, 81
- February 10: where did all the heat go - entropy
- read: 12.1-3
- problems: 12.13, 15, 17, 25
- February 12: what makes a reaction favorable - free energy
- read: 12.4
- problems: 12.31, 33, 35, 37
- February 14: driving an unfavorable reaction
- read: none
- problems: none
- February 17: thermodynamics of redox reactions
- read: 16.1-4
- problems: 16.23, 27
- February 19: catch-up and review for first unit exam
- Friday, February 21: first unit exam
Unit II: Equilibrium Chemistry
In which we learn to predict the composition of a system when it reaches a state of equilibrium and in which we apply this to systems of acid-base reactions, solubility reactions, and/or complexation reactions.
- February 24: thermodynamics and equilbria
- read: 12.4, 13.1-2
- problems: 13.9, 15, 17
- February 26: general approaches to solving equilibrium problems
- February 28: types of equilibrium reactions and predicting what happens when we disturb a reaction at equilibrium
- read: 13.3
- problems: 13.31, 36, 40, 44, 46
- March 2: monoprotic weak acids and weak bases
- March 4: fractional abundance diagrams and polyprotic acids and bases
- March 6: introduction to buffers
- read: 14.6
- problems: 14.78, 80, 82, 86, 88
- March 9: how buffers work
- March 11: case study on characterizing a buffer's properties
- read: none
- problems: none
- March 13: case study on designing a buffer
- March 16: solubility equilbria
- read: 15.1
- problems: 15.3, 11, 13
- March 18: controlling solubility using common ions and pH
- March 20: complexation equilibria (; )
- read: 15.2,3
- problems: 15.64
- March 23:
Spring Break
- March 25:
Spring Break
- March 27:
Spring Break
- March 30: why equilibrium constants aren't constant
- read: none
- problems: none
- April 1: catch-up and review for second unit exam
- Friday, April 3: second unit exam
Unit III: Kinetics of Chemical Reactions
In which we explore how a reaction's progress changes with time and in which we learn what this macroscopic information conveys about the reaction at a microscopic level.
- April 6: introduction to kinetics
- read: 17.1-2
- problems: 17.1, 3, 5
- April 8: rate laws for chemical reactions
- read: 17.3-4
- problems: 17.13, 15, 17, 19, 46
- April 10: studying kinetics in the lab using pseudo-order conditions
- read: 17.3-4
- problems: 17.33, 34
- April 13: studying kinetics in the lab using initial rates (; )
- read: 17.3-4
- problems: 17.21, 23, 25, 31
- April 15: kinetics of reactions with multiple pathways
- read: none
- problems: none
- April 17: reaction mechanisms
- read: 17.6
- problems: 17.68, 72, 74
- April 20: activation energy
- read: 17.5
- problems: 17.60, 62
- April 22: modeling the arrhenius equation
- read: 17.5
- problems: none
- April 24: thermodynamics and kinetics
- read: none
- problems: none
- April 27: catch-up and review for third unit exam
- Wednesday, April 29: third unit exam
Unit IV: Wrapping Up
In which we revisit the topics of Units I, II, and III, reviewing what we covered and extending our understanding of the relationships between thermodynamics, equilibrium chemistry, and kinetics.
- May 1: review of thermodynamics
- May 4: review of equilibrium chemistry
- May 6: review of kinetics
Final Exam
- Wednesday, May 13 from 8:30 - 11:30