Credits: 3

Teaching Objectives and Requirements 

This course is designed for students in Clinical Medicine to strengthen and broaden their knowledge of general chemistry and inorganic chemistry, including principles of general chemistry, nomenclature, stoichiometry, atomic theory, chemical bonding, molecular structure and symmetry, descriptive chemistry of selected main group and transition elements, and an introduction to transition metal coordination compounds.

1. Attendance at the class is mandatory. Students with 30% absence will not be allowed to take the final exam and eventually fail this course.

2. You must read each chapter BEFORE AND AFTER the lecture.

3. You must ask questions during class.

4. Homework is assigned for every chapter and due after lecture is completed.

Key Points and Main Areas of Difficulty of the Course 

1. Everything is in English, such as terms in chemistry and names of compounds.

2. Stoichiometry: calculations with chemical formula and equations, ideal gas law, and significant figures.

3. Atomic theory, quantum theory, chemical bonding, molecular structure and symmetry.

4. Descriptive chemistry of selected main group and transition elements.

Lab or Practical Work Required to Support the Course

Experiment of Fundamental Chemistry is offered as a separate course.

Detailed Points of Teaching Contents  

Ch1 Chemistry and Measurement

 A Brief Glimpse of Modern Chemistry; Chemistry is a Experimental Science; Law of Conservation of Mass; Matter: Physical State and Chemical Constitution; Measurement and Significant Figures: Different Rules for Addition/Subtraction and Multiplication/Division; SI Units and Derived Units.

Ch2 Atoms, Molecules, and Ions

 Atomic Theory of Matter; The Structure of the Atom; Nuclear Structure; Isotopes; Atomic Masses; Periodic Table of the Elements; Chemical Formulas: Molecular and Ionic Substances; Naming Simple Compounds: IUPAC nomenclature for Ionic and Molecular Substances; Writing and Balancing Chemical Equations.

Ch3 Calculations with Chemical Formulas and Equation

Molecular Mass and Formula Mass; The Mole Concept; Mass Percentages from the Formula; Elemental Analysis: Percentages of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen; Determining Formulas; Molar Interpretation of a Chemical Equation; Amounts of Substances in a Chemical Reaction; Limiting Reactant; Theoretical and Percentage Yields.

Ch4 Chemical Reactions

Ionic Theory of Solutions and Solubility Rules; Molecular and Ionic Equations; Precipitation Reactions, Acid–Base Reactions, and Oxidation–Reduction Reactions; Balancing Simple Oxidation–Reduction Equations; Molar Concentration; Gravimetric Analysis and Volumetric Analysis.

Ch5 The Gaseous State

Gas Pressure and Its Measurement; Empirical Gas Laws; The Ideal Gas Law; Stoichiometry Problems Involving Gas Volumes; Law of Partial Pressures; Kinetic Theory of an Ideal Gas; Molecular Speeds; Diffusion and Effusion; Real Gases.

Ch6 Thermochemistry

Energy and Its Units; Heat of Reaction; Enthalpy and Enthalpy Change; Thermochemical Equations; Applying Stoichiometry to Heats of Reaction; Hess’s Law; Standard Enthalpies of Formation; Fuels.

Ch7 Quantum Theory of the Atom

The Wave Nature of Light; Quantum Effects and Photons; The Bohr Theory of the Hydrogen Atom; Quantum Mechanics; Quantum Numbers and Atomic Orbitals

Ch8 Electron Configurations and Periodicity

Electron Spin and the Pauli Exclusion Principle; Building-Up Principle and the Periodic Table; Writing Electron Configurations Using the Periodic Table; Orbital Diagrams of Atoms; Hund’s Rule; Mendeleev’s Predictions from the Periodic Table; Some Periodic Properties; Periodicity in the Main-Group Elements.

Ch9 Ionic and Covalent Bonding

Ionic Bonds; Electron Configurations of Ions; Ionic Radii; Covalent Bonds; Polar Covalent Bonds; Electronegativity; Writing Lewis Electron-Dot Formulas; Delocalized Bonding: Resonance; Exceptions to the Octet Rule; Formal Charge and Lewis Formulas; Bond Length and Bond Order; and Bond Energy.

Ch10 Molecular Geometry and Chemical Bonding Theory

The Valence-Shell Electron-Pair Repulsion (VSEPR) Model; Dipole Moment and Molecular Geometry; Valence Bond Theory; Description of Multiple Bonding; Principles of Molecular Orbital Theory; and Molecular Orbitals and Delocalized Bonding.

Ch11 States of Matter; Liquids and Solids

Comparison of Gases, Liquids, and Solids; Phase Transitions; Phase Diagrams; Properties of Liquids: Surface Tension and Viscosity; Intermolecular Forces; Explaining Liquid Properties; Classification of Solids by Type of Attraction of Units; Crystalline Solids; Crystal Lattices and Unit Cells; Structures of Some Crystalline Solids; Calculations Involving Unit-Cell Dimensions.

Ch20 Nuclear Chemistry

Radioactivity; Nuclear Bombardment Reactions; Radiations and Matter: Detection and Biological Effects; Rate of Radioactive Decay; Applications of Radioactive Isotopes; Mass–Energy Calculations; Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion.

Textbooks and References

Ebbing and Gammon, General Chemistry, 10th Ed., Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2013.

References:

D. Goldberg, Fundamentals of Chemistry, 5th Ed, McGraw−Hill, New York, 2007.