Faculty of Science

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Unit Outline

Chemistry - Properties and Energetics

CHEM1001
SEM-1, 2014
Campus: Crawley
Unit Coordinator: Professor George Koutsantonis
Dr Dino Spagnoli
All material reproduced herein has been copied in accordance with and pursuant to a statutory licence administered by
Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), granted to the University of Western Australia pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968
(Cth).
Copying of this material by students, except for fair dealing purposes under the Copyright Act, is prohibited. For the purposes
of this fair dealing exception, students should be aware that the rule allowing copying, for fair dealing purposes, of 10% of the
work, or one chapter/article, applies to the original work from which the excerpt in this course material was taken, and not to
the course material itself
The University of Western Australia 2001

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Unit details
Unit title
Unit code
Availability
Location

Chemistry - Properties and Energetics

CHEM1001
SEM-1, 2014 (24/02/2014 - 21/06/2014)
Crawley

Credit points

Mode

Face to face, Multimode

Contact details
Faculty
School
School website
Unit coordinator
Email
Telephone
Unit co-coordinator
Email
Telephone
Consultation hours
Lecturers

Faculty of Science
Chemistry and Biochemistry
http://www.biomedchem.uwa.edu.au/
Professor George Koutsantonis
george.koutsantonis@uwa.edu.au
6488 3177
Dr Dino Spagnoli
dino.spagnoli@uwa.edu.au
0864 8886
By appointment

Name

Email

Telephone Number

Dino Spagnoli
Dylan Jayatilaka
Swaminatha Iyer
Paul Low

dino.spagnoli@uwa.edu.au
dylan.jayatilaka@uwa.edu.au
swaminatha.iyer@uwa.edu.au
paul.low@uwa.edu.au

6488 8681
6488 3138
6488 4470
6488 3045

Tutors

Dr Dino Spagnoli is the Coordinator of First Year Studies in Chemistry and Biochemistry. He
coordinates all online quizzes and laboratory activities for CHEM1001 and all first year chemistry and
biochemistry units. Should you have any issues with regards online quizzes or laboratory activities
please contact him as soon as possible.

Online handbook
Unit website

http://units.handbooks.uwa.edu.au/units/CHEM/CHEM1001
http://www.lms.uwa.edu.au/

Unit rules
Prerequisites
Incompatibility

WACE Chemistry 3A/3B or TEE Chemistry or equivalent or CHEM1105 Introductory Chemistry or CHEM1003
Introductory Chemistry
CHEM1101 Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, CHEM1104 Biological Inorganic and Physical Chemistry

Unit description
This unit focuses on the chemical properties and description of matter at the macroscopic level. It comprises one half of the Level 1
units taken for a Chemistry major, but also acts as a service unit for students in a variety of other majors. The unit introduces essential
knowledge and principles in the areas of thermodynamics, gases, intermolecular interactions and the nature of liquids, solids and
solutions, chemical kinetics, aspects of chemical equilibrium including acids, bases and solubility, electrochemistry and the chemistry
of non-metals. It provides an essential foundation for more advanced studies in these topics.

Introduction
Welcome to CHEM1001!
This unit outline contains important information, and we highly recommend that you read it thoroughly at the start of the semester and remember that it
exists and should be your first port of call throughout semester for providing answers on how the unit will be taught, assessed (including weightings), and the expected outcomes. The
information provided here includes educational outcomes, assessment items and timings, and a schedule of lectures, laboratory experiments, and quizzes. You will also find the contact
details of the unit coordinator, and other academics involved in teaching the unit

Unit description and content

The CHEM1001 unit is primarily for science students who intend to major in Chemistry or proceed with Level 2 chemistry major units. This unit focuses on
the chemical properties and description of matter at the macroscopic level, and comprises one half of the level 1 units taken for a Chemistry major (in combination with CHEM1002).

The unit introduces essential knowledge and principles in the areas of thermodynamics, gases, intermolecular interactions and the nature of liquids, solids and
solutions, chemical kinetics, aspects of chemical equilibrium including acids, bases and solubility, electrochemistry, and the chemistry of non-metals. It provides an essential foundation
for more advanced studies in these topics, as well as underpinning many aspects of biochemistry.

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Learning outcomes
Students are able to (1) understand principles and concepts related to (a) thermochemistry and thermodynamics; (b) the nature of
gases, liquids and solids, and the important intermolecular forces; (c) the description of the rates of chemical reactions; (d) chemical
equilbrium; (e) properties of solutions and solution phenomena including acid base chemistry and solubility; (f) oxidation and reduction
reactions; and (g) the chemistry of the non-metals; (2) acquire basic practical skills in (a) basic experimental techniques in physical
chemistry; (b) manipulation and use of basic chemicals and standard laboratory apparatus; and (c) recording and analysis of
experimental measurements and procedures; and (3) gain skills in scientific writing, problem solving, critical analysis and teamwork, as
well as basic research skills, through a combination of practical class experimentation and self-paced learning in online quizzes.

Unit structure
Lectures: Three 1-hour lectures per week (see timetable web pages)
Laboratory sessions: A total of 3 hours per week for six weeks of semester.

Unit schedule
Week Date

Lecture Topic

Lecturer Quiz

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Introduction (1) Chemistry in/of water (2)

Chemistry in/of water (1) States of Matter (2)
States of Matter (1) Solutions (2)
Main Group Chemistry (3)
Chemical Equilibrium (3)
Electrochemistry (3)
Thermochemistry (2)
Thermochemistry (1) Revision (1)
Mid Semester Break
Chemical Kinetics (3)
Acid-Base Equilibria (3)
Acid-Base Equilibria (3)
Other Aqueous Equilibria (3)
Thermodynamics & exam information (3)

DS & GK
GK
GK
PJL
PJL
PJL
DJ
DJ

no quiz
lab safety quiz
Chemistry in/of Water
States of Matter
Chemical Equilibrium
Electrochemistry
No Quiz
thermochemistry

DJ
SI
SI
DJ
DJ

Chemical Kinetics
no quiz
Chemical kinetics
Acid-Base Equilibria
Acids, bases & buffers
Other aqueous equilibria
Thermodynamics

9
10
11
12
13

24 Feb
3 Mar
10 Mar
17 Mar
24 Mar
31 Mar
7 Apr
14 Apr
21 Apr
28 Apr
5 May
12 May
19 May
26 May

Laboratory

solubility of Ca(OH)2
Chemical Equilibrium
Electrochemistry
Thermochemistry

Teaching and learning responsibilities

Teaching and learning strategies
Although there are formally 3 lectures per week and 6 x 3 hr lab sessions throughout the semester, there are many more flexible
learning options available. All lectures will be recorded and available on the unit LMS site, as will PDF copies of each lecture. All quizzes
are accessed via the same site, and these are designed to tie in with the lecture content, and engage students with that material as
much as possible. In addition, students are encouraged to be actively involved in the discussions that take place on the bulletin board
on LMS.

Assessment
Assessment overview
Typically this unit is assessed in the following way(s): (1) practical component six laboratory sessions (25 per cent); and (2)
theoretical component multiple-choice online quizzes throughout the semester (25 per cent) and a two-hour final examination (50 per
cent). Further information is available in the unit outline.

Assessment mechanism
Component

Weight Due Date

Online quizzes
25%
Write-up of experiments in laboratory notebook 25%
Final 2 hr examination
50%

Relates To Outcomes

Ten, at intervals throughout semester 1

Six, throughout semester
2
End of semester
1, 2

Assessment items
Item Title

Description

Online quizzes

These are available via LMS. Two 30 minute attempts are allowed for each quiz, and the highest
score counts towards the final grade.
Laboratory reports Write up of six laboratory reports in a required format (completed in the laboratory notebook
provided).
Final exam

A final exam covering all aspects of the material covered in the unit.

Textbooks and resources

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Recommended texts
Chemistry. Human Activity, Chemical Reactivity.
Mahaffy, P.G., Bucat, B., Tasker, R., Kotz, J.C., Treichel, P.M., Weaver, G.C. and McMurry, J.
1st International Edition; Nelson Education (2011).

Detailed breakdown of coverage of material in each chapter of the text (Mahaffy, 2011):
Revision:
Ch. 1. Chemistry: A Human Activity
Ch. 2. Building Blocks of Materials
Ch. 3. Models of Structure to Explain Properties
Ch. 4 Carbon Compounds
Ch. 5 Chemical Reaction, Chemical Equations
Chemistry of/in water:

Ch. 6. Chemistry of Water, Chemistry in Water

Thermochemistry:

Ch. 7. Chemical Reactions and Energy Flows

States of matter:
Solutions:

Ch. 11. States of Matter

Ch. 12. Solutions and Their Behaviour

Chemical equilibrium:
Acid-base equilibria:
Other aqueous equilibria:
Electrochemistry:
Thermodynamics:
Chemical kinetics:
Main Group Chemistry:

Ch. 13. Dynamic Chemical Equilibrium

Ch. 14. Acid-Base Equilibria in Aqueous Solution
Ch. 15. Solubility, Precipitation and Complexation
Ch. 16. Electron Transfer Reactions and Electrochemistry

Ch. 17. Spontaneous Change: How Far?

Ch. 18. Spontaneous Change: How Fast?
Ch. 26. Main Group Elements and Their Compounds

Other important information

CHEM1001 and CHEM1002 can be taken in any order and are both offered in Semester 1 and Semester 2.

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