This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Undergraduate Handbook 2006-2007 (archived)

Module CHEM2041: PROPERTIES OF MOLECULES

Department: Chemistry

CHEM2041: PROPERTIES OF MOLECULES

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	2	20	Available in 2006/2007	None.	Durham

Pre-requisites

Core Chemistry 1A (CHEM1012) and either Core Chemistry 1B (CHEM1022) or approved Mathematics modules.

Corequisites

Core Chemistry 2 (CHEM2012).

Excluded Combinations

None.

Aims

To advance students' understanding of magnetic resonance and thermodynamics and to introduce students to surface chemistry and diffraction.

Content

Surface chemistry: surface tension, adhesion, cohesion and wetting.
Adsorption of gases on solids.
Methods of surface charactorisation.
Diffraction: crystal systems, lattice symmetry, space groups.
Miller indices.
Single crystal methods, powder diffraction and neutron diffraction.
Magnetic resonance including electron-spin resonance, electron-spin and magnetic resonance imaging.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

Explain adsorption of gases to solid surfaces and apply adsorption isotherms to chemical problems particularly surface area determination.
Explain and interpret reaction rates of gases in the presence of solid catalysts.
Use crystallographic concepts, such as symmetry elements and Miller indicies, to describe crystal structures and to apply diffraction theory to structural problems.
Explain how NMR spectra are obtained and understand how the basic principles of NMR relate to the various features of NMR spectra.
Describe the origin and applications of other forms of magnetic resonance, such as ESR and MR imaging.

Subject-specific Skills

Perform complex experiments in physical chemistry.

Key Skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Lectures are used to convey concepts and are examined by written papers. This is the best method to assess the knowledge of the students.
Workshops are larger groups of students where problems are considered and common difficulties shared. This ensures that students have understood the work and can apply it to real life situations. These are formatively assessed.
Laboratory classes teach students techniques in various aspects of physical chemistry. They are continuously assessed so that the student can learn from one session to the next.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours
Lectures	21	1 per week	1 Hour	21
Practicals	20	4 per week in Term 1 or Term 2	3 hours	60
Collection	1	1 in Term 2	1 Hour	1
Other (workshops)	3	1 per term	1.5 hours	4.50
Preparation and Reading				113.50
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Examination	65%	Written examination	Two hours	100%	Two hour written examination
Laboratory Work	35%	reports of laboratory work		100%	One hour written examination

Formative Assessment

Set work in preparation for workshops.

Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.