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

Undergraduate Handbook 2008-2009 (archived)

Module CHEM2041: PROPERTIES OF MOLECULES

Department: Chemistry

CHEM2041: PROPERTIES OF MOLECULES

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	2	20	Available in 2008/2009	None.	Durham

Pre-requisites

Core Chemistry 1A (CHEM1012) AND EITHER Core Chemistry 1B (CHEM1022) OR Core Mathematics A (MATH1012) OR Single Mathematics A (MATH1561) OR Maths for Engineers & Scientists (MATH1551).

Corequisites

Core Chemistry 2 (CHEM2012).

Excluded Combinations

None.

Aims

To advance students' understanding of magnetic resonance, and to introduce students to surface chemistry and polymeric materials.

Content

Surface chemistry: solid surfaces, surface relaxation and reconstruction, steps and defects.
Adsorption of gases on solids.
Mechanisms and kinetics of heterogeneous catalysis.
An introduction to polymers.
Classification of polymers, molar mass and degree of polymerisation.
Step growth and chain growth mechanisms.
Fundamentals of NMR, origins and chemical significance of chemical shifts, NMR of different nuclei.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

Explain adsorption of gases to solid surfaces and apply adsorption isotherms to chemical problems; explain and interpret reaction rates of gases in the presence of solid catalysts.
Carry out thermodynamic calculations involving fluid surfaces.
Explain how the fundamental NMR phenomena (such as chemical shifts, couplings, chemical exchange) interact to create NMR spectra.
Describe how Fourier Transform NMR works and how the spectra obtained depend on features such as relaxation times.
Explain different mechanisms for the synthesis of polymers, including aspects of kinetics.
Use simple models to calculate dimensions of polymer chains and calculate molecular weight averages.
Describe key relationships between the molecular structure and bulk properties of polymers.

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	Attendance Monitored
Lectures	21	1 per week	1 Hour	21
Practicals	20	4 per week in Term 1 or Term 2	3 hours	60	Yes
Workshops	3	1 per term	1.5 hours	4.50	Yes
Preparation and Reading				114.50
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.