Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2011-2012 (archived)

Module CHEM3021: INORGANIC CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS

Department: Chemistry

CHEM3021: INORGANIC CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS

Type	Open	Level	3	Credits	20	Availability	Available in 2011/12	Module Cap	None.	Location	Durham

Prerequisites

Core Chemistry 2 (CHEM2012) AND Chemistry of the Elements (CHEM2021).

Corequisites

Core Chemistry 3 (CHEM3012).

Excluded Combination of Modules

None.

Aims

To apply chemical principles in the discipline of inorganic chemistry and to study detailed aspects of chemistry in several areas of current interest.

Content

Lanthanide and actinide elements: reactivity, spectra and magnetic properties.
Applied inorganic spectroscopy: prediction and interpretation of spectra.
Organometallic reaction chemistry: nucleophilic and electrophilic addition, substitution and abstraction.
Practical work.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

Compare and contrast the chemistry of the compounds of the lanthanide and actinide elements;
solve structural problems of inorganic systems using NMR techniques;
rationalise the reactions of organometallic compounds and their application to organic synthesis;

Subject-specific Skills:

Perform and discuss advanced laboratory experiments.

Key Skills:

Problem solving, developed through small group teaching and study.
Information retrieval and scientific writing, exercised through assignments for workshops and accounts of laboratory work.

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 thought to be 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 inorganic 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	3 Hours	60	■
Workshops	3	1 per Term	1.5 Hours	4.5	■
Preparation and Reading				114.5
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component: Examination		Component Weighting: 65%
Element	Length / duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Written examination	Two hours	100%
Component: Laboratory Work		Component Weighting: 35%
Element	Length / duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Results of laboratory work		100%

Formative Assessment:

Set work for workshops.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University