Physical Chemistry I + Laboratory

Code 082CC
Credits 12

Learning outcomes

Aim of the course is to provide the student with the knowledge of the basic principles of chemical thermodynamics and chemical kinetics: the properties of ideal and real gases; the concepts of temperature, conservation of energy, heat and work and how they can be used to assess the energy changes that accompany physical and chemical processes; how to use calorimetry and thermochemistry; the origin of the spontaneity of physical and chemical changes; entropy and Gibbs free energy, as a measure of this spontaneity; the chemical potential as the driving force of phase transition and chemical reaction; the basic concepts of chemical kinetics, to define the reaction rate, and to provide insight in the reaction mechanisms. Finally the student will learn how to measure the main physical chemical quantities and how to use the necessary instrumentation.