Course content

Chemical equilibrium: pH-controlled equilibria, buffers, precipitation reactions, complexes, combination of equilibria.

Heterogeneous equilibria: Gases, gas laws, gas solubility, activities, standard state.

Thermochemistry: The laws of thermodynamics. Enthalpy, entropy, Gibbs free energy, criteria for spontaneity, calculation of thermodynamic equilibrium constants, van't Hoff's equation. Phase equilibria for water and metals, iron-carbon phase diagram and steel.

Electrochemistry: Description and function of galvanic cells, Nernst equation, concentration cells, thermodynamic data and K from electrochemistry.

Applied electrochemistry: Corrosion and corrosion protection, passivity and Pourbaix diagram. Batteries, electrolysis.

Valence bond theory: Covalent bonds, ionic bonds, metal bonds. Liquids and solids, forces between molecules, solubility.

Inorganic Chemistry: The most important inorganic compounds and their properties and reactions, particularly related to materials, minerals and environmental issues.

Organic chemistry: Hydrocarbons, N- and O-containing compounds. Addition and condensation polymers. Polymer structure and properties. Examples of the application of chemistry in a technological context and environmental issues.

Learning outcome

After completing the course the student should be able to:

• Describe important chemical reactions with balanced chemical equations and interpret such equations.
• Use numerical tools to solve chemical equilibrium problems.
• Describe important elements and inorganic compounds, especially related to key environmental issues.
• Explain the chemical structure, structure and properties of different thermoplastics and thermosetting polymers.
• Describe bonding relationships in and between molecules and discuss properties based on this.
• Calculate concentrations using equilibrium constants and thermodynamic data, and interpret the result.
• Use thermodynamic relationships and data to assess equilibria at different concentrations and temperatures.
• Calculate and interpret phase equilibria for water with dissolved gas or other compounds, for alloys and for steel.
• Explain the function of and calculate voltages and current yields in electrochemical cells and know their use.
• Explain and calculate areas for passivity and immunity of metals, as well as aeration cell corrosion in iron.
• See the logical connection between different parts of the chemistry, especially equilibrium, thermochemistry and corrosion.

Learning methods and activities

Lectures (56 hours) and exercises (24 hours). 120 hours of self-study. There will be 11 excercises, where three of the first five, and five of the last six must be approved to gain access to the exam.

Compulsory assignments

• Exercises

Recommended previous knowledge

A basic knowledge, equivalent to the first course in chemistry at Norwegian High Schools is recommended. You should know the most important elements and inorganic compounds, you should understand the meaning of chemical formulas and chemical reactions and understand the concepts of atom, molecule and mole. A good understanding of logarithms and exponentials is necessary.

Course materials

• R.H. Petrucci, F.G. Herring, J.D. Madura and C. Bissonnette, "General Chemistry. Principles and Modern Applications", 11th edition, Pearson Canada Inc., Toronto, Canada, 2011 or 2017 (NTNU-ed.)
• Aylward and Findlay, SI Chemical Data, 7. Ed. Wiley.
• Notes made available through the course website

Credit reductions