ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 99 Hours of tutorials: 3 Expository Class: 24 Interactive Classroom: 24 Total: 150
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: Physical Chemistry
Areas: Physical Chemistry
Center Faculty of Chemistry
Call: First Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
This course is part of module 3 of the degree in Chemistry, that is, the Physical Chemistry module. It is essentially concerned with the subjects of this module and it is important in order to understand the contents of Physical Chemistry V, which is taught in the 2nd semester of the 3rd year and also some contents of Science of Materials I, which is taught in the 1st semester of the 4th year.
This subject may seem to lie far away from everything that has been seen in previous courses, but it is indeed connected with most of the concepts learned. The study of statistical thermodynamics is used to establish a connection between thermodynamics, spectroscopy and quantum mechanics. Addresses the thermodynamics from a microscopic point of view and analyze it application to obtain thermodynamic functions, heat capacities, entropies and equilibrium constants. Another part of the course focuses in the study of transport properties originated by diffusion and/or migration of molecules and ions, which introduces ionics electrochemistry and is also very helpful for the kinetic study of chemical reactions that will be discussed in the course Chemical Physics V. The study of charge transport at electrodes is also important in order to attain a general view of basic electrochemistry which is also closely related to transport properties. The last part of this subject is devoted to practical applications because free energy, entropies and equilibrium constant can be obtained for chemical reactions from electrochemical cells. Finally the commercial implications of the developed physicohemical concepts are shown as new batteries, fuel cells, electroanalytical techniques and different nanoelectrochemical applications. The contents of QFIV constitute the basis for the study of QFV. Furthermore, in Science of Materials I (4th year), there is a chapter devoted to corrosion, thus the importance of understanding the implied electrochemical considerations.
Learning objectives.
- Interpret experimental observations and explain them in terms of the underlying theories using the existing qualitative and quantitative models
- Understand chemical problems and be able to connect the qualitative and quantitative aspects.
1. Molecular motion in gases
The kinetic theory of gases. Pressure and molecular speeds. The collision frequency. Mean free path. Collisions with walls and surfaces. Effusion of a gas.
2. Transport properties of a perfect gas
Phenomenological equations. Transport parameters in ideal gases: diffusion coefficient, thermal conductivity and viscosity.
3. Molecular motion in liquids
Conductivity of electrolyte solutions. Mobility and conductivity of ions. Ionic interactions. Diffusion: Fick’s laws, Einstein relation, Nernst-Einstein and Stokes-Einstein equations.
4. Electrochemical equilibrium
Electrochemical potential: application to the determination of equilibrium constants and transport numbers. Liquid junction potential, usefulness of the salt bridge.
5. Basic concepts on statistical thermodynamics
The distribution of molecular states. The internal energy and the entropy. The canonical partition function.
6. Applications of statistical thermodynamics
Thermodynamic functions and molecular partition function. Mean energies. Heat capacities. Equations of state. Equilibrium constants.
Laboratory practicals:
1. Heat transport: Determination of thermal conductivity of different materials.
2. Charge transport in ionic solutions: Use of the conductometric method for the determination of the ionization constant of acetic acid.
3. Charge transport through the electrochemical interface at equilibrium: Use of the potentiometric method for the determination of the solubility product of AgCl and of the formation constant for the complex Ag(NH3)n+
Basic Bibliography (reference manual).
F. Rivadulla Fernández, Termodinámica estadística y fenómenos de transporte: introducción y aplicaciones en química. USC Editora. Manuales, 2017.
P. Atkins and J. de Paula, Physical Chemistry, 8th edition; Oxford U. P., 2008
I. N. Levine. Physical Chemistry, 6th edition; McGraw-Hill, 2009
Additional Bibliography.
T. Engel, P. Reid, Química Física, Addison Wesley, 2006
J. Bertrán Rusca, Javier Núñez Delgado, Química Física, Volúmenes I y II. Ariel Ciencia, 2002
BASIC AND GENERAL SKILLS
CG2 – Graduates will be able to gather and interpret relevant data, information and results, draw conclusions and issue reasoned reports on scientific, technological or any other field problems requiring the use of Chemistry knowledge.
CG3 – Graduates will be able to apply both theoretical and practical knowledge acquired as well as the capacity of analysis and abstraction in the definition and approach to problems and finding solutions in academic and professional contexts.
CG5 – Graduates will be able to study and learn new knowledge and techniques from any scientific and technological discipline independently, with its own organization of time and resources
SPECIFIC SKILLS
CE5 – Understand the principles of Thermodynamics and their application to Chemistry.
CE14 - Resolution of qualitative and quantitative problems using previously developed models.
CE20 - Interpretation of data from observations and measurements in the laboratory in terms of its significance and theories that underpin it.
CE22 – Undersanting the conection between theory and experimentation
CE24 - Understanding the qualitative and quantitative aspects of chemical problems.
CROSS SKILLS
CT1 - Capacity for analysis and synthesis.
CT2 - Capacity of organization and planning.
CT3 - Knowledge of a foreign language.
CT4 - Troubleshooting.
A) Large-group lectures: Lectures presented by the teacher to introduce those aspects of each topic that are considered fundamental for comprehension and development of the proposed activities. The lecturer will explain the most representative examples from each lesson. Diring the lectures the teachers will use Power Point presentations as a script of the contents. This material must never be considered as class notes. Usually, these classes follow the content of the reference manual. Attendance is not mandatory but strongly advised and quite important to progressively acquire the knowledge and to periodically interact with the instructor. Non attendance to lectures will have negative repercusión in the expected outcomes from seminars and tutorials.
B) Interactive sessions - Seminars: It is a theory/practice session in which applications of the learned concepts are proposed through problems and exercises. Students are expected to actively participate in these classes in different ways: resolution of exercises in the classroom and for general review. Those activities that require correction for being part of the continuous assessment will be delivered through the Virtual Classroom. During these interactive sessions short questionnaires can be given to the students as a part of the continuous assessment. Attendance at these classes is mandatory. The students should attend carrying a text book (from the recommended list) and one computer for each work group, in order to be able to accomplish all the assigned tasks.
C) Laboratory classes: This includes classes that take place in a Laboratory. In them, the student acquires the skills inherent to a chemistry lab and consolidates the knowledge gained in the lectures. For these practices, the students will have the necessary information available in advance in the Virtual Class and they must work by their own to prepare, using appropriate literature and with the help of the teacher, two of the three practices that are included in laboratory contents. One of the experiments will be completely prepared by the students (from scratch) using a small piece of information. Before entering the laboratory the student should have a clear idea of the methodology to be used and will explain it to the teacher, who will be available in the laboratory to monitor student progress and check for the acquisition of the adequate level of knowledge about the practice to be undertaken. After that, students will respond for 5 to 10 minutes to a few preliminary questions about the development of the practice to see if they are able to begin. The student, in small groups, will perform the tasks and calculations necessary to achieve the objectives of the practice, daily recording every detail in the laboratory notebook (graphs, tables, data, …). At the end of each laboratory session or in the next session, the student must submit a brief report containing the main results. The completion of the laboratory practicals is mandatory and will be assessed as a part of the final grade. A short test will be completed after each experiment in order to assess the comprehension level achieved. Attendance to the Laboratory sessions is mandatory and required in order to pass the course. No attendance should be properly documented. Exams or health issues are acceptable reasons as well as other causes contemplated by the academic rules. The missed session will be scheduled by the instructor for a different date if there are no circumstances that prevent it.
D) Small group tutorials: There will be two sessions. These classes involve supervised activities, clarifiying doubts on lectures and laboratory, solving problems and exercises, readings related to the course, … The teacher can require the submission of a given exercise or report in advance to the tutorial session. These activities will be announced in advance and scheduled in the calendar. Attendance to these tutorials is mandatory and participation in them will be assessed.
CASE SCENARIO 1: Adapted normality (no restrictions presential teaching)
Distribution of percentages in the assessment categories:
- Continuous Assessment = 40 % (Activities proposed by Professor 45%; short exams 15%; and laboratory practicals 40%)
- Final exam: 60 %
As in all the other subjects in the degree in Chemistry access to the final examination will be conditioned to the achievement of 80% of attendance to the compulsory interactive sessions (laboratory practices, seminars and tutorials). For each subject, prior to the completion of the regular exams, the Dean of the Faculty will publish the list of students who lost the right to sit the exam.
Students who do not meet 80% of attendance to the interactive classes (seminars and tutorials) will loose the possibility of using the continuous evaluation to calculate their average grade, so that their final grade will only dependent on the exam.
Continuous assessment will be only considered through an “active” participation in the activities that make up this assessment (presentations, problem solving in the class,…). In this way, students must demonstrate their achievements based on the objectives previously established for each activity.
The final grade (N) of the student will be determined as the weighted average between the continuous assesment (0,40 × N1) and the exam (0,60 × N2) or the grade obtained in the exam itself (N2), always the most favourable choice for the student:
N = max.(0,40 × N1 + 0,60 × N2, N2)
Final exam will consist of theoretical questions and problems or exercises related with the concepts studied during the semester no matter if they were explained during lectures, seminars, tutorials or laboratory practicals. The exam will be graded with 10 points.
Laboratory Practicals Assesment:
Students are requested to attend at the laboratory and show the right attitude and involvement as well as compliance with safety rules. Assessment of the laboratory practicals will consist of:
- Answers to questions posed by the teacher during laboratory sessions
- Hand out, at the end of the sessions, of a brief report with the main achievements of the experiment in graphs, tables, etc.
- Questions about the practicals will be also included in the final exam
- Only students that get passed the practicals will be able to pass the course
- At the end of the laboratory period, the students will take a test to assess the comprehension level achieved
In case of fraudulent performance of exercises or tests, the provisions of the Regulations for the evaluation of student academic performance and review of grades will apply.
Assessment of competences:
• Seminars: CG2, CG3, DG5, CE5, CE14, CE15, CE20, CE22, CE23, CE24, CE25, CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4
• Laboratory: CG2, CG3, CE20, CE22, CT2
• Tutorials: CG2, CE5, CE15, CE25, CT2
• Exam: CG2, DG5, CE5, CE14, CE22, CE23, CE24, CT1, CT2, CT4
Repeating students:
Repeating students will have the same attendance regime as if they had enrolled the course for the first time, with the following exceptions:
Repeating students that have got a passing grade in the laboratory practicals in previous years will keep their score for two years. There is no need to make the practices again but they are requested to attend the rest of the interactive classes (seminars and tutorials) if they do not want to lose the right to sit the final exam.
Important information in order to pass the course:
- When solving exercises, either within the continuous assessment or in the exam, serious deficiencies in basic mathematical aspects will be penalized.
- When solving exercises, either within the continuous assessment or in the exam, missing units accompanying the numerical results will be penalized.
Class hours = 55 h:
Big group lectures = 23 h
Small group interactive classes = 10 h
Laboratory = 20 h
Small group tutorials = 2 h
Student's personal work = 95 h:
Self-study = 46 h
Problem solving and other tasks = 24 h
Preparation of the tutorials assignments = 10 horas
Preparation of laboratory practicals = 15 horas
• It is advisable to attend the lectures:
- Listening to the teacher's explanations will shorten the time of study and will facilitate taking notes and organizing the content in order to get ready for the exam
- The Power Point presentations, available to all students through the virtual classroom, are not a reference manual, just notes that constitute a guide for the contents. In addition, the instructor can explain contents not explicitly included in the slides.
- The attendance facilitates interaction between teacher and student through more participatory classes.
- The student becomes more familiar with the specific vocabulary and with equations and exercises that appear on each of the units. Students who do not regularly attend classes have greater difficulty in understanding the exercises of seminars and tutorials.
• It is important to study the new matter every day
• After reading an item in the reference manual, it is useful to summarize the important points, identifying the basic equations that should be remembered and making sure to know both its meaning and the conditions for applicability.
• Problem solving is fundamental to learning in this field and indispensable for preparing the final exam. The point is not to solve problems mechanically but to understand the meaning of what is being done, why it is done according to a certain method and its scope.
• The preparation of the laboratory practices before entering the laboratory is essential. First, you should review the important theoretical concepts underlying each experiment and then you should read carefully the script of the practice, trying to understand the objectives and the methodology of the proposed experiment. Any doubts that may arise must be discussed with the teacher. It is possible that some practices were performed before seeing the theoretical aspects in class. In these cases, previous work is even more important.
It is also advisable to have passed the subjects of the modules of Mathematics, Physics and General Chemistry, as well as all the other subjects of the same module.
CONTINGENCT PLAN IN CASE SCENARIOS 2 OR 3 APPLY
TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CASE SCENARIO 2: Social distancing (partial restrictions to face-to-face teaching)
The percentage of lectures and interactive classes remain the same as in case scenario 1, the only difference is the way in which these sessions will be carried out and the type of lecturer – student interaction.
Lectures may be carried out entirely online (in teaching spaces where social distancing is not possible), or 50% combined with classroom mode in those teaching spaces where distancing is possible. Interactive classes, seminars and laboratories, may combine both types of teaching with up to a maximum of 50% of the time as online teaching, when minimum distancing so requires.
The tutorials will be online and the Virtual Campus and MS Teams will be used.
SCENARIO 3. Closure of the facilities (impossibility of face-to-face teaching)
The lectures will be done online and the tools of the USC will be used: Virtual Campus (Moodle) and MS Teams.
The seminars will be conducted online using the Virtual Campus and MS Teams. The tasks completed during these sessions will be delivered through the Virtual Campus for reviewing and assessment.
To carry out the laboratory sessions, illustrative videos of the purely experimental part will be used and will be combined with online classes through MS Teams to accompany the videos with the relevant explanations. Sequential activities will be programmed to guide the students through the whole practices. Either the videos and the tasks and questionnaires related to the laboratory practicals will be managed through the Virtual Classroom.
The tutorials will be online and the Virtual Campus and MS Teams will be used.
ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
CASE SCENARIO 2: Social distancing (partial restrictions to face-to-face teaching)
The assessment system does not undergo any modification with respect to what has already been indicated for scenario 1. The same percentages of continuous assessment and exam are maintained to obtain the final grade for the course.
To consider an “active” participation in the activities that make up the continuous assessment several criteria will be accounted for: attendance to the face-to-face sessions, involvement and participation during the online sessions and the assignments delivered through the Virtual Campus.
The assessment of the laboratory practicals is not modified. It will be carried out based on the attitude and participation shown during both face-to-face and online sessions and the final summary assignment that will be delivered through the Virtual Campus.
The final exam will be done preferably in the classroom. However, if this was not posible, an online exam will be solved using the Virtual Campus combined with a simultaneous session in MS Teams. The contents that will be assessed in the exam will be the same as those indicated for scenario 1.
SCENARIO 3. Closure of the facilities (impossibility of face-to-face teaching)
The assessment system does not undergo any modification with respect to what has already been indicated for scenario 1. The same percentages of continuous assessment and exam are maintained to obtain the final grade for the course.
To consider an “active” participation in the activities that make up the continuous assessment several criteria will be accounted for: attendance, involvement and participation during the online sessions and the assignments delivered through the Virtual Campus.
The assessment of the laboratory practicals is not modified. It will be done based on the attitude and participation shown during the online classess and the final summary assignment that will be delivered through the Virtual Campus.
The final exam will be done online using the Virtual Campus with a simultaneous session in MS Teams. The contents that will be assessed in the exam will be the same as those indicated for scenario 1.
Sarah Fiol López
Coordinador/a- Department
- Physical Chemistry
- Area
- Physical Chemistry
- Phone
- 881816042
- sarah.fiol [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Emilio Martinez Nuñez
- Department
- Physical Chemistry
- Area
- Physical Chemistry
- Phone
- 881814223
- emilio.nunez [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Jose Francisco Rivadulla Fernandez
- Department
- Physical Chemistry
- Area
- Physical Chemistry
- Phone
- 881815724
- f.rivadulla [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Sara Illodo Brea
- Department
- Physical Chemistry
- Area
- Physical Chemistry
- sara.illodo.brea [at] usc.es
- Category
- Xunta Pre-doctoral Contract
| Wednesday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLE_03 | English | Classroom 3.44 |
| 11:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLE_02 | Spanish | Analytical Chemistry Classroom (2nd floor) |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | Organic Chemistry Classroom (1st floor) |
| Thursday | |||
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | Spanish | Organic Chemistry Classroom (1st floor) |
| 11:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIS_05 | English | Classroom 3.11 |
| 11:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIS_04 | Spanish | Organic Chemistry Classroom (1st floor) |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLIS_03 | Spanish | Biology Classroom (3rd floor) |
| 13:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLIS_02 | Spanish | Analytical Chemistry Classroom (2nd floor) |
| Friday | |||
| 10:00-11:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Spanish | Organic Chemistry Classroom (1st floor) |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_03 | English | Classroom 3.44 |
| 12:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_02 | Spanish | Analytical Chemistry Classroom (2nd floor) |
| 01.11.2022 10:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Biology Classroom (3rd floor) |
| 01.11.2022 10:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Physical Chemistry Classroom (ground floor) |
| 01.11.2022 10:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Inorganic Chemistry Classroom (1st floor) |
| 01.11.2022 10:00-14:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | General Chemistry Classroom (2nd floor) |
| 07.04.2022 16:00-20:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Inorganic Chemistry Classroom (1st floor) |
| 07.04.2022 16:00-20:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Organic Chemistry Classroom (1st floor) |