Document Type
Syllabus
Publication Date
Fall 2024
Course Description
The study of inorganic substances is important for understanding a variety of other sciences and for an appreciation of the chemistry that permeates our everyday lives. Inorganic chemistry allows us to understand why lead in the water in Flint, Michigan was dangerous to children, how inorganic vanadium compounds can be harnessed to store energy from wind power, how platinum compounds can work as anticancer drugs, how metal-organic frameworks can serve to store H2 or CO2, how the lithium used in our electronics batteries is isolated from its ore and altered chemically to power the products we use every day. Our goal is to learn together about the properties and reactions of inorganic substances well enough to be able to apply them to understand the many fascinating applications of inorganic chemistry both in chemistry and in fields such as geology, art, medicine, biology, and environmental science. Important core concepts we will learn in this course are; Atomic and ionic structures and properties. Molecular and solid-state structure and properties. Models of bonding in individual molecules and extended solids, Reactivity. Specific learning goals related to these concepts are listed on the next page. We will be building the tool-kit of a scientist and learning to put together ideas in new (and maybe less initially intuitive ways). You will learn to “think like an inorganic chemist” — this means asking (and answering!) the kinds of questions that chemists ask about inorganic substances. You will get lots of chances to practice this as the semester goes on!
Recommended Citation
Eppley, Hilary, "CHEM 130A/B Structure and Properties of Inorganic Compounds Eppley Fall 2024" (2024). All Course Syllabi. 878, Scholarly and Creative Work from DePauw University.
https://scholarship.depauw.edu/records_syllabi/878
Student Outcomes
Students will be able to: Communicate the relationship between macroscopic matter and the microscopic and symbolic representations of atoms, ions, and compounds. Describe the structure and bonding of covalent, ionic, and metallic substances and use this knowledge to predict properties of inorganic substances and understand how they differ from one another. Understand the ways in which inorganic compounds participate in chemical reactions and identify and write these fundamental reactions. Appreciate and apply inorganic chemistry concepts for understanding the world around us and see these real-world problems from the perspective of a chemist. Understand chemical procedures and use them to successfully complete laboratory activities that address the properties and reactivity of inorganic compounds.