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The Concept Builder lessons are organized into sets according to the topics set out below. The individual lessons are mostly quite short and can be accessed in any order through a series of hierarchical menus. A brief overview of the contents is given below. To see more details on a lesson set, just click on the "show more details" link. For a complete description of each lesson in excruciating detail, download and view the Chem1 Lessons Guide (a PDF document.)
Begin at the very beginning: 36 lessons covering these major topics:
- Science/Pseudoscience (we think you ought to be able to tell the difference!)
- Mathematical Foundations and Problem Solving
- Units and unit conversions
- A chemical view of matter (classification and properties, density, energy-heat-temperature)
- An overview of Chemistry (basic concepts, atoms and elements, nomenclature.)
Thirty-one lessons covering everything you need to know (and may be afraid to ask!) about
- The nuclear atom: fundamental particles and isotopes
- The quantum atom: basic quantum theory, relativity, the hydrogen atom, and electronic structure of the elements
- The chemical atom: the periodic table and periodic trends
The "basic stuff" of Chemistry; this set of twenty-four lessons represents our best effort to present it in as interesting a way as possible, without reducing it to a plug-in-the-numbers algorithmic approach.
The mole concept, formulas and moles, how formulas are determined, chemical reaction equations and calculations based on them (including limiting-reactant calculations), volume relations in gas-phase reactions, molar solution calculations.
Forty-seven lessons might seem like a lot, but an understanding of bulk matter is essential preparation for fields as diverse as biology or engineering— and nobody will force you to go through all of them!
The nine lessons in this group begin at the very elementary level, clearing up the confusion about reversible and incomplete reactions that most textbooks gloss over, and introducing the Law of Mass Action. There are sections on the Le Châtelier Principle and on how to write equilibrium expressions. Finally, there is a series of guided exercises on the various kinds of equilibrium calculations.
In addition to the usual stuff on the ideal gas laws and kinetic-molecular theory, these eleven lessons cover gas mixtures and partial pressures, atmospheric pressure and the barometer. For those taking more complete courses, there are two optional lessons on molecular velocities and temperature, and on real gases in which intermolecular interactions play a role.
All about what holds atoms together in twenty lessons divided into four groups:
- Fundamentals: the shared-elecron bond, polar covalence, the Octet Rule and Lewis electron-dot structures, multiple bonds and formal charge.
- Molecular geometry and VSEPR theory.
- Hybrid atomic orbital model of chemical bonding.
- Molecular orbital model of bonding, with extensions to transition metal ions (ligand field splitting) and the elementary theory of metals and semiconductors.
A dozen lessons divided into two major groups:
- Basic principles: electrodes and cells, activity series, standard potentials, electrolytic cells, electrochemical corrosion.
- The Nernst Equation and its applications: how to write and use the Nernst Equation, concentration cells, pH measurement, solubility products, potentiometric titrations.
An introduction to thermodynamics in thirteen lessons covering heat and work, the First Law of Thermodynamics, enthalpy, Hess' Law, bond enthalpies, calorimetry.
Two very comprehensive sets of lessons here:
- Fundamental concepts of acid-base chemistry: twenty-one lessons covering proton-transfer, recognizing common acids and bases, pH, and acid-bnase titration.
- Acid-base equilibria and calculatons: thirty-three lessons here on the more quantitative aspects, including distribution of conjugate species as a function of pH, calculations on monoprotic and polyprotic acid systems, buffers, and salts. Emphasis is placed on non-algebraic methods of calculation. Of special interest to those interested in environmental applications are the five final lessons on carbonates and their role in natural waters.
last update:
02.06.2006
