This module introduces students to biological and environmental chemistry;Â fundamental concepts of general, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry, e.g. atomic and molecular structure, thermodynamic and kinetics, classes of organic and biological molecules, structure-function relationship, carbon chemistry, natural compounds and environmental pollutants and their effect on plants and animals. Problem solving workshop and practical laboratory skills reinforce the conceptual understanding. An initial lab session of 3 hours is used to teach /consolidate basic laboratory techniques including the use of standard equipment and the awareness of health and safety aspects of lab-based work. Three further sessions of 5 hours each cover acids and bases, spectrometry and micro-molecular activity.
The mathematics element covers numbers, measurements of lengths. Areas and volumes, fractions and decimals, logarithms and powers, algebra including indices, algebraic fractions, functions, linear, quadratic equations and graphical representations of equations; an introduction to statistics, standard deviation, normal distribution, estimation, correlation and regression.
20 credits