Course Objectives for CHEM1902 Main Group Chemistry module:

NOTES

Try to attend all lectures

In addition to reading the lecture material provided on-line, additional reading is essential for each lecture to ensure you get a broader view of the topics.

Try to attend all tutorials.
By itself this is insufficient, just being there and not having completed the papers or participating in the discussions is of little value.

Warning: Whilst UWI accepts that it is not compulsory to attend lectures, neither is passing!

Lecture 1

1. Discuss the classification of the elements of the periodic table in terms of the major categories.

2. State and make predictions about the group or period in which elements are likely to be found based on their electronic configuration and/or trends in successive ionisation energies.

3. Write the electronic configuration of elements or ions using noble gas configurations and the various orbital designations.

4. Discuss trends in atomic, or covalent radius, ionization energy, electron affinity and electronegativity of the elements in the periodic table.

5. State and make predictions about bond polarities in compounds taking into account the region of the periodic table in which the elements are found and the electronegativity of each element.

Lecture 2

1. Discuss ionic potential in relation to metal ions, and their charge to mass ratio.

2. Discuss polarizabilities of anions in relation to their sizes and magnitude of their charges.

3. Describe and make predictions concerning variations in ionic potential, its effects on bond polarities and various properties of compounds.

4. Discuss the anomalous properties of second row elements, Li to F when compared to their heavier mass congeners.

Lecture 3

1. Discuss the origin of the ortho and para forms of hydrogen.

2. Discuss the industrial preparation of hydrogen, the existence of its various atomic and molecular forms and its potential as an alternative fuel.

3. Describe the anomalous properties of water, the various structures with which it is associated and the formation of hydrogen bonds using hydridic compounds.

Lecture 4

1. Discuss the synthesis, structure, properties and uses of two allotropes of oxygen. Compare dioxygen with ozone.

2. Discuss the chemical properties of ozone and the role it is thought to play in atmospheric chemistry.

3. Use equations to explain how ozone is produced and destroyed in the upper atmosphere.

4. Explain how ozone functions to protect the earth's biosphere from harmful UV radiation.

5 Describe the preparation, structure, aqueous chemistry (redox properties) and uses of hydrogen peroxide.

Lecture 5

1. Describe the structures and bonding of the main group metals.

2. Discuss terms such as catenation and allotropy in relation to nonmetallic elements.

3. Describe the structures and bonding of certain main group nonmetallic elements and their allotropes: boron, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous, sulfur and oxygen.

Lecture 6

1. Discuss the acid-base properties of protic and aprotic substances according to the various definitions.

2. Write the appropriate ionising equilibria for substances showing acid-base properties.

3. Describe the hard and soft acid-base concept of metal ions and also of ligands formed from non-metallic elements.

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Created and maintained by Prof. Robert J. Lancashire,
The Department of Chemistry, University of the West Indies,
Mona Campus, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
Created Feb 2000. Last modified 8th February 2015.
URL http://wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm/courses/CHEM1902/IC10K_MGobj.html