Inorganic chemistry

This introductory subject is presented as a first contact with inorganic chemistry. It consists of 6 ECTS credits and is taught in the 2nd semester of the degree in Chemical Engineering.
The main objective is the study of the chemical elements and their most important compounds. In particular, the subject will focus on the study of hydrogen, alkaline and alkaline earth metals as well as the elements of the main groups (s and p) and the noble gases.

Specific Objectives:
-To explain and predict properties of related substances and their periodic trends.
-To understand the chemical processes involved in the preparation of elements and inorganic compounds of industrial interest.
-To understand the properties of related compounds through theoretical analysis of the experimental data.
-To describe the properties of the elements and compounds of industrial interest.

Topic 1. Periodic properties of the elements. The periodic table. Atomic radius. Ionisation energy. Electronic affinity. Electronegativity. Oxidation states Thermodynamics. Redox and acid-base reactions (4 h)
Topic 2. Hydrogen. The element and its isotopes. Dihydrogen: obtaining and reactivity. Hydrogen economy. General study of hydrides. Specific study of water; hydrogen bonding (3 hrs).
Topic 3. Elements of group 1. General characteristics of the elements of the group. Reactivity of alkali compounds. Simple compounds of the alkali metals (halides, oxides, hydroxides, salts). Industrial-scale production of the alkali elements. Economics of lithium Solvay process. Chlorine-soda process (2 h).
Topic 4. Elements of group 2. General characteristics of the elements of the group. Reactivity of alkaline earth compounds. Singularity of beryllium. Industrial-scale production of the alkaline earth elements. Simple compounds of the alkaline earth metals (halides, oxides, hydroxides, salts). Hardness of water (2 h).
Topic 5. Elements of group 13. General characteristics of the elements of the group. Study of boron: allotropic forms and industrial production of the element. Hydrogenated combinations; diborane. Aluminium: obtaining on an industrial scale and properties (2 hrs).
Topic 6. General characteristics of the elements of the group 14. Study of carbon. Allotropy in carbon. Oxygen combinations: CO and CO2. Carbonates and hydrogen carbonates. Silicon: silicates (4 hrs).
Topic 7. Elements of group 15. General characteristics of the elements of the group. Study of dinitrogen: natural state and obtaining it on an industrial scale. Ammonia: properties and industrial production (Haber-Bosh process). Nitric acid and its production by the Ostwald process. Phosphorus: natural state and industrial extraction. Allotropy in phosphorus. Oxygenated combinations (4 h).
Topic 8. Elements of group 16. General characteristics of the elements of the group. Study of dioxygen: bonding and reactivity. Trioxygen: structure and bonding. Oxides: classification and properties. Sulphur: industrial extraction. Physical and chemical properties. Sulphur oxides. Sulphur oxoacids: sulphuric acid (3 h).
Topic 9. Elements of group 17. General characteristics of the elements of the group. Peculiar behaviour of fluorine. The normal states of the elements. Methods of preparation of the elements on an industrial scale. Physical and chemical properties of the elements. Halides. Hydrogen halides. Oxoacids and oxosalts (4 h).
Topic 10. Group 18 elements. General properties of the group elements. Special properties of helium. Applications of noble gases. The discovery of the chemistry of noble gases. The radon problem in Galicia (1 h)

Laboratory contents:
1. Potassium alum
2. Synthesis of sodium hydrogencarbonate.
3. Study of the redox properties of hydrogen peroxide and acid-base properties of sodium hydrogencarbonate.
4. Study of the reactivity of halogens and some of their compounds.


Development of the course activities.
There will be 39 sessions between expository sessions (28 h) and interactive sessions (6+1= 7 h), both seminars and tutorials, and an exam and its subsequent revision (4 h) [28 + 6 + 1 + 4 = 39 hours +. At the beginning of each subject, students will be given a presentation of the subject. In advance, the students will have the bulletin that will be worked on in each of the interactive sessions. Throughout the course, the final exam will be explained.
The laboratory willbe carried out in four sessions of four hours each (16 hours). In each session the student carries out one of the experiments. Before the experiments, students will be provided with the practical manual and the explanatory material for each one of them.
The student's personal work will be of 95 h to prepare the different activities of the course (56 h for the theoretical teaching, 24 h for the interactive teaching of seminars, 8 h for the interactive teaching of experiments, 3 h for the tutoring and 4 h for the exam and its revision).

Basic (reference manuals):

- RAYNER-CANHAM, G., 2000. Química Inorgánica Descriptiva. 2ª edición. México: Pearson Educación. ISBN 9684443854.

- HOUSECROFT, C.E., A.G. SHARPE, 2006. Química inorgánica [en liña]. 2ª edición. Madrid: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 9788483225448

- HOUSECROFT, C.E., A.G. SHARPE, 2018. Inorganic Chemistry. 5ª edition. Harlow: Pearson. ISBN 9781292134147



Complementary:

-PETRUCCI, R. H. et al., 2017. Química General: Principios y aplicaciones modernas, 11ª edición. Madrid: Pearson. ISBN: 978-84-9035-533-6

- PETRUCCI, R. H. et al., 2017. Química General: Principios y aplicaciones modernas [en liña] 11ª edición. Madrid: Pearson. ISBN: 978-84-9035-533-6

- QUIÑOA, E., R. RIGUERA, J.M., VILA. 2006. Nomenclatura y formulación de los compuestos inorgánicos. 2ª edición. Madrid: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 8448146255

- RAYNER-CANHAM, G., 2014. Descriptive Inorganic Chemistry. 6ª edición. New York: Freeman. ISBN 9781464125577

- LEE, J.D., 2009. Concise inorganic chemistry. 5ª edition. Oxford: Blackwell Science. ISBN 9780632052936

- SHRIVER, D.F., Peter W. ATKINS, 2008. Química Inorgánica. 4ª edición. México: McGraw-Hill, ISBN 9789701065310

In the link https://infolibros.org/libros-de-quimica-inorganica-gratis-pdf/ it can be accessed the book C. E. Housecroft, A. G. Sharpe, in english language (Inorganic Chemistry) for free. In this link there are also General Chemistry books for the students having difficulties in basic concepts like redox (including redox balancing) or acid-base chemistry.

Knowledge and contents
Con07: Knowledge of the fundamentals of materials science, technology and chemistry. Understanding the relationship between microstructure, synthesis or processing and the properties of materials.
Con14: Basic knowledge and application of environmental technologies and sustainability.
Con18: Knowledge of basic and technological subjects, enabling them to learn new methods and theories, and giving them the versatility to adapt to new situations.

Skills and abilities
H/D05: Ability to apply knowledge in practice.

Competences
Comp04: Ability to understand and apply the principles of basic knowledge of general chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry and their applications in engineering.

The development of the program established in this subject will be carried out in the classroom, on the Virtual Campus (Moodle) and on the MS Teams platform, if necessary. The subject will have a virtual site available to students, in which calendars, instructions as well as all the necessary material for the development of the subject will be posted.

A) Large group lectures: Lessons taught with different possible formats (theory, problems and/or general examples, general guidelines on the subject…). The lecturer can rely on audiovisual media and computers. Usually, the lectures follow the literature contents in the Teaching Guide of the subject. Attending these lectures is not compulsory.
Expositive session’s competences: CG3, CG7, FB4.3, CT13.

B) Interactive small group lectures: theory and practice lectures issues related to theory, applications, exercises, problems, etc are proposed. (In these lectures, the student participates actively in various ways: he hands in exercises that have been given long in advance), solution of exercises in the classroom, etc. The lecturer may be supported by audiovisual media and computers, but in general, students will not handle them. It can include intermediate tests. These classes will usually follow the contents of the reference manual indicated in the bibliography.
Knowledge and contents: CON7, CON14, CON18
Skills and abilities: H7D05
Competences: COMP04
C) Practical laboratory classes: This includes practical lectures that take place in a laboratory. In these, students acquire the appropriate chemistry laboratory skills which consolidate the knowledge attained in the lectures. For these practices, the student will have a Practical Laboratory Guide, which includes general observations on the laboratory work and an outline of each of the experiments performed. The guide will consist of a brief presentation of the fundaments, methodology to follow, details on the calculations to be performed and results to be presented. The student will have to attend every laboratory session having previously carefully read the contents of this guide and the necessary calculations. Following an explanation by the lecturer, students will perform the experiments and calculations required to achieve the aims of the practical work, writing in their notebook the development, calculations and results of each experiment; they will hand in the results, which will be employed by students to solve a laboratory test. The teacher may ask the student to show the laboratory diary at any time. The completion of the practical sessions is compulsory. At the end of the laboratory, a test may be given to evaluate the students.
Knowledge and contents: CON7, CON14, CON18
Skills and competences: H7D05
Competences: COMP04

D) Tutorials in small groups: These will be 1 hour for each student. In these classes the students will have to present, discuss or comment on the activities previously proposed by the teacher. The activities will be carried out individually or in groups as indicated. Participation in the tutorials will be assessed.
Knowledge and contents: CON7, CON14, CON18
Skills and abilities: H7D05
Competences: COMP04

The evaluation of the subject will be carried out as follows.
Final exam: 70%.
Continuous assessment: 30%.
The continuous assessment is distributed in the following activities:
Practical work: 15%.
Deliveries and tutorials: 5%.
Work: 5%
Tests: 5%.

The qualification of each student will be carried out by means of continuous assessment and a final exam. Continuous assessment will be carried out by means of exercises, work on a subject related to the subject, intermediate tests, laboratory sessions and tutorials. The assessment will be based mainly on a final written test common to all students. Attendance at the laboratory sessions is compulsory in order to pass the subject. In order to pass the subject, students must achieve a pass mark in the laboratory. The laboratory sessions not taken must be made up, in agreement with the teaching staff.
In the final exam scheduled at the end of the term, the learning of the contents and the ability to solve problems individually will be assessed. The final exam of the subject will take place in person.
In cases of fraudulent performance of exercises or tests, the provisions of the Regulations on the assessment of students' academic performance and the review of qualifications will apply.
Knowledge and content: CON7, CON14, CON18
Skills and abilities: H7D05
Competences: COMP04

b) In the work carried out during the seminar sessions and in the laboratory sessions, the ability to solve problems individually or in groups and the ability to carry out laboratory tasks will be assessed. The seminar sessions will involve the delivery of exercises and the completion of assignments and tests for which the Virtual Campus will be used. At the end of the laboratory, a test may be taken to assess the degree of achievement. The laboratory sessions will involve the completion of a laboratory notebook that will be used to carry out the practical assessment test. In the event that the laboratory sessions cannot be carried out, the students will carry out the stipulated substitute activities.

Knowledge and contents: CON7, CON14, CON18
Skills and competences: H7D05
Competences: COMP04

c) In the group tutorials, students' capacity for analysis and synthesis and their ability to learn independently about specific questions posed by the teacher will be assessed.
Knowledge and contents: CON7, CON14, CON18
Skills and abilities: H7D05
Competences: COMP04

In order to pass the course, a minimum of 50% of the overall grade must be obtained. In order to obtain a final mark as a weighted average of the different sections, a minimum mark of 40% must be obtained in the final exam.

Students who do not take the final exam will be recorded as "no-shows".
The teaching staff will analyse with those students who do not successfully pass the evaluation process, and so require, all the details found in the learning of the contents of the subject. These students will be given a second chance. The evaluation of this recovery will be the same as in the first opportunity, that is to say: a new global exam of the subject will be carried out, which will contribute 70% to the recovery grade, while the grades corresponding to the continuous evaluation obtained throughout the course will contribute 30% (laboratory practices, 15%, and interactive classes, tutorials, work deliveries 15%).

Distribution of training activity in hours and ECTS credits.
ACTIVITY HOURS OF ATTENDANCE (HP), HOURS OF STUDENT WORK (HTA)
Theoretical teaching: 28 HP+ 56 HTA
Interactive teaching seminars: 6 HP + 24 HTA
Interactive teaching laboratory: 16 HP + 8 HTA
Small group tutorials: 1 HP + 3 HTA
Examination and revision: 4 +4 HTA
Subtotal 55 HP + 95 HTA
Total : 150 H, 6 ECTS

It is recommended that the student has a scientific-technological profile. It is also important to be familiar with subjects like Physics and Mathematics. Knowledge of english language is a very useful tool to access more resources: web pages for specific content or related topics, books, scientific articles, etc.
In particular, is recommended that the student is familiar with basis chemistry topics as chemical equilibrium, acid-base chemistry and redox chemistry. Also:
a) It is important to attend the lectures.
b) It is important to read the refence manual as a first contact with the subject.
c) Once a chapter has been read in the reference manual, it is useful to summarize the important aspects, identifying fundamental points and the basic relationships that must be remembered, and making sure to know both its meaning and the conditions under which they may be applied.
d) It is important to solve all the proposed activities before attending the seminars and tutorials.
e) Preparing the practical work is essential for the laboratory sessions. First, the important theoretical concepts of each experiment should be reviewed and then you should carefully read the outline of the practice and its explanations, trying to understand the objectives and the development of the proposed experiment. Any doubts that arise must be discussed with the lecturer.

The lectures will be given in spanish.
Use the Learning Management System (LMS) will be made to provide students presentations and problem sets for each topic.

Admission and term of the students enrolled in the teaching laboratory requires the knowledge and the fulfilling of the norms included in the Protocol of basic training in security matter for experimental spaces published by the ETSE and available in the security section of the website, that can be accessed as follow:
1. Go to the intranet.
2. Go to Documentación/Seguridade/Formación.
3. Press in "Protocolo de formación básica en materia de seguridad para espacios experimentales.