General Chemistry I Student Competencies

Chemistry: The Central Science, Brown, Lemay, and Bursten, 2003.

Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3	Chapter 4
Chapter 5	Chapter 6	Chapter 7	Chapter 8
Chapter 9	Chapter 10	Chapter 11

Chapter 1 Student competencies

• Describe the features of the three states of matter at the macroscopic and at the molecular/atomic level.
• Understand what is specifically meant and be able to identify each of the following: atom, molecule, substance, element, compound, homogeneous mixture, heterogeneous mixture.
• Understand and describe the mixture separation techniques of filtration, distillation, and chromatography.
• Understand the law of constant composition (also referred to as the law of definite proportions).
• Describe and identify each of the following: chemical property, physical property, intensive property, extensive property, physical change, and chemical change.
• Understand the process of acquiring knowledge in science.
• Know the metric units and the prefixes ranging from 10^-6 to 10⁶.
• Understand the Kelvin, Celsius, and Farenheit temperature scales and be able to convert among them without the aid of any given formulas.
• Understand volume units commonly used in chemistry.
• Know the density formula and be able to use it to determine density, volume, or mass.
• Understand precision and accuracy.
• Be able to identify the number of significant digits in a number and to determine the number of significant digits that result from a calculation involving addition/subtraction and multiplication/division operations.
• Quickly conduct organized dimensional analysis calculations that require multiple factors to convert from one unit to another

Chapter 2 Student competencies

• State and explain the four major postulates of Dalton's atomic theory.
• State and understand the law of conservation of mass, the law of multiple proportions, and the law of electrostatic attraction..
• Describe Thomson's cathode ray experiment and Millikan's oil-drop experiment.  Identify the electron properties that were measured from each.
• Understand radioactivity and describe the particles associated with three most common forms.
• Describe Rutherford's alpha particle gold-foil experiment and understand the implications of it on atomic structure theory.
• Describe the modern view of atomic structure in terms of the three subatomic particles.  Understand the location of these within the atom, their charges and  relative masses. Understand the relative sizes of the nucleus and atom.
• Know what is meant by an atomic mass unit and an angstrom.
• Know the following terms: isotopes, atomic number, mass number, and nuclide.
• Be able to identify the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in a given atom or ion.
• Draw the complete chemical symbol for a given nuclide.
• Understand the arrangment of the periodic table; identify groups, periods, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, halogens, and inert gases; differentiate among metals, metalloids, and nonmetals.
• For a given compound, write the chemical formula, molecular formula, empirical formula and structural formula.
• Know what anions, cations, and polyatomic ions are.
• Use the periodic table to predict the charges of common ions found in ionic compounds.  Use this information to write the formula for a given ionic compound.
• Be able to name a given inorganic compound; be able to write the formula for a given name.
• Know the names for common polyatomic cations and anions, and oxyanions.
• Know how to name a given acid.
• Know how to name a binary molecular compound.

Chapter 3 Student competencies

• Know how to write and to balance chemical equations.
• Write a balanced chemical equation for the combustion of a given hydrocarbon.
• Write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction of an alkali metal with water.
• Write a balanced chemical equation for a combination reaction.
• Write a balanced chemical equation for the thermal decomposition of metal carbonates.
• Know how to calculate the average atomic mass of an element.  Understand the origin of the atomic masses listed on the periodic table.
• Use the isotope masses and average atomic mass to calculate the fractional isotopic abundances.
• Know exactly how the amu unit is defined.
• Quickly and accurately calculate formula or molecular weights for a given substance.
• Calculate the percentage composition of a compound.
• Understand what a mole is; understand the basis for Avogadro's number.
• Calculate the molar mass of a given substance.
• Interconvert masses, moles, and number of atoms or molecules.
• Calculate empirical formulas from percent composition and from combustion analysis data.
• Understand and apply reaction stiochiometric principles to chemical reactions.
• Determine the theoretical yield for a reaction when given specific quantities of reactants.
• Identify limiting and excess reagents.
• Calculate the amount of remaining excess reagent.
• Use actual yield data to determine percent yields.

Chapter 4 Student competencies

• Understand the terms solution, solvent, solute, electrolyte, and nonelectrolye as well as the context in which they are used.
• Describe the solution process; explain the energies required or released and the specific interactions that occur during each step.
• Discuss the properties of water and the interactions that make water such an effective solvent for ionic compounds.
• Differentiate between strong and weak electrolytes; identify whether a substance is a nonelectrolyte, a weak electrolyte, or a strong electrolyte.
• Use solubility tables to predict which reactions will produce precipitates.
• Write balanced molecular equations, complete ionic equations, and net ionic equations for a given set of reactants that may or may not form a precipitate.
• Know the common strong acids and bases.
• Write the chemical equations for the reactions of strong or weak acids and bases with water.
• Write balanced molecular and net ionic equations for neutralization reactions.
• Write molecular and net ionic equations for the reaction of acids with carbonates and with sulfides.
• Understand why acid-base, precipitation, and oxidation-reduction reactions go to completion.
• Define what is meant by oxidation and reduction.
• Determine the oxidation numbers for all atoms within a compound or an ion.
• Understand the basis for the oxidation number system of assigning charge.
• Write balanced molecular and net ionic equations for the oxidation of metals by acids and salts.
• Use the activity series to predict whether a certain metal will be oxidized either by an acid or by a particular salt.
• Know the relative placement of groups of metals on the activity series.
• Understand how the activity series is related to the natural state of metals.
• Calculate the molarity of a solution.
• Interconvert among molarity, moles and volume.
• Express the concentration of an electrolyte.
• Understand the necessary steps to prepare a diluted solution and to calculate its concentration.
• Determine theoretical reaction yields and carry out other solution stoichiometric calculations for reactions that involve one or more aqueous reactant solutions.
• Determine the number of moles of solute in a given amount of reactant solution.
• Determine concentrations from titration measurements.
• Understand what equivalence points and end points are.
• Be familiar with common acid-base indicator dyes and understand how they work.
• Outline the necessary steps to complete a titration.

Chapter 5 Student competencies

• Know what is meant by the terms energy, system, surroundings, closed system, energy, heat, work, potential energy, and kinetic energy. Relate chemical energy to the potential energy of electrostatic interactions and thermal energy to the kinetic energy of molecules.
• Calculate kinetic energy in Joules; interconvert among calories, joules and nutritional calories.
• Know the First Law of Thermodynamics
• Understand the interconversion between potential and kinetic energy.
• Calculate the energy change of a system associated with work and heat inputs or outputs.
• Understand the sign conventions for heat, work, and energy changes.
• Describe endothermic and exothermic processes.
• Understand what a state function is.
• Know what the change in enthalpy for a system corresponds to; understand the sign convention for enthalpy changes.
• Relate enthalpy changes to pressure-volume work.
• Calculate the enthalpy change that occurs when a given amount of reactant (product) is consumed (produced).
• Know the meaning and understand the context of these terms: specific heat, heat capacity, molar heat capacity.
• Calculate the specific heat of a substance from given data.
• Use specific heat, mass, and temperature change data to determine q.
• Relate q to the change in enthalpy for a particular reaction.
• Describe how to conduct simple constant-pressure calorimetery experiments.
• Use calorimetry data to calculate q and the change in enthalpy for a particular reaction.
• Use calorimetry calibration data to determine the heat capacity for the calorimeter.
• Understand how body temperature is regulated.
• Describe the three primary ways in which heat is transferred from the body to its surroundings.
• Use Hess's Law to determine the enthalpy change for a reaction.
• State Hess's Law.
• Use enthalpies of formation to determine the enthalpy change for a reaction.
• Know exactly what is meant by the standard enthalpy of formation of a substance.
• Understand key energy considerations regarding food and fuels.
• Understand the energy systems used by the human body and how food specifically provides this energy.
• Describe the chemical makeup of the three major types of fossil fuels
• Describe the coal gasification process.
• Explain how nuclear energy is obtained and the amount of power obtained from it in the U.S..
• Discuss the advantages and barriers to hydrogen fuel use in future years.
• Identify the major sources of renewable fuels.

Chapter 6 Student competencies

• Know the relative placement in terms of wavelength, frequency, and energy of the various regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
• For a given photon, calculate the energy, frequency, or wavelength.
• Convert between maximum wavelengths and dissociation energies.
• Diagram the photoelectric effect; solve problems involving photon energy, electron kinetic energy, and the minimum energy required to eject electrons from a metal surface.
• Calculate changes in energy associated with electronic transitions for the the hydrogen atom.
• Determine the Debroglie wavelength of a particle.
• Know the four quantum numbers, the values they can have, and what each quantum number represents.
• Discuss the orientations in space of s, p, and d orbitals in various shells.
• For multielectron atoms, know the ordering of the energies of atomic orbitals.
• Draw the electron configuration and orbital diagram for any given atom.
• State Hund's rule and why it applies to atoms in the ground state.

Chapter 7 Student competencies

• Explain what happens to the size of a given electron orbital as the number of protons in the nucleus increases.
• Predict the relative sizes of different atoms and ions.  Explain why these trends occur in terms of effective nuclear charge and electron configuration.
• Understand the factors which affect the magnitude of electrostatic (Coulombic) interactions.  Apply these principles to explain periodic trends.
• Define ionization energy and explain the periodic trends that are observed.  Use electron configuration to explain the deviations in these trends that occur across a given row.
• Define electron affinities and predict and explain the periodic trends that occur.
• Understand the reactions of:
• Metal oxides with water
• Nonmetal oxides with water
• Metal oxides with acids
• Metals with nonmetals
• Nonmetal oxides with bases
• Alkali and alkaline earth metals with water

Chapter 8 Student competencies

• Define electronegativity; predict and explain the underlying reason for the periodic trends in electronegativity.
• Describe metallic, ionic, and covalent bonding.
• Predict whether is bond is primarily ionic or covalent.  Differentiate among ionic, polar covalent and nonpolar covalent bonding.
• Draw the Lewis structure for a given atom, molecule or ion.
• Know what formal charge is; assign formal charges to the atoms in a given Lewis structure; generate Lewis structures which minimize formal charges.
• Know what lattice energy is; predict relative magnitudes of lattice energies for different ionic compounds.  Explain the reason for these differences.
• Outline the three electrostatic interactions present in a molecule; explain what holds atoms together in a molecule.
• Understand resonance structures; draw the resonance structures for a given molecule.  Use resonance structures to determine bond order.
• Use a table of average bond energies to determine the change in enthalpy for a given reaction.
• Know what a dipole moment is and predict whether a given molecule is polar.

Chapter 9 Student competencies

• For a given molecule, predict:
• Electron arrangement
• Molecular geometry
• Bond angle
• Hybridization
• Polarity
• Bond order
• Number of sigma and pi bonds
• Draw a diagram that relates bond distance to potential energy.  As a bond is compressed; explain why the potential energy increases.  As a bond is stretched past the point of equilibrium, explain why the potential energy increases.  Identify how bond distance and bond energy can be determined from this diagram.
• Explain how hybrid orbitals are formed by starting with the valence electron configuration.
• Explain what sigma and pi bonds are.
• Draw a molecular orbital diagram for a given molecule.  Use the MO diagram to predict bond order and whether the molecule is paramagnetic or diamagnetic.

Chapter 10 Student competencies

• Understand what pressure is, what causes it, and how to use an understanding of pressure for various applications.
• Know the units commonly associated with atmospheric pressure
• Understand how changes in pressure, volume, number of particles, and temperature affect the properties of gases.
• Use the ideal gas equation effectively to include the determination of molecular mass and density.
• Solve problems involving two sets of pressure-temperature-volume conditions.
• Be able to solve multi-concept stoichiometric problems involving gaseous reactants or products.
• Understand Dalton’s law of partial pressure; be able to apply it to situations such as a gas collected over water.
• Understand the basic tenets of the kinetic molecular theory (KMT); use the kinetic molecular theory to explain the properties of gases and to predict relative properties.
• Understand how to apply Avogadro’s law.
• Understand the basis for and how to apply Graham’s law.
• Understand real gas deviations from ideal gas behavior, the conditions under which they would be seen, and the basis for these nonidealities.

Chapter 11 Student competencies

• Understand the molecular basis for the three major categories of intermolecular forces.
• Predict relative boiling points and other molecular properties such as vapor pressure, surface tension, viscosity and enthalpy of vaporization.
• Understand the role of hydrogen bonds and other intermolecular forces in important biomolecules.
• Understand phase changes, heating /cooling curves, and the energy changes associated with them. Relate these using energy level diagrams and fundamental molecular interactions.
• Understand the molecular basis for vapor pressure and be able to discuss in terms of kinetic molecular theory and intermolecular interactions.
• Understand and explain how and why vapor pressure changes with temperature.
• Understand phase diagrams.
• Understand the difference types of solids; be able to explain their different on the molecular level and in terms of their expected properties.