Preliminary Course "Chemistry (minor)"

The preliminary course is divided into lectures, tutorials and self-study. The lectures will discuss various topics from general, inorganic and organic chemistry. Instead of the more phenomenological description of scientific facts that tends to dominate in high school, the focus in the preliminary course is different: The approach is to develop a quantitative understanding of chemistry. Wherever appropriate, the instructor will explain concepts, techniques and writing/presentation styles.  In many places, the goal of the preliminary course is to equip students with the essential skills for working independently on science problems. To achieve this goal, we will use numerous examples. A confident use of calculus (which generally does not go far beyond the rule of three and calculating with units) is an indispensable prerequisite in the study of chemistry (even in a minor). The tutorials give students the opportunity to work on problems discussed in the corresponding lectures. In this way, they can find out whether they understood a given concept correctly. Furthermore, the tutorials are an opportunity to discuss advanced aspects and questions about the material presented in the lecture.

Topics:

• From matter and measurements to atoms, molecules and ions
• Stoichiometry: Calculating with chemical formulas and equations
• Reactions in aqueous solutions
• Organic chemistry: Recognizing and writing down concepts