CHM1311D Learning Outcomes

Below is a list of learning outcomes (LO) for the course. Each LO describes a general skill or task that a
student is expected to master by the deadline indicated beside each section heading. The corresponding chapter
section of a previous year’s course textbook, (Chemistry, 3rd Canadian Edition by John Olmsted III, Greg
Williams and Robert Burk) is indicated in blue before each LO. The chapter number in the open source
UOttawa textbook is indicated in brackets in green for each section.

High School Review: Chemistry Fundamentals (Midterm 1)

• Recognize elemental symbols and names of the elements, and name compounds from molecular
pictures.
• Recognize the SI units commonly used in chemistry, and perform some common unit conversions.
• Convert numbers into scientific notation and work with powers of 10.
• Identify the number of significant figures in an experimental measurement or in reported data.
• Convert between chemical formula and name for common polyatomic ions.

Chapter 1: Stoichiometry and Chemical Equations (Midterm 1)

• Solve mass-number-molar mass-type problems.
• Perform mole-mass-number conversions.
• Calculate concentrations of solutions and of diluted solutions.
• Balance chemical reactions.
• Calculate the amount of a product from the amounts of the reactants and a balanced chemical equation.
• Find an empirical formula and molecular formula of a compound.
• Calculate yields of chemical reactions.
• Solve limiting-reagent-type problems.
• Work with and interconvert concentration units (mass %, molarity, molality, mole fraction, ppm, ppb).

Chapter 2: Gases and Kinetic Molecular Theory (KMT) (Midterm 1)

• Understand gas pressure and express pressure in various units.
• Relate pressure, volume, temperature, and amount of gas.
• Use the concept of partial pressures in gas mixtures.
• Use stoichiometry to solve problems involving gas-phase chemical reactions.
• Explain the basic concepts of kinetic molecular theory: molecular speed, energy, effects of T, V on p.
• Calculate gas densities and molar masses from pressure-volume-temperature data.
• Identify the differences between an ideal versus a real gas.

Chapter 3: Thermochemistry (Midterm 1)

• Recognize the types of energy of interest to chemists.
• Understand the first law of thermodynamics and the concepts of heat and work.
• Understand the origins of energy changes in chemical reactions.
• Apply the principles of calorimetry to determine energy changes in a chemical reaction.
• Understand and calculate enthalpy and internal energy.
• Calculate work and heat of physical and chemical processes.

Chapter 4: Chemical Equilibrium (Midterm 2)

• Explain the dynamic nature of equilibrium in terms of reversibility.
• Understand some of the properties of equilibrium constants.
• Predict the effects on the equilibrium position of changing concentrations or temperature.
• Solve quantitative equilibrium problems.
• Perform equilibrium calculations on reactions in aqueous solution.
 Chapter 5: Acid-Base Equilibria (Midterm 2)
• Use the Brønsted-Lowry theory of acids and bases.
• Relate pH to concentrations of ions in solution.
• Calculate concentrations and pH in weak acid and base solutions.
• Recognize and name some common acids and bases.
• Calculate the pH of solutions of salts of weak acids or bases.
• Calculate concentrations in solutions involving multiple equilibria.

Chapter 6: Ionic Equilibria in Aqueous Systems (Midterm 3)

• Calculate the pH of a buffered solution.
• Explain how to prepare a buffered solution of known pH and capacity.
• Calculate an acid or a base concentration from titration data.
• Use the concepts of Ksp and the common-ion effect to calculate solution concentrations.

Chapter 7: Kinetics (Midterm 3)

• Explain the concepts of a mechanism and a rate-determining step in a chemical reaction.
• Determine the rate of a reaction based on the rate of change of concentration of a reactant or a product.
• Determine the rate law, given the mechanism and knowledge of the relative rates of steps of a reaction.
• Determine rate laws from concentration versus time data.
• Show that the mechanism and rate law are closely related.
• Explain and quantify the effects of temperature on a reaction rate.
• Explain the mechanisms by which catalysts function.

Chapter 8: Atoms, Light and Electrons in Atoms (Exam)

• Understand some of the fundamental aspects of atoms.
• Understand some of the fundamental aspects of light.
• Explain the origins of atomic spectra and relate electron energies in H atom to emission spectrum.
• Describe properties of free electrons and those in atoms or molecules.
• Write valid sets of quantum numbers for a given set of orbitals.
• Recognize shapes of s, p, d, and f orbitals.
• Explain the effects of nuclear charge and screening on the energies of electrons.
• Understand the relationships between the structure of the periodic table and electron configurations.
• Use the Pauli exclusion principle, Hund’s rule, and the orbital filling order to predict electron
configurations of atoms and ions.

Chapter 9: Chemical Bonding (Exam)

• Use the concept of electronegativity to determine the polarity of a chemical bond.
• Draw optimized Lewis structures of covalent compounds, including resonance structures.
• Recognize the importance of the tetrahedral shape in molecules.
• Use the VSEPR model to predict the shapes of molecules with steric numbers 2, 3, 5, and 6.
• Understand the factors that influence bond angles, lengths, and energies.
• Explain the factors that contribute to the strength of an acid.

Chapter 1, Section 5: (Exam)

• Use oxidation numbers to show what is being oxidized and what is being reduced in a redox reaction.
• Balance redox reactions using the half-reaction method.