Course Outline:

The material for this course is divided into six broad sections, as listed below. There are two weekly and one biweekly 1 hour lectures. Handouts will be available through the portal course site ahead of time, while lecture recordings will become available the following week. For more information and study tips, please consult the Lectures page. Students should read ahead in the course text, as well as use the assigned problems listed in the handouts to test their understanding of the course material.

Approximate schedule:

Lectures (Fall 2017)
SectionSubjectWeekLab Set
1 What‘s in a Number? — introduction to measurement 1no lab
 1.1 The nature and scope of analytical chemistry   
1.2 Measurement terminology; errors in measurement   
1.3 Error estimates; error distribution 2A
1.4 Significance test; calibration & resgression  
2 How Pure is Pure? — standards and calibration 3B
 2.1 Standards and reference materials  
2.2 Determining purity – general methodologies  
2.3 Volumetric analysis – titrations, complexometry, & gravimetry4
3 All Charged Up! — electroanalytical chemistry 5
 3.1 Electrochemistry review; Nernst equation  
3.2 Potentiometry, reference electrodes  
3.3 Membrane electrodes – pH and ISEs 6
3.4 Potentiometric titrations  
4 Making Light Work — molecular spectroscopy 7C & D
 4.1 Review of electromagnetic radiation  
4.2 Electronic transitions in atoms and molecules  
4.3 UV/visible spectrophotometry & Beer‘s Law 8
4.4 UV/visible instrumentation  
4.5 molecular rovibrational transitions – IR 9
4.6 IR & FTIR instrumentation  
5 A Bright Spark! — atomic emission and absorption 10
 5.1 Atomic line spectra & spin multiplicity  
5.2 Maxwell–Boltzmann equation in AS  
5.3 Atom sources, sample introduction, flame processes 11
5.4 Flame atomic absorption & emission  
5.5 Interference effects, calibration, standards addition  
6 Degrees of Separation — introductory chromatography 12
 6.1 Description & mechansim of separation
6.2 Definitions – retention & resolution
6.3 Gas & liquid chomaography instruments
6.4 Optimization, resolution, method selection