Chemistry for non-chemists

Cele kursu

You are a material science, biology, or physics student? Maybe from a completely different field? The last time you heard something about chemistry was during high school or at the best – during your first year in university? You do not understand what all these strange hieroglyphs they call “chemical formulas” mean or do you struggle with concentration calculations? You are in the right place! After this course, your chemical knowledge will expand dramatically, and you will become more confident about your knowledge. You will obtain skills useful for your research or at least you could flex about it with your friends and co-workers. It will become easier for you to read chemistry-related sections in scientific literature, and understand basic and more advanced principles behind chemical processes. Finally, you will better understand how the world around you is working – from the chemical point of view.     

Tematyka kursu

During the course, we will discuss the topics that you probably knew before but also something new. It will cover some topics from the school program to freshen up the basics and a lot of topics from the university level. We will cover such useful topics, as: the structure of matter, the correlation between structure and properties, and basic organic, analytical and physical chemistry (physicochemical analysis, electrochemistry), as well as take a look at some real-world examples from the chemical point of view. Also, the obtained knowledge will be used to tackle real-world examples – we will discuss the chemistry of color, light, electrochemical energy storage, and environment. Additionally, you will be able to modify the course by proposing your own ideas for some lessons that are interesting for you!   

Efekty uczenia się

Upon completion of the course, you will be able to read chemical formulas, distinguish and calculate different concentration types, and understand the principle behind organic molecule synthesis. You will be very confident to discuss different topics with your chemist co-worker (and finally understand what he says). You can use your new knowledge to analyze the composition of your favorite daily products from grocery stores. You will know how to find some specific chemical information, where to search and know the corresponding software. You will be able to understand the results of different chemical and chemistry-related analyses (NMR, FTIR, Mass, HPLC, CV, GCD). As a bonus, you will know how the batteries are working.

Metody pracy

Most parts of the course are planned to be implemented as lectures with active participation of the listeners. As a form of active participation will be quizzes, questions, small discussions and games. All of these methods will be used to make the educational process easier and more engaging.