General and Inorganic Chemistry

The primary goal of the course is to provide a solid foundation in the basic concepts and facts of general and inorganic chemistry, particularly those needed for a successful understanding of other subjects for which chemistry is a prerequisite. Basic laboratory skills will be also provided, which are fundamental to the student for properly facing the subsequent laboratory courses. Last but not least, the course aims to give the student an appreciation of the importance of chemistry to society in general and to daily life in particular.

At the end of the course, the student is expected to reach the following results:
- Knowledge, understanding and application: the student will acquire knowledge, understanding and critical application, even by the resolution of exercises of proper difficulty, over the basic chemical language with a particular focus on inorganic compounds nomenclature, atomic and electronic structure of the matter, chemico-physical properties of the elements and principal kinds of inorganic compounds, chemical bonds, Lewis structures, chemical reactions in particular redox reactions and their balancing, aqueous solutions and pH of acids, bases, salts, buffers, electrochemistry (i.e. batteries and electrolysis), basic thermodynamics and kinetics. Furthermore, the student will acquire elementary laboratory skills.
- Judgements and communication abilities: the student will be able to critically assess modes of interaction/transformation of inorganic molecules, even biologically interesting. Moreover, the student will acquire communication abilities using a specific language by employing proper chemical terms and expositive clearness.