SCIENZE BIOMEDICHEModule GENERAL AND INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: Maria Elena FRAGALA'Expected Learning Outcomes
This module aims to provide basic concepts about the molecular structures and chemical properties of ions and molecules of interest to a physician. Starting from the properties of gases and aqueous solutions, the course analyzes the characteristics of acids, bases and buffers, the kinetics and equilibria of different chemical processes, the main thermodynamic parameters, the structure and chemical reactivity of molecules. At the end of the course, the basic knowledge will be provided to understand the relationships between the structures of molecules and their functions in the human body through the acquisition of basic knowledge on chemical transformations and fundamental molecular interactions. The course will therefore contribute to the training of professionals who have non-superficial knowledge of molecular structures and their chemism in order to better understand the biological and physiological processes of the human body and the alterations of these processes.
With reference to the so-called Dublin Descriptors, this course contributes to acquiring the following transversal skills:
Knowledge and understanding:
Inductive and deductive reasoning skills.
Ability to know the fundamental chemical mechanisms underlying the processes of biological and biochemical interest
Ability to know the chemical principles underlying biomedical application methodologies
Ability to apply knowledge:
Ability to apply the knowledge acquired for the description of chemical phenomena using rigorously the scientific method.
Capacity for quantitative calculation of reactants and products of chemical reactions.
Ability to recognize the main radioactive decay processes
Autonomy of judgment:
Critical reasoning skills.
Ability to identify the most suitable solutions to solve chemical problems of biomedical interest.
Communication skills:
Ability to describe in oral form, with properties of language and terminological rigor, a scientific topic, illustrating its motivations and results.
Course Structure
Attendance and participation in the scheduled teaching activities (lectures and exercises) will allow the student to become familiar with the representation and chemical reactivity of inorganic and organic compounds of medical interest. Teaching is held through lectures held in the classroom with the support of projected images.
If the teaching is given in a mixed or remote mode, the necessary changes with respect to what was previously stated may be introduced, in order to comply with the program envisaged and reported in the syllabus.
Required Prerequisites
Basic mathematics, basic physics, basic chemistry.
Attendance of Lessons
Attendance (even in remote mode, based on the COVID-19 provisions) is a necessary requirement for passing and for the final exam.
Detailed Course Content
Aggregation states of matter
Atoms and elemental classification
Radioactivity
Chemical bond: General concepts.
Solutions: General properties of solutions.
Acidity of solutions: pH. Acid-base reactions. Buffers. pH and solubility.
Redox
Textbook Information
Chimica, biochimica e biologia applicata (Massimo Stefani Niccolò Taddei - Zanichelli)
Chimica per le Scienze Biomediche (George I. Sackheim, Dennis D. Lehman- EdiSES)
Course Planning
Subjects | Text References | |
---|---|---|
1 | Periodic Table | Chimica, Biochimica e biologia applicata come concetti di base. Chimica e Propedeutica Biochimica |
2 | Molecular Formula and molecular geometry | Chimica, Biochimica e biologia applicata come concetti di base. Chimica e Propedeutica Biochimica |
3 | Chemical bond and molecular interactions | Chimica, Biochimica e biologia applicata come concetti di base. Chimica e Propedeutica Biochimica |
4 | Solutions: properties and preparation | Chimica, Biochimica e biologia applicata come concetti di base. Chimica e Propedeutica Biochimica |
5 | Acids and bases | Chimica, Biochimica e biologia applicata come concetti di base. Chimica e Propedeutica Biochimica |
6 | Radioactivity | Chimica e Propedeutica Biochimica |
7 | Redox reactions | Chimica, Biochimica e biologia applicata come concetti di base. Chimica e Propedeutica Biochimica |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
The final exam consists of a written exam (the day of the exam is the one indicated on the official calendar and on the student portal), based on exercises similar to those addressed in the classroom during the course, and in an oral interview (date and place will be indicated by the teacher).
The exam is aimed to consider the skills acquired for the general chemistry part. Specifically, students have to solve some general chemistry problems such as calculating the pH of a given aqueous solution or describe the equilibrium constant of a reversible chemical reaction, representing the molecular structures corresponding to specific traditional names or attributed to organic and inorganic chemical compounds.
The oral exam will consist of questions relating to the various parts of the program to ascertain the overall level of knowledge acquired by the candidate.
Criteria for awarding the final grade:
The mastery shown in the qualitative and quantitative arguments, the critical vision of the topics addressed during the course and the ability to correlate the various parts of the program will contribute in equal measure to the formulation of the final grade.
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
What is the atomic mass unit
What is the mole
How the molecular geometry of a molecule is defined
Types of chemical bond
What are the intermolecular interactions
What is a solution
What is osmosis
How to calculate the pH of a solution
How to prepare a buffer solution
How do you balance a redox reaction