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Module

CME1020 : Chemistry

  • Offered for Year: 2023/24
  • Module Leader(s): Professor Paul Christensen
  • Lecturer: Professor Marloes Peeters, Professor Jarka Glassey
  • Owning School: Engineering
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Semester 1 Credit Value: 13
Semester 2 Credit Value: 12
ECTS Credits: 13.0

Aims

This module will provide students with necessary knowledge and practical skills in various areas of chemistry/biochemistry required for chemical engineering.

Outline Of Syllabus

Basic physical chemistry: intermolecular forces; kinetics including Arrhenius and catalysis. Basic adsorption isotherms (Langmuir, BET). Applied catalysis.

Basic organic chemistry concepts: functional groups amino acids, aldehydes, ketones, lipids, nucleotides – some heterocycles etc. Basic organic reaction mechanisms.
Basic analytical chemistry: UV Vis spectroscopy (including Beer-Lambert Law), and gas liquid chromatography. Acids and bases, pH, buffers, indicators and pH titrations.

Introduction to biotechnology. Biological diversity and cell classification. Cell structure (chemical composition, organelles). Enzyme classification and kinetics. Immobilised enzymes. Metabolic pathways. Cell reproduction.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities
Category Activity Number Length Student Hours Comment
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion13:003:00Written examination
Guided Independent StudyAssessment preparation and completion135:0035:00Revision for exam
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesLecture180:0080:00Lectures and tutorial spread across both semesters.
Scheduled Learning And Teaching ActivitiesPractical43:0012:00Labs.
Guided Independent StudyIndependent study1120:00120:00Preparation for lab reports, independent reading, work-up of lectures.
Total250:00
Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Knowledge of basic concepts is communicated in the lectures. Calculation sheets are set to give the students experience of problem solving in this subject. They also reinforce lecture material. The tutorials and seminars are used to go over the answers to question sheets and also to cover selected topics in more detail. Practicals provide students with the opportunity to acquire the relevant practical skills.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Exams
Description Length Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Written Examination1802A75Closed book exam
Other Assessment
Description Semester When Set Percentage Comment
Practical/lab report1M253 x Lab reports (10% each). Semester 1 & 2. Pass mark must be achieved as minimum to pass the module.
Formative Assessments
Description Semester When Set Comment
Practical/lab report1MFormative lab report- students will receive feedback.
Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The exam will test the students on their theoretical knowledge, there will be ample practice quizzes on Canvas to prepare them for this. The lab reports are part of an ongoing assessment portfolio to ensure that students are engaging and developing the appropriate lab skills and knowledge as per the ILOs for this lab based module

Exam will assess the level of attaining the knowledge outcomes. Practicals will assess the skills outcomes. Students must pass the lab reports. Students will be asked to prepare 8 lab reports of which 6 lab reports count towards the mark (note, 3 lab count towards CME1020 and 3 towards CME1023). The first report is to familiarise the students with the lab environment and to learn how to record lab data.

The second lab report is a short report which in addition to a workshop on report writing, will help them with the next set of reports which will count towards the mark. This is a formative lab assessment prior to the assessed lab assessment. Students will receive feedback on this, enabling them to improve their report writing skills and therefore their final mark for the practical reports.

Reading Lists

Timetable