Analytical Chemistry

Duration

20h Th, 15h Pr, 5d Labo.

Number of credits

Lecturer

Gauthier Eppe

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

During the 10 courses, the balanced reactions (acid-bases, redox, complexation, precipitation) are treated in terms of exchange of particles between donors and acceptors, thus unifying the concepts used in the study of the various reactions in aqueous solution. The next step consists in establishing a relationship between the variations of the conditional constants (acidity constants, formation constants of complex, normal potentials, exchange and partition constants) and the conditions of the medium (pH, ionic strength, complexing agent). These concepts being acquired, the implementation and the quantitative application of these various reactions with the purpose of analysis (titrimetry and gravimetry, primarily) are considered while insisting on accuracy which one should expect.
Laboratory Sessions (5 full days): 
The first part of the laboratory sessions aims at teaching to students the basic experimental methods used in analytical chemistry. Emphasis will be mostly placed on quantitative methods, such as gravimetry and acid-base, complexometric, or redox titrations.
The second part of the program is focused on more specialized techniques, such as colorimetry. It aims at teaching to students analysis methods commonly used in research or industrial laboratories.
 

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

To present with some details, the most current methods of analysis, based on chemical processes. Within the framework of the chemical methods, the mainly developed aspect is quantitative analysis with an emphasis on the concept of precision, trueness and accuracy. 
  At the end of the practical works, students will be acquainted with the common basic techniques used in analytical laboratories. They will be able to analyze and to perform simple experimental procedures reported in the literature and to assess the significance of the results obtained.
In addition, laboratory sessions in small groups will help the students to develop more general skills, such as team working, problem solving, finding information in the technical literature, critically analyzing experimental data, improving their oral and writing skills, etc.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Good knowledge of the basic concepts of the course of generalchemistry

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Laboratory work (5 days): 
Teams of two students perform a series of experiments with increasing complexity to get used to the basic techniques of analytical chemistry. Results are summarized in a report delivered at the end of the practical session.
 
This activity is part of the teaching module and is mandatory. The student who does not participate at the entire activity and/or provided their reports outside the deadlines fixed will not be admitted at the exam.
 

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Theoretical course: 20 h during B3 Q1, R30 room building B6d;
Practical work:
15h given by C. Delvaux
The rehearsals are important from several points of view: they illustrate the course and contribute to its understanding by a series of problems and exercises to solve.They give the opportunity to student to improve their understanding of the various calculation methods seen within the course: Acid-base titrations, complexometric titrations, oxydoreduction potentials, Pourbaix diagrams.

Recommended or required readings

- Notes were written and are available for the whole course. - These notes are accompanied with a booklet of exercises.
The laboratory manual is available at the 'Presses Universitaires'. Each laboratory session should be prepared in advance using the laboratory manual and the lecture notes relative to the topic under study.

Reference work: the students can obtain additional information, in particular in the excellent book: ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY by SKOOG, WEST and HOLLER, 3rd edition (2015)

Assessment methods and criteria

Examination: The examination is a written exam. It involves mostly numerical exercises, a few theoretical questions directly from the course, and applications: interpretation or layout of titration curves, calculations of conditional constants. The examination relies on the entirety of the course. The first exam session is in January, the second is in August/September.
The evaluation of the laboratory sessions takes into account:

• the preparation of each session (read the laboratory notes or the manual, revise the related theoretical notions), 
• the behavior in the laboratory (respect of the schedule and of the safety instructions, answers to the questions of the teaching assistant, care brought to performing the experiments,...), 
• the laboratory notebook (all the experimental observation and results must be clearly and precisely reported and discussed), 
• any written reports 
• An exam carried out outside the January session 

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Contacts

Pr. Gauthier Eppe Institut de Chimie, Bat B6c, Local 1/9A Tel. +32-4-366.3422 e-mail. g.eppe@ulg.ac.be
Person in charge of the exercise sessions
Cédric Delvaux
C.delvaux@ulg.ac.be
 
Person in charge of the laboratory sessions:
Dr. Céline Xhrouet
Tel: (04) 366-2345
E-mail: c.xhrouet@ulg.ac.be
Préparateur  S. Luts