Environmental physics and chemistry (5 cr)

Objective

You can solve kinematic problems with Newtonian mechanics and with the energy principle. You learn to calculate collisions and you understand what the conservation of energy, linear momentum and angular momentum mean in daily life. You know the atomic structure and chemical bonds. You are able to describe and identify common inorganic compounds as well as the groups and structures of organic compounds. You can write basic chemical equations, solve problems dealing with solutions, gases, pH, and amounts of substances needed for reactions. You master the basic principles of laboratory work. You can apply theoretical knowledge to practice and write a report on experiments.

Content

How can you predict how objects move? Does the car stop before the pedestrian on the road? What is a closed system, and how is the energy conservation principle used to solve problems? What are the basic chemical quantities, units, definitions and natural laws? How is matter constructed? What happens when a chemical reaction occurs? How are chemical compounds divided into groups and how are they named? What are the properties of chemical substances?

Course material

Information about learning materials is given at the beginning of the course.
Study materials are teacher-provided handouts and electronic material in Learn.
Physics can be studied also from the book: "Fundamentals of Physics", Halliday, Resnick and Walker. Wiley 8th or newer edition.
In Chemistry part an electric book is used: Gaffney, J. & Marley, N. (2018). General Chemistry for Engineers. Elsevier.

Study forms and methods

Scheduled track:
The course consists of online lectures, and weekly homework assignments.
In addition, students are required to complete homework assignments.

RDI and work-related cooperation

No co-operation

Timing of exams and assignments

Separate exam from physics part and chemistry part.
The failed exam can be resit twice in both subjects.
Dates are announced in the beginning of the course.

International cooperation

No co-operation

Student workload

Student's workload 135 h = 67,5 h/subject

Course part description

The course begins with physics part in January and continues with the chemistry part in April.

Further information

Reijo Vuohelainen teaches physics part and Liisi Rajala teaches chemistry part. Both parts have separate Learn-pages.

Evaluation scale

1-5

Assessment methods and criteria

Chemistry: Exam + possibility to earn bonus points by doing homework. Evaluation: 1-5
Physics: Exam + possibility to earn bonus points by doing homework. Evaluation: 1-5

The course is passed when both parts, physics and chemistry, are passed.
The final grade of the course is calculated as an average of the grades from physic and chemistry part.