Thermodynamics Premaster Course

Course manual 2023/2024

Course content

The goal of this course is to give students with a non-academic background a solid basis in thermodynamics and kinetics.

Topics discussed are:

• the behavior of perfect and real gases, on a macroscopic and a microscopic level
• thermodynamic state functions such as energy, enthalpy and entropy, and energy exchange as heat or work
• the relation between free energy and equilibrium
• electrochemistry and redox reactions
• phase transitions
• reaction kinetics

Study materials

Literature

• Atkins & De Paula, Elements of Physical Chemistry, Oxford University Press

Software

• SOWISO (will be updated to ANS)

Other

• Handouts and exercises (digital)

Objectives

• Explain how various state functions (pressure, temperature, volumes..) can be used to describe changes in physical and chemical phenomena.
• Use microscopic molecular properties (e.g. mass and velocity of molecules) to explain macroscopic thermodynamic phenomena (e.g. pressure, phase transitions).
• Calculate the heat and work involved in physical and chemical processes (e.g. pressure-volume work).
• Predict the direction of chemical reactions using Gibbs energy and equilibrium constant calculations.
• Use thermodynamic parameters (e.g. pressure and temperature) to calculate reaction rates.
• Explain how thermodynamics functions can be used to describe redox reactions.
• Calculate redox equilibria on the bases of electrochemical potentials.
• Illustrate how chemical kinetics concepts can be used to express how rapidly reactants are consumed and products formed.
• Calculate reaction orders and rate constants from experimental data (e.g. concentration substrate, temperature) and use these to predict the course of reactions.

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Seminar
• Laptop seminar

Learning activities

Attendance

Additional requirements for this course:

The tutorials are compulsory and attendance will be registered.

Assessment

• The exam and resit are open book: you can use the book during the exam and resit. 
• The grade is based for 80% on the exam and for 20% on the average grade of the weekly assignments. 
• The assignments are mandatory. Missing an assignment means that that assignment is graded with 1.  All assignment grades are included in the average grade. 
• The resit is based on the retake exam for 100%. The weekly assignments will not be included in the grade of the resit. 

Inspection of assessed work

You can contact the lecturers via email and fix an appointment to inspect and the exam. 

Assignments will be discussed during the tutorials. 

Assignments

During the tutorials, you will work on exercises to practice the subject discussed in that week. There are seven topics. Each topics has an assignment. 

20% of the final grade is based on the average grade of the weekly assignments (7 in total). 

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Contact information

Coordinator

• dr. Jocelyne Vreede

Staff

• Sander Woutersen (lecturer)
• Melanie Messih BSc (teaching assistant)