Module Identifier BS00120  
Module Title BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY  
Academic Year 2005/2006  
Co-ordinator Dr David J Hopper  
Semester Semester 1  
Other staff Dr Christopher L Davey, Dr Hazel M Davey  
Course delivery Lecture    
  Seminars / Tutorials    
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam2 Hours  70%
Semester Assessment Two three hour workshops  30%
Supplementary Exam2 Hours  70%
Supplementary Assessment Resubmission of failed or missing work  30%

Learning outcomes

On completion of the module, students should be able to:

Aims

The module aims to introduce students who have little grounding in chemistry to the language and concepts of the subject to give them sufficient background for their biological studies. It will also introduce, where appropriate, some biochemistry to prepare for level 1.

Content

The course will consist of twenty lectures from the Introductory Chemistry module and, in addition, ten tutorial sessions devoted to further explanation of the lecture topics and the introduction of some biochemistry.
The curriculum will include the following.
The concept of atoms and elements.
The structure of atoms in terms of protons, neutrons and electrons.
The concept of atomic number and electronic configuration will be put in the context of the periodic table and this will be used to explain some rationale and order to the properties of the elements.
This will lead to a consideration of simple molecules, a description of ionic and covalent bonding, and the idea of valency.
A section on organic chemistry will deal with the special properties of carbon, hydrocarbons and homologous series, isomerism (including chirality), and an introduction to functional groups and their nomenclature.
The carboxyl and amino functional groups will be dealt with in the context of acid, bases and buffers. This will also include the concept of equilibria.
The concepts of moles and molar concentrations will be introduced together with Avogadro's constant and calculations for making up solutions of known concentration.

Module Skills

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Lewis, R. & Evans, W. (2001) Chemistry 2nd. Palgrave

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 3