Practical Chemistry

The University has strict guidelines regarding ‘dishonest practice’ and ‘breach of instructions’ in relation to the completion and submission of examinable material. In cases where dishonest practice is involved in tests or other work submitted for credit a department may choose to not mark such work (p 49 of the 2012 University Calendar under the headings ‘Breach of Instructions and Dishonest Practice’).

The Department of Chemistry upholds this policy. It considers plagiarism, collusion, copying, and ghost writing to be unacceptable and dishonest practices.

Learning Outcomes
Mastery of the topics listed below as demonstrated by your performance in the various assessment components.

Goal of the Course
Practical chemistry involves the preparation of all sorts of organic, inorganic and organometallic compounds, and the measurement of their properties and reactions. Because of the diversity of materials, a wide variety of laboratory techniques can be acquired in the course of carrying out synthesis and analysis. This laboratory course also presents some of the more common among the methods of characterisation which can be carried out on chemical compounds. It is important to have an awareness of how these can be applied, what information they offer and their limitations in order to be able to carry out the chemical detective work which is research. The analysis of compounds and compound behaviour is essential in the understanding of chemistry and its place in our society.

This laboratory course has been designed to introduce you to the practical skills necessary to carry out the synthesis and characterisation of chemical compounds and to introduce you to some important chemical and biochemical techniques.


Summary of the Course Content
Each student will carry out experiments in groups as directed by the Laboratory Supervisor.
This course will:

• Introduce the techniques required in a synthetic laboratory;
• Provide you with a degree of competency in synthetic and analytical chemistry;
• Provide you with the skills necessary to analyse chemicals and chemical reactions quantitatively.
• Provide practice in the use of spectroscopy and other techniques to determine the structure of compounds and the fundamental properties of their reactions.
• Provide an introduction to the chemical literature and the Library.
• Provide an introduction to statistical analysis of data.
• Provide an introduction to preparing scientific reports and documents.

Students will be required to have read the appropriate section of the Laboratory Manual and complete any work required before the start of each exercise. Check the Learn website for details.