508337 - PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY AND BIOPHYSICAL ASSAYS

courses

ID:

508337

Duration (hours):

48

CFU:

SSD:

CHIMICA FISICA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (02/03/2026 - 12/06/2026)

Course Objectives

The course aims to integrate the information received in basic chemistry courses, deepening the study of thermodynamics and chemical kinetics.

At the end of the course the student will have to demonstrate:
- the acquisition of the physical meaning of the thermodynamic functions U, H, S, G and A.
- the ability to calculate reaction enthalpies and entropies along with their dependence on temperature.
- the ability to calculate the equilibrium constant of chemical reactions.
- to know the physical meaning of the order of a reaction along with the ability to use the experimental methods for determining the order of a reaction.
- the ability to identify the relationship between order and mechanism of a reaction (for example, unimolecular reactions and chain reactions).
- to know the fundamental concepts of vibrational spectroscopy.
- how to interpret the typical aspect of an IR spectrum, identifying the different areas of the spectrum itself (area of localized vibrations and fingerprint).
- to be able to interpret the IR spectra of the main classes of organic compounds (hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, amines and carbonyl compounds).
- to know the principles of the power-compensated and heat flux differential scanning calorimetry technique.

Course Prerequisites

Mathematics:
physical meaning of derivative and integral. Derivation and Integration of simple functions. The equation of a straight line: least squares approximation.
Physics: fundaments of thermodynamics
Chemistry:
1) Balance of chemical reactions. Endothermic and exothermic reactions
2) Chemical equilibrium und mass action law
3) Awareness of the factors affecting the reaction rate. Arrhenius equation
4) Good knowledge of measuring units

Teaching Methods

As for the part of physical chemistry presence lectures are planned. The arguments will be completed with the discussion and the solution of numerical exercises to better understand the theory involved. The part of infrared spectroscopy will consist of some theoretical lectures and several practical sessions devoted to the interpretation of IR spectra of organic molecules. The IR FT-IR spectrophotometer will be showed to the students and the relevant experimental parameter along with their influence on the obtained spectra will be discussed.

Assessment Methods

The oral examination will be constituted by 2 parts that the student can make separately or at one time. For the physical chemistry part (thermodynamics and kinetics), before the end of the course, a list of topics will be proposed; the students can choose which one to present. The exam will continue on other parts of the program not included in the topic that the student has chosen to present. As concerns the part on the experimental techniques a) IR spectroscopy : interpretation of 1 / 2 spectra selected among those discussed during the lectures. Finally a question on the others described experimental techniques (thermal analysis methods).

Texts

For thermodynamics and kinetics, slides provided by the Teacher. As for Spectroscopy, besides the copies of the tables shown in class, the students will receive an hardcopy of all the IR spectra discussed in class. For the other experimental techniques some supplementary material and information will be supplied to the students. For the thermodynamics part, the textbook Peter Atkins, Julio de Paula – Elementi di chimica fisica – Zanichelli (quarta ed. italiana, settima ed. inglese) is recommended.

The first law of thermodynamics: heat and work, internal energy and enthalpy. Molar heat capacity. Phase change enthalpy and its measure. Combustion reactions: the biological fuels. The dependence of the reaction enthalpy with temperature. The second law of thermodynamics and the thermodynamic function entropy. Entropy changes associate to temperature changes and to phase transitions. Entropy variations for system and ambient: the criterion in order to assess the spontaneity of the process. The third law of thermodynamics and the absolute entropy. Standard reaction entropy. From entropy to free energy. The chemical equilibrium and its thermodynamic basis. Changes of free energy with composition. The standard free energy of reaction. Effect of temperature, pressure and catalysts on the equilibrium constant. Definition and study of reaction rate. The kinetic law of a reaction: the reaction order. Experimental methods for the determination of reaction order. The integrated kinetic laws. The influence of the temperature on the reaction rate. Reaction mechanism: the Lindemann approximation and steady state method. Some examples of reaction mechanism: the unimolecular reactions and the chain reactions. Some physic-chemical techniques: Vibrational (infrared ) spectroscopy. The thermal techniques: differential thermal analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (power compensated and heat flux). Thermogravimetric analysis. The FRET spectroscopy (Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer). The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).

Course Language

Italian

More information

With reference to the guidelines for teaching procedures (as of 2023/2024 AY), the students who certify to fulfill the conditions given in Annex A will benefit from the whole material provided to all other students with the addition of up to 2 hours per week for support by the lecturer, either in presence or online, to be arranged directly with the lecturer at least one week in advance. The oral examination will be organized as for the other students.