CHEMISTRY
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
As reported in the single annual profile of the degree course, students' initial preparation on general chemistry topics will be monitored and, in the event of gaps, students will be assigned additional educational obligations (OFA); these gaps must be filled with a recovery path in e-learning mode which will be prepared by the teacher in a specific shared space and/or with insights and clarifications directly with the teacher.
To verify the learning of the knowledge and skills imparted in class, an oral exam will be held. The questions will focus on two main topics, one for each thematic area listed below, and will have a general nature, in order to give the student the opportunity to range and manage the answer in the most congenial organization.
Verification of learning will start from the discussion of a formula or reaction shown by the teacher and
will focus on:
A) general, inorganic and organic chemistry among which some topics are: chemical bonds, gas theory, thermodynamics, liquids and solids, solutions and their properties, reaction rates and main reactions, chemical equilibria, acids and bases, pH, buffer solutions, electrochemistry and reactivity and properties of the various organic substituents.
The issues must be contextualized in the context of biological macromolecules.
B) structures of biological / biochemical interest such as glucose, ribose, glycogen (alpha and beta glycosidic bonds), alpha-amino acids constituting proteins (peptide bond), saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, linolenic), triglycerides and phosphatidic acid (basic structure of glycerophospholipid), cholesterol, adenosine triphosphate, carbon skeleton of DNA and RNA, including the characteristics of these macromolecules and their reactivity.
The evaluation will take into account the accuracy of the information; the degree of in-depth study of the topic demonstrated by the student; the ability to focus on the response; the ability to relate the topic to biological examples as well as lexical competence and chemical / scientific vocabulary
Examples of questions and indications on the necessary, important and detailed points on the answers will be described during the lessons and kept available to students in a video saved on the e-learning platform and in the Teams class organized by the teacher
EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the course are, i) to provide the student with the knowledge and skills for understanding the principles underlying the chemical and chemical-physical processes of the human body and synthetic materials that mimic or are in contact with human tissues; ii) give the bases of a correct technical-scientific language; iii) support the knowledge of general concepts transversal to all scientific disciplines, (e.g., hydrophilicity / hydrophobicity, pH, difference between causality, consequentiality and temporal link).
EXPECTED LEARNING RESULTS
At the end of the course the student will be able to:
1. apply the laws of gases, the properties of solutions and acid-base balances to the processes that regulate the human body (respiration, maintenance of osmotic balance, blood buffer systems, degree of solubility of salts for example)
2. discuss the characteristics of chemical materials, in particular those for dentistry
3. describe the structure and characteristics of the main functional groups of organic compounds of biological interest and identify their reactivity characteristics
4. link the structure of the main biological macromolecules with their functions and reactivity
5. identify the chemical properties, structural characteristics, molecular organization and spatial orientation of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, referring them to the main biological functions they perform in the human body and, in particular, in dental tissues
6. critically discuss the behavior of molecules and their functional groups in relation to changes in pH or temperature
7. master the scientific chemical vocabulary and lexicon.
General chemistry:
Atomic model, electronic configuration, chemical bonds, gas laws, thermodynamics, solutions and their properties, reaction rates and main reactions, chemical equilibria, acids and bases, pH, buffer solutions, Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. Isomerism.
Organic chemistry:
Hydrocarbons, aromatics, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, carbonyl group, fatty acids, heterocycles, amines and amides: structures, physico-chemical characteristics and reactions.
Propedeutics in Biochemistry:
Sugars, amino acids, lipids, nucleotides, chemical-physical characteristics, structural characteristics and biological examples.
Students with additional educational obligations (OFA) must attend a course made up of lectures (slides, videos, commented handouts, articles and suggestions of chapters of texts) so that they can recover the preliminary knowledge of chemistry indicated in the prerequisites and pass the OFA examination. The teacher will be available by appointment for further information and clarifications.
Chemistry teaching will be taught with lectures (36 hours, 18 lectures) which include the projection of slides (generally in Italian but, in cases of recently published material, also in English). During the explanation in the classroom, students will be invited to interact with the teacher and solve small problems and try to answer specific questions. During the lessons, the teacher will also present cases and daily facts that can help us understand the application / importance of the subject in oral chemistry.
Students are required to attend classes as established in the study program teaching regulations.
The teacher will make available the presentations projected during lectures and other material of interest (articles) through the University e-learning platforms to which students have access.
For appointments, the students are invited to ask by e-mail the teacher: manuela.viola@uninsubria.it
The lessons will be made available to students on the e-learning platform; in this area it will also be possible to contact the teacher for explanations and doubts.