Chemistry focuses on what happens to matter at the molecular and subatomic levels. In other words, it is the study of how virtually everything in the world really works. Chemists are at the forefront of scientific discovery in a wide variety of fields such as medicine, drug discovery, nanotechnology, new material design and the environment.
What you will learn
You will learn how molecules interact, how and why chemical reactions occur and how to control these processes. You will learn how to find answers to important questions such as: how do we harvest light to make energy, how do we build molecules that cure disease and how do plants protect themselves from pathogen attack? Through appropriate course selection, you can specialize in analytical, bioorganic, computational, inorganic, organic, organometallic, physical or theoretical chemistry.
A first-year schedule sample
Here’s what a typical first-year schedule might look like:
Course |
Description |
Fall Term |
CHEM 112 |
General Chemistry I Structure Bonding and Properties of Materials |
MATH 110 |
Calculus I |
ENG 113* |
Literature and Composition Reading Narrative |
PHYS 115* |
Physics and the Universe |
ARCH 112* |
The Human Journey Introduction to Archaeology and Biological Anthropology |
Winter Term |
CHEM 115 |
General Chemistry II Chemical Processes |
CHEM 250* |
Introduction to Organic Chemistry |
MATH 116 |
Calculus II |
PHYS 125* |
Physics and Technology |
GEOG 120* |
Introduction to Global Environmental Systems |
CHEM 242: Thermodynamics and Kinetics
The study of the structure of matter and the changes it undergoes. Topics include properties of materials, thermodynamics, chemical equilibria and chemical kinetics. The laboratory provides experience with the use of physical-chemical equipment and problem solving skills.
CHEM 332: Inorganic Chemistry II
An introduction to transition metal chemistry including coordination geometry and stereochemistry, ligand field theory, and spectroscopic, magnetic and thermodynamic properties of inorganic compounds. The laboratory work includes experiments on the preparation and characterization of transition metal compounds.
CHEM 450: Selected Topics in Organic Chemistry
Selected topics that are not dealt with or are covered only at an elementary level in other organic chemistry courses offered by the department. Possible topics include organic synthesis, organic reaction mechanisms, natural products, organometallic chemistry, heterocyclic chemistry, carbohydrate chemistry and organic photochemistry.