| Semester 1, 2022 Toowoomba On-campus | |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences |
| School or Department : | School of Agriculture and Environmental Science |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
| Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Examiner:
Overview
This course is intended to provide an understanding of chemistry and microbiology from an environmental engineering perspective. Knowledge from this course will be essential in subsequent ENV coded courses including ENV3103 Environmental Pollution, ENV4203, ENV4204 and ENV4205.
This course provides the required knowledge of both chemistry and microbiology in order to understand more advanced courses in environmental engineering. The course is an applied course focusing on (1) the aspects of chemistry that are particularly valuable for solving environmental problems, and (2) laying the groundwork for applied water and wastewater analysis - a fundamental precept in environmental engineering practice and research.
Course learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course students should be able to:
- Explain key chemistry concepts (including matter, atoms, elements, molecules, ions, electronegativity, inorganic and organic compounds) and different types of chemical reactions (such as precipitation-dissolution, acid-base, pH, complexations, redox, with gases, oxidation).
- Solve problems based on fundamental principles (moles and Avogadro鈥檚 number), interpret phenomena using chemical laws (such as Le Chatelier, Raoult and Henry鈥檚 Laws) and apply calculations based on activity coefficients and ionic strength.
- Evaluate the effect of chemical reactions including initiation and rate (using concepts of thermodynamics and kinetics) and chemical balance as expressed by stoichiometry, valence and units.
- Describe and discuss water chemistry theoretical concepts including water hardness, alkalinity, buffers, buffering capacity, chlorination and salinity.
- Describe chemical properties of pollutants and evaluate how pollutants can interact with a range of environments (atmosphere, receiving water and soils) depending on the type of chemical reaction taking place.
- Discuss the microbiological aspects affecting the diversity and function of microorganisms in environmental engineering systems and apply methods of detection and monitoring.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Introduction to chemistry including matter, elements, atoms, molecules, ions, electronegativity, stoichiometry, moles, valence and Avogadro鈥檚 number | 15.00 |
| 2. | Theoretical concepts from equilibrium chemistry including activity coefficient, pH, acid and bases, solutions and Le Chatelier, Raoult and Henry鈥檚 Laws | 15.00 |
| 3. | Introduction to different types of reactions including oxidation-reduction, precipitation-dissolution, acid-base and complexations | 15.00 |
| 4. | Introduction to thermodynamics principles including enthalpy, entropy, free energy, equilibrium constant and chemical kinetics | 10.00 |
| 5. | Introduction to water chemistry including hardness, buffer, buffering capacity alkalinity and chlorination | 15.00 |
| 6. | Apply chemical principles to remove hardness from given water characteristics | 10.00 |
| 7. | Introduction to organic chemistry and carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus cycles | 10.00 |
| 8. | Introduction to microbiology as applied to environmental engineering | 10.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
(free to download).
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
| Description | Group Assessment |
Weighting (%) | Course learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiz 1 | No | 15 | 1,2,3 |
| Quiz 2 | No | 15 | 1,2,3 |
| Problem Solving | No | 20 | 2,4 |
| Time limited online examinatn | No | 50 | 1,2,3,4,5,6 |