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Overview:
Learn about Chemical Kinetics, Half-lives,
Radioactivity and More
This module has two portions. The first portion
(Chapter Fourteen) introduces the concepts of kinetics, or how
fast reactions will take to finish. The second portion (Chapter 21) extends the concepts of Chapter 14 to radioactivity - unstable
nuclei that can be used as a benefit or a detriment to humanity
Chapter 14 explains the concepts of kinetics,
the study of "how long" a reaction will take or "how
much" of a reactant is needed. Reactions occur at different "speeds",
and these can be broken into zero order, first
order and second order reactions.
All of the orders have their own definition of half-life,
the time required for half of a reactant to disappear. Most
of what we will study in Chapter 14 and Chapter 21 will utilize first
order kinetics, so pay special attention to these behaviors.
We will also explore the powerful information contained within
a reaction mechanism, the atomic
level understanding as to how a reactant is transformed into
a product.
For a complete list of important concepts in
Chapter 14, see the Chapter 14 Study Guide.
Chapter 21 furthers the work explored in Chapter 14 in the special field of radioactivity,
the chemistry of the nucleus. Radioactivity can be used for
both beneficial and detrimental purposes, and we explore the
science behind the phenomenon in this chapter. We will use
exclusively first order kinetics to
understand the breakdown of nuclei. We will look at fusion, fission, balancing
radioactive equations, and much more.
For a complete
list of important concepts in Chapter 21, see the Chapter 21 Study Guide. |
