Brief Introduction
The goal of the course is to apply chemical principles to understand the natural (non-living) world around us and appreciate its complexity.
Description
Chemistry, often referred to as the central science, concerns matter and the transformations it can undergo. While many aspects of chemistry can be applied to solving various problems relevant to our society, chemistry also offers a convenient framework to understand the complexity of the natural world surrounding us. The goal of this course is to apply chemical principles to understand the natural (non-living) world around us and appreciate its complexity.
The chemical principles usually covered in general chemistry, undergraduate inorganic chemistry, and physical chemistry enable us to examine many aspects of the Earth. We will look at the formation of the elements, and describe the reason for the different abundances, and what this means for the Earth’s composition. We will also look at how isotopes can be used as chemical tracers and “clocks”, leading us to insight on the various processes of the Earth, and even our own bodies. Finally, we will see how geochemistry can help us understand, or even combat the many environmental and technological problems that we face.
Knowledge
- What you’ll learn:
- How the Earth’s elements are formed
- What determines the elements’ abundances and distribution on Earth
- How can we identify the climate millions of years ago
- How to use isotopes to identify what we eat
- How can we classify something as general as “rocks”, and explain the diversity
- How geochemistry can help be applied to solve environmental/technological problems
Introduction to Geochemistry
- 0.0
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The goal of the course is to apply chemical principles to understand the natural (non-living) world around us and appreciate its complexity....
化学与社会 | Chemistry and Society
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这是一门面向人文和社科类学生的化学课程。 | This is an introductory chemistry course for students of the humanities and social sciences. 化学与社会课程的授课对象是非科学类本科生，课程的内容涵盖了化学基础和应用的诸多方面。本课程的目标是：培养和提高非科学类学生的科学素养，使学生掌握一些基本的化学知识，对化学家思考问题、解决问题的方法有所了解，拓展学生的视野和知识面，理解当今人类社会所面临的若干重大挑战与化学之间的关联，进而有助于学生自身的职业发展。 化学与社会的主要内容包括化学基本概念、有机化学、高分子化学、材料化学、环境化学、地球化学、能源化学、生物化学、食品化学、医药化学和日用化学等。在课程的开始阶段，将简要介绍一些基本的化学概念和常识，然后依次介绍化学的一些重要分支以及它们在社会生活中的广泛应用。 化学起源于古老的神秘主义。东方道家和西方炼金术士们在追求长生不老和无尽财富的过程中奠定了实验化学的基础，发展出一套比较系统的化学实验方法和设备。尽管金丹术士们没有实现他们最初的目标，但是他们却取得了一个更为伟大的成就，那就是化学作为一门科学诞生了。 化学以理论和实验为基础，面向广阔的应用领域，经过三百多年的发展，已经成为人类文明的支柱学科。回顾人类发展史，几乎每个文明时期的标志性进展都与化学家的贡献密切相关。冶铁技术、人工合成氨技术、橡胶和塑料的合成以及纳米材料都最先出自化学家之手，因此毫不夸张地讲，化学是人类文明的基石。 化学与社会这门课的目的不是培养化学家，而是介绍化学及其成就，描述这门学科的过去、现在和未来。因此，这门课程就像是一艘“观光飞船”，带着同学们俯瞰这片神奇的领域，沿途领略化学中最具代表性的区域。通过学习化学与社会，学生不仅仅可以学到一些基本的化学知识，也可以对化学学科的历史和现状、化学与社会的关系、目前化学领域的某些热点问题以及化学的未来前景有一个轮廓式的了解。...
The Science of the Solar System
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Learn about the science behind the current exploration of the solar system in this free class. The class is expected to be challenging but rewarding....
