CHEM 1A - General Chemistry (3 Units)

Course Overview

Summary

This course is a lecture course which provides a general overview of many aspects of chemistry. It is a chemistry course for non-chemistry majors, and thus does not go very far in depth about many topics, but teaches the fundamentals. There are four very diverse units of the course, including an intro, acid/base, thermodynamics and light chemistry. The subjects may vary slightly from the fall and spring semesters, but they stay generally the same. There are three midterms and one final.

Prerequisites

None

Topics Covered (4 main units)

• Introduction to chemistry, atoms/molecules, periodic trends, bonding
• Equilibrium, acid base chemistry
• Energy in chemistry, thermodynamics
• Light chemistry, molecular orbitals

Workload

Coursework

• 3 midterms
• 1 final
• Various homeworks that are just meant to help you practice with the material. (Homework in the fall semester varies slightly in that I believe it is online homework that is turned in and graded.)

Time Commitment

3 hours of lecture per week, 1 of discussion per week. Approximately 3 hours of “homework” per week.

Choosing the Course

When to take

Can be taken at any time, depending on the major or requirement it would be filling.

Additional Comments and Tips

If possible, take this course in the spring. Different professors teach in fall and spring and in my experience, Dr. Marsden (who teaches in spring) is one of the best professors that I have ever had at Berkeley.

Written by: Hannah Solis

Last edited: Fall 2018