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MITx: General Chemistry I: Atoms, Molecules, and Bonding

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Learn about the world at the molecular level by exploring chemical structure and bonding from a quantum mechanical perspective. Topics include wave-particle duality, electronic structure of atoms, chemical bonding models, and intermolecular interactions.

General Chemistry I: Atoms, Molecules, and Bonding
15 weeks
10–12 hours per week
Instructor-paced
Instructor-led on a course schedule
Free
Optional upgrade available

There is one session available:

32,642 already enrolled! After a course session ends, it will be archivedOpens in a new tab.
Started Jan 25
Ends May 7

About this course

Skip About this course

Chemistry is the study of the properties, structure, behavior, and reactivity of matter. As the central science, chemistry has connections to fields from physics to biology, from environmental science to nano-science. A fundamental understanding of chemistry is the basis on which cutting-edge research in many fields rests. This course is designed to build core skills in chemistry, including drawing chemical structures and predicting molecular properties and reactivities, as well as to gain the necessary fundamental knowledge for advanced courses such as Organic Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Biochemistry, or Materials Science.

This chemistry course is the first in a series of two courses that together cover first-year, University-level chemistry. In this course, you will uncover the principles of chemical bonding, in the way it historically occurred: starting from the first experiments that revealed the fundamental dual wave-particle nature of energy and matter. Using the machinery of quantum chemistry, you will learn to:

  • build models to describe the electronic structure of atoms,
  • examine how atoms can be combined into molecules through different chemical bonding models,
  • predict the structure and geometry of molecules,
  • analyze how molecular geometry determines molecular properties,
  • explore how molecules interact with each other and analyze how these interactions impact properties in a variety of phases

This course is based on material in MIT’s Principles of Chemical Science course, which fulfills the General Institute Requirement in Chemistry for all MIT undergraduates.

The course image is of liquid oxygen suspended between two powerful magnets, demonstrating that oxygen is a magnetic species.

At a glance

  • Institution: MITx
  • Subject: Chemistry
  • Level: Intermediate
  • Prerequisites:

    High School Chemistry (Module 0 provides background information)
    Pre-Calculus-Level Mathematics
    5.01x is a prerequisite for 5.02x

  • Language: English
  • Video Transcript: English
  • Associated skills:Organic Chemistry, Materials Science, Quantum Chemistry, General Chemistry, Physics, Liquid Oxygen, Geometry, Environmental Science, Forecasting, Chemical Structure, Physical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biology, Machinery

What you'll learn

Skip What you'll learn
  • Wave-Particle Duality of Energy and Matter
  • Introductory Quantum Mechanics
  • Electronic Structure of Atoms
  • Molecular Bonding and Structure
  • Intermolecular and Interatomic Interactions

Who can take this course?

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