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​CM3141 - INSTRUMENTAL TECHNIQUES IN ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

Academic Year 23/24 - Semester 2

Assessments:

  • Closed-book Test 1 (Part I): 25%

  • Group Project Presentation (Part I): 25%

  • Closed-book Test 2 (Part II): 25%

  • Take-home Assignment (Part II): 25%

Lecturer: Dr Linda Sellou & A/P Fan Wai Yip

 

Course Overview:

  • Part 1 (Spectroscopy): Fundamentals of spectroscopy, Beer lambert law, UV-vis spectroscopy, Infrared spectroscopy, Atomic absorption spectroscopy, Atomic emission spectroscopy, Photoluminescence spectroscopy

  • Part 2 (Other analytical techniques): Mass spectrometry (ion generation methods such as electron impact, electrospray, matrix-assisted laser desorption, Ion separation methods such as magnetic, time-of-flight and quadrupole mass analyzers, Tandem and hyphenation techniques, Interpretation of mass spectra), Electron-based Imaging (Scanning electron microscopy, Transmission electron microscopy), Thermal methods (thermogravimetric, differential scanning calorimetry analysis)

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Difficulty of the course: Easy

Pace of the course: Just Right

Duration provided to prepare for tutorials: 1-2 Days

Workload of Course (Average number of actual hours spent per week)

​To learn the content: 3 hours

To complete assignments: 7 hours​​​​​​​​​​

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REVIEW

What advice would you give to someone considering to take this course?

 

Anonymous: I would recommend overloading with this module as its workload is one of the lowest among the other 3000-level core modules. For the first half of the course, taught by Dr. Linda Sellou, it is recommended to prepare for the test by practicing the tutorial questions along with the questions found in the textbook she recommended. Her test questions are mainly calculation-based, requiring you to perform tasks such as Beer-Lambert law calculations, dilution calculations, and finding the original amount of a certain compound in a sample. For her group presentation, her rubrics are quite clear about what she is looking for, so students can refer to them to aid in their presentation preparation. The second half of the course, taught by A/P Fan Wai Yip, focuses on mass spectroscopy and different types of microscopy. His take-home assignments are quite tricky, so it is recommended to understand the concepts taught after the mass spectroscopy section to answer the questions.

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What did you enjoy or find most useful from this course? 

 

Anonymous: Both parts of this course are highly relevant to students are looking to do an internship.

 

What aspects of the course did you find most challenging, and why?

 

Anonymous: I found the group presentation challenging because students were only given 10 minutes to present so they need know how to present in a succinct way.

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What resources did you find most helpful in helping you better understand the course material? 

 

Anonymous: Online textbooks to practice calculation questions in Dr Linda's part.

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What other courses do you think should be taken before or concurrently with this course? 

 

Anonymous: This module should be taken with CM3192 as there is significant concept overlap.

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