New strategies for teaching maths to chemistry students

If a reaction has a small equilibrium constant, the equilibrium position favors the reactants. In such reactions, a negligible change in concentration may occur if the initial concentrations of reactants are high and the Kc value is small. In such circumstances, the equilibrium concentration is approximately equal to its initial concentration. This estimation can be used to simplify the equilibrium calculations by assuming that some equilibrium concentrations are equal to the initial...

Being able to calculate equilibrium concentrations is essential to many areas of science and technology—for example, in the formulation and dosing of pharmaceutical products. After a drug is ingested or injected, it is typically involved in several chemical equilibria that affect its ultimate concentration in the body system of interest. Knowledge of the quantitative aspects of these equilibria is required to compute a dosage amount that will solicit the desired therapeutic effect.
A more...

Functions can be combined to form new mathematical models that describe interactions between variables. These combinations are fundamental in understanding relationships between changing quantities and are commonly encountered in scientific and engineering contexts. The combination methods—addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and composition—each have unique implications for the resulting function’s domain and behavior.When combining functions through arithmetic operations, such...

In chemistry, titrimetric methods are broadly classified into three types: volumetric, gravimetric, and coulometric. Volumetric titrations involve measuring the volume of a titrant of known concentration that is required to react completely with an analyte. In gravimetric titrations, the standard solution reacts with the analyte to form an insoluble precipitate, which is filtered, dried, and weighed. In coulometric titrations, current is applied to an electrochemical reaction until the reaction...

Equilibrium calculations for systems involving multiple equilibria are often complex. For example, to calculate the solubility of a sparingly soluble salt in an aqueous solution in the presence of a common ion, one must consider all the equilibria in this solution. Calculations for these systems can be complicated and tedious, so a systematic approach with a series of steps is often helpful. The process is detailed below.
The first step is to identify all the chemical reactions involved, The...

A system of equations consists of multiple equations involving common variables. The objective is to identify values that simultaneously satisfy all equations. Systems of equations provide a framework for analyzing multiple constraints or relationships within a single problem context.Three primary algebraic techniques are used to solve systems: substitution, elimination, and graphical methods. The substitution method involves solving one equation for one variable and substituting the result...