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Chemistry

What matter is made of, why atoms bond, and how one substance becomes another.

For: anyone starting the degree, anyone who cooks, cleans, takes medicine or charges a battery and wonders what is happening, anyone heading for biology or medicine.

Shaped by the American Chemical Society's guidelines for approved bachelor's degrees (foundation courses in analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic and physical chemistry), MIT's Course 5 and the Royal Society of Chemistry's accreditation.

18readings
3.6 hoursof reading
4stages
18 reads
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Stage 1

Year 1 · Atoms and reactions

4 readings · 44 min
  1. 01ReadInteractiveQuiz10 min

    Calculus I: Slopes, Totals and the Bridge Between Them

    Rates, energies and equilibria are written in calculus.
  2. 02ReadInteractiveQuiz12 min

    General Chemistry: Electrons Decide Everything

    Atoms, the periodic table, bonds, moles and reactions.
  3. 03ReadInteractiveQuiz10 min

    Physics I: Mechanics — Three Ways to Keep the Books

    Energy and forces, the physics chemistry stands on.
  4. 04ReadInteractiveQuiz12 min

    Probability & Statistics: Reasoning with Uncertainty

    Every measurement has an error bar.
Stage 2

Year 2 · How molecules behave

4 readings · 50 min
  1. 05ReadInteractiveQuiz13 min

    Equilibrium & Kinetics: How Far, and How Fast

    How far a reaction goes, and how fast.
  2. 06ReadInteractiveQuiz11 min

    Organic Chemistry: Structure & Mechanism

    Carbon's chemistry: shapes, curly arrows and why reactions happen.
  3. 07ReadInteractiveQuiz13 min

    Analytical Chemistry & Spectroscopy: How Anyone Knows What Is in the Glass

    How chemists find out what is in a sample, and how much.
  4. 08ReadInteractiveQuiz13 min

    Linear Algebra: Machines That Move Space

    The mathematics of orbitals and spectra.
Stage 3

Year 3 · The four pillars

5 readings · 58 min
  1. 09ReadInteractiveQuiz11 min

    Organic Synthesis: Building Molecules on Purpose

    Building molecules on purpose.
  2. 10ReadInteractiveQuiz10 min

    Physical Chemistry: Energy, Counting and Light

    Thermodynamics, quantum mechanics and spectroscopy applied to molecules.
  3. 11ReadInteractiveQuiz12 min

    Inorganic Chemistry: The Rest of the Periodic Table

    Metals, crystals, catalysts and the rest of the periodic table.
  4. 12ReadInteractiveQuiz13 min

    Thermodynamics: Why Every Engine Pays a Heat Tax

    Heat, work and entropy.
  5. 13ReadInteractiveQuiz12 min

    Quantum Mechanics: Waves of Probability and the Limits of Knowing

    The quantum mechanics behind every bond.
Stage 4

Year 4 · Where it leads

5 readings · 1.1 hours
  1. 14ReadInteractiveQuiz12 min

    Biochemistry: The Chemistry That Keeps Itself Going

    The chemistry of life.
  2. 15ReadInteractiveQuiz11 min

    Statistical Mechanics: Temperature Is What Counting Looks Like

    Why reactions happen at all: counting arrangements.
  3. 16ReadInteractiveQuiz14 min

    Materials Science & Manufacturing: Why Things Are Made of What They Are

    Materials, from steel to polymers.
  4. 17ReadInteractiveQuiz14 min

    Environmental Engineering: Clean Water In, Clean Water Out

    Chemistry of water, air and pollution.
  5. 18ReadInteractiveQuiz13 min

    Numerical Analysis: Answers You Can Trust, and How Wrong They Are

    Computational chemistry runs on numerical methods.
When you finish

the free Chemistry 2e textbook from OpenStax; LibreTexts Chemistry; the textbooks named at the end of each subject. See also the library's 14 Food & Cooking for chemistry in the kitchen.

Next path →

Biology

How life works, from molecules to cells to bodies to ecosystems, and how evolution ties it all together.