Online courses directory (190)

The physics of the Universe appears to be dominated by the effects of four fundamental forces: gravity, electromagnetism, and weak and strong nuclear forces.  These control how matter, energy, space, and time interact to produce our physical world.  All other forces, such as the force you exert in standing up, are ultimately derived from these fundamental forces. We have direct daily experience with two of these forces: gravity and electromagnetism.  Consider, for example, the everyday sight of a person sitting on a chair.  The force holding the person on the chair is gravitational, while that gravitational force is balanced by material forces that “push up” to keep the individual in place, and these forces are the direct result of electromagnetic forces on the nanoscale.  On a larger stage, gravity holds the celestial bodies in their orbits, while we see the Universe by the electromagnetic radiation (light, for example) with which it is filled.  The electromagnetic force also makes possible the a…

This course is designed to introduce you to the study of Calculus.  You will learn concrete applications of how calculus is used and, more importantly, why it works.  Calculus is not a new discipline; it has been around since the days of Archimedes.  However, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz, two 17th-century European mathematicians concurrently working on the same intellectual discovery hundreds of miles apart, were responsible for developing the field as we know it today.  This brings us to our first question, what is today's Calculus?  In its simplest terms, calculus is the study of functions, rates of change, and continuity.  While you may have cultivated a basic understanding of functions in previous math courses, in this course you will come to a more advanced understanding of their complexity, learning to take a closer look at their behaviors and nuances. In this course, we will address three major topics: limits, derivatives, and integrals, as well as study their respective foundations and a…

This course is the second installment of Single-Variable Calculus.  In Part I (MA101) [1], we studied limits, derivatives, and basic integrals as a means to understand the behavior of functions.  In this course (Part II), we will extend our differentiation and integration abilities and apply the techniques we have learned. Additional integration techniques, in particular, are a major part of the course.  In Part I, we learned how to integrate by various formulas and by reversing the chain rule through the technique of substitution.  In Part II, we will learn some clever uses of substitution, how to reverse the product rule for differentiation through a technique called integration by parts, and how to rewrite trigonometric and rational integrands that look impossible into simpler forms.  Series, while a major topic in their own right, also serve to extend our integration reach: they culminate in an application that lets you integrate almost any function you’d like. Integration allows us to calculat…

This chemistry survey is designed to introduce students to the world of chemistry.  The principles of chemistry were first identified, studied, and applied by ancient Egyptians in order to extract metal from ores, make alcoholic beverages, glaze pottery, turn fat into soap, and much more.  What began as a quest to build better weapons or create potions capable of ensuring everlasting life has since become the foundation of modern science.  Take a look around you: chemistry makes up almost everything you touch, see, and feel, from the shampoo you used this morning to the plastic container that holds your lunch.  In this course, we will study chemistry from the ground up, learning the basics of the atom and its behavior.  We will use this knowledge to understand the chemical properties of matter and the changes and reactions that take place in all types of matter.

In this second semester course, we will cover a wide-ranging field of topics, learning everything from the equation that made Einstein famous to why you can’t replace a dead car battery with a household battery. In General Chemistry I (CHEM101 [1]), we studied the basic tools you need to explore different fields in chemistry, such as stoichiometry and thermodynamics.  This second-semester course will cover several of the tools needed to study chemistry at a more advanced level.  We will identify the factors that affect the speed of a reaction, learn how an atom bomb works on a chemical level, and discover how chemistry powers a light bulb.  Topics in advanced organic and inorganic chemistry courses will build upon what you learn in this class.  We will end with discussion of organic chemistry, a topic that is as important to biology as it is to chemistry. [1] http:///courses/chem101/…

Organic chemistry is a branch of chemistry that focuses on a single element: carbon!  Carbon bonds strongly with other carbon atoms and with other elements, forming numerous chain and ring structures.  As a result, there are millions of distinct carbon compounds known and classified.  The vast majority of the molecules that contain carbon are considered organic molecules, with few debatable exceptions such as carbon nanotubes, diamonds, carbonate ions, and carbon dioxide.  Carbon is central to the existence of life as it is an essential component of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), sugars, lipids, and proteins.  A well-rounded student of science must take courses in organic chemistry to understand its application to various topics, such as the study of polymers (plastics and other materials), hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals, molecular biology, biochemistry, and other life sciences. In the first semester of organic chemistry, you will learn the basic concepts needed to understand the three-dimensional structu…

This course is a continuation of CHEM103 [1]: Organic Chemistry I.  As you progress through the units below, you will continue to learn the different chemical reactions characteristic of each family of organic compounds.  We will focus on the four most important classes of reactions: electrophilic substitution at aromatic rings, nucleophilic addition at carbonyl compounds, hydrolysis of carboxylic acids, and carbon-carbon bond formation using enolates.  The enolate portion of this course will cover the reactivity of functional groups. We will also look at synthetic strategies for making simple, small organic molecules, using the knowledge of organic chemistry accumulated thus far.  At the end of this course, you will possess the tools you need to plan the synthesis of fairly complicated molecules, like those used in pharmaceutics.  From the perspective of a synthetic organic chemist, the two most challenging aspects of synthesizing drug molecules are the incorporation of  "molecular rings" (rings of 5…

Physical Chemistry II is quite different from Physical Chemistry I.  In this second semester of the Physical Chemistry course, you will study the principles and laws of quantum mechanics as well as the interaction between matter and electromagnetic waves.  During the late 19th century and early 20th century, scientists opened new frontiers in the understanding of matter at the molecular, atomic, and sub-atomic scale.  These studies resulted in the development of quantum physics, which nowadays is still considered one of the greatest achievements of human mind.  While present day quantum physics “zooms in” to look at subatomic particles, quantum chemistry “zooms out” to look at large molecular systems in order to theoretically understand their physical and chemical properties.  Quantum chemistry has created certain “tools” (or computational methods) based on the laws of quantum mechanics that make it theoretically possible to understand how electrons and atomic nuclei interact with each other…

Inorganic chemistry is a division of chemistry that studies metals, their compounds, and their reactivity.  Metal atoms can be bound to other metal atoms in alloys or metal clusters, to nonmetal elements in crystalline rocks, or to small organic molecules, such as a cyclopentadienyl anion in ferrocene.  These metal atoms can also be part of large biological molecules, as in the case of iron in hemoglobin (oxygen-carrier protein in the blood). In this course, you should not think of metals as you encounter them in your daily life (i.e., when you pick up a steel knife, a can of soda, or a gold necklace).  Instead, you should think of a metal as the central atom or ion in a molecule surrounded by other ions or small molecules called ligands.  Depending on what these ligands are, the metal-containing compound can acquire very different physical and chemical properties.  For example, when magnesium (in its ionic state) is bound to carbonate ions, it forms solid crystalline rocks, as in the dolomite rocks (c…

Analytical chemistry is the branch of chemistry dealing with measurement, both qualitative and quantitative.  This discipline is also concerned with the chemical composition of samples.  In the field, analytical chemistry is applied when detecting the presence and determining the quantities of chemical compounds, such as lead in water samples or arsenic in tissue samples.  It also encompasses many different spectrochemical techniques, all of which are used under various experimental conditions.  This branch of chemistry teaches the general theories behind the use of each instrument as well analysis of experimental data. This course begins with a review of general chemistry and an introduction to analytical terminology.  You will learn terms relevant to the process of measuring chemical compounds, such as sensitivity and detection limit.  The course continues with a unit on common spectrochemical methods, followed by an extension of these methods in a unit on atomic spectroscopy.  These methods allow…

Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and compounds, such as cellular makeup, that bring about life in organisms.  It is a combination of multiple science fields; you can think of it as general and cell biology coupled with organic and general chemistry.  Although living organisms are very complex, from a molecular view, the material that constitutes “life” can be broken down into remarkably simple molecules, much like the breakdown of our English language to the English alphabet.  Although there exists thousands upon thousands of molecules, they all breakdown into four core components: nucleic acids, amino acids, lipids, and carbohydrates.  As we can make hundreds of thousands of words from just 26 letters, we can make thousands of different biomolecules from those 4 components.  For example, the human genome, containing the necessary information to create a human being, is really just one very long strand of 4 different nucleotides. This course is structured around that approach, so…

Remember that organic chemistry is the discipline that studies the properties and reactions of organic, carbon-based compounds.  This course is intended to be taken after the first two semesters of organic chemistry.  Many of the topics within this outline have been covered in the first two semesters of organic chemistry; however, this course will explore these topics in much greater depth.  It is important to make sure that you have a good grasp of the concepts from earlier organic chemistry courses before moving on to this course. We begin by studying a unit on ylides, benzyne, and free radicals.  Many free radicals affect life processes.  For example, oxygen-derived radicals may be overproduced in cells, such as white blood cells that try to defend against infection in a living organism.  In the first unit, you will learn about free radicals, including oxygen-containing compounds.  Afterward we move into a comprehensive examination of stereochemistry, as well as the kinetics of substitution and el…

Advanced Inorganic Chemistry is designed to give you the knowledge to explain everyday phenomena of inorganic complexes. You will study the various aspects of their physical and chemical properties and learn how to determine the practical applications that these complexes can have in industrial, analytical, and medicinal chemistry. This course will begin with the discussion of symmetry and point group theory and its applications in the field of vibrational spectroscopy. We will then study molecular orbital (MO) theory specifically applied to metal organic complexes. MO theory will be critical in understanding the following: 1) the relative position of ligands in the spectrochemical series, 2) the electronic transitions and related selection rules, and 3) the application of spectroscopy of metals. The course will then move onto the study of the oxidation states of transition metals and their redox properties. A firm grasp of the chemical redox properties of transition metals is critical to understanding thei…

Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation.  Molecules respond to different types of radiation in different ways, depending on the frequency (?) or wavelength (?) of the radiation.  In General Chemistry, we studied spectroscopy as a tool for explaining the quantum mechanical model of the atom.  In that course, we learned that light is an electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength that is visible to the human eye.  We also learned that light, which exists in tiny “packets” called photons, exhibits properties of both waves and particles, a characteristic referred to as the wave-particle duality.  The quantized relationship is defined as E = hv, where E is energy, h is Plank’s constant, and v is frequency. Spectroscopy and spectrometry are often used in chemistry for the identification of substances through the spectrum from which they are emitted or by which they are absorbed.  The type of spectroscopic technique is defined by the type of radia…

In this course, we will look at the properties behind the basic concepts of probability and statistics and focus on applications of statistical knowledge.  We will learn how statistics and probability work together.  The subject of statistics involves the study of methods for collecting, summarizing, and interpreting data.  Statistics formalizes the process of making decisionsand this course is designed to help you cultivate statistic literacy so that you can use this knowledge to make better decisions.  Note that this course has applications in sciences, economics, computer science, finance, psychology, sociology, criminology, and many other fields. Every day, we read articles and reports in print or online.  After finishing this course, you should be comfortable asking yourself whether the articles make sense.  You will be able to extract information from the articles and display that information effectively.  You will also be able to understand the basics of how to draw statistical conclusions.

This Research Methods course is part one of the two-part Research Methods series, which also includes the Research Methods Lab course. Research is the foundation on which any solid science is built. This course will introduce you to research methodologies frequently used in the social sciences and especially those used in the field of psychology. It is important that you are able to not only identify the techniques used by others but also employ them yourself. The course is designed to provide you with the foundation you will need to apply certain techniques in the search for your own answers. The course will begin with an overview of how research, and its appropriate methodology, came about in science and, more specifically, psychology. We will then go over the ABCs of conducting research, learning how to define “variables” and why they are important. While this course will also touch upon statistics and their importance, it will not require a comprehensive knowledge of the subject. The course will concl…

This Research Methods Lab course is part two of the Research Methods series. You should not attempt this course without having first completed the Research Methods course (PSYCH202A [1]). This Lab extends beyond the basics of research methodology and the logic of experimental design, concepts you learned in PSYCH202A [2].  You will learn to put these concepts into practice while conducting laboratory experiments. While we may not explicitly apply all of the concepts introduced in the Research Methods lecture course, remember that each of them will remain relevant during the evaluation and review phases of your research. This course intends to acquaint the student with a variety of different research techniques.  Students will participate in every stage of experimentation, from creation and editing to evaluation and review.   As such, this course will not only review relevant concepts from the Research Methods lecture, but will also broach a number of practical matters, including the standard organizatio…

This introductory course in biology starts at the microscopic level, with molecules and cells.  Before we get into the specifics of cell structure and behavior, however, let’s take a cursory glance at the field of biology more generally.  Though biology as we know it today is a relatively new field, we have been studying living things since the beginning of recorded history.  The invention of the microscope was the turning point in the history of biology; it paved the way for scientists to discover bacteria and other tiny organisms, and ultimately led to the modern cell theory of biology. You will notice that, unlike the core program courses you took in chemistry and physics, introductory biology does not have many mathematical “laws” and “rules” and does not require much math.  Instead, you will learn a great number of new terms and concepts that will help you describe life at the smallest level.  Over the course of this semester, you will recognize the ways in which the tiniest of molecules…

In BIO101 [1], you were introduced to biology on a microscopic scale when you learned about the functions of molecules, genes, and cells.  In this course, you will learn about biological changes that happen on a very large scale, across entire populations of organisms and over the course of millions of years, in the form of evolution and ecology.  Evolution, the process by which different species of organisms have developed and diversified from earlier forms, has been a central theme in the field of biology ever since Darwin first published his theories about it.  Mounting evidence from many different branches of science all point to the fact that species have experienced a gradual but definite physical change.  In this course, we will learn about evolution and theories that stem from evolution. We will also learn about ecology, the study of the interactions between different types of organisms and their surroundings.  Changes in surroundings will force organisms to adapt and changeoften in terms of th…

DISCLAIMER: This course is designed to address the fundamentals of clinical psychology. It will NOT provide the education or experience needed for the diagnosing and treating of mental disorders. This course will cover the basic concepts of clinical psychology, or the study of diagnosing, treating, and understanding abnormal and maladaptive behaviors. We frequently refer to these behaviorswhich include depression, anxiety, and schizophreniaas mental diseases or disorders. While you might have a general understanding of these disorders, this course will cover each in great detail. Many of you are likely familiar with the idea of therapy, whether because you or someone you know has been in therapy, or because you have seen it in popular TV shows or movies. Because many approaches to therapy draw from research on clinical populationsthat is, populations suffering from some sort of mental disordertherapy is closely related to the field of psychopathology. Although this class will not teach you how to cond…