Course Details

Chemistry of the environment

Academic Year 2026/27

BCA004 course is part of 1 study plan

​ BPC-EVB Summer Semester 3rd year

The course is focused on the explenation of basic chemical terms and on the chemical issues of the building materials such as binders, glass, metals, wood, and plastics and thier degradation. Patr of the course is devoted to the chemistry of water with respect to the wastewater treatment and toxicological aspects of selected chemical substances which can be released to the internal environment of buildings.

Credits

4 credits

Language of instruction

Czech

Semester

summer

Course Guarantor

prof. RNDr. Pavel Rovnaník, Ph.D.

Institute

Institute of Chemistry

Forms and criteria of assessment

course-unit credit and examination

Entry Knowledge

Basic structure of atoms, periodic table of the elements, basic chemical laws, basic inorganic and organic nomenclature, simple stoichiometric calculations, basics from organic chemistry.

Basic Literature

Rovnaník P., Rovnaníková P. Stavební chemie – Modul 1, Obecná, fyzikální a anorganická chemie a chemie anorganických stavebních materiálů, Akademické nakladatelství CERM, Brno, 2014. (cs)
Rovnaníková P., Rovnaník P., Malá J. Stavební chemie – Modul 2, Degradace stavebních materiálů a chemie kovů, Akademické nakladatelství CERM, Brno, 2014. (cs)
Pitter P. Hydrochemie, Vydavatelství VŠCHT, Praha, 2015. (cs)

Recommended Reading

Zumdahl S. S. Chemistry, D. C. Heath and Company, USA, 1986. (en)
Hewlett P. C. Lea’s Chemistry of Cement and Concrete, Butterworth Heinemann, 4th edition, Oxford, 1998. (en)

Prerequisites

Basic structure of atoms, periodic table of the elements, basic chemical laws, basic inorganic and organic nomenclature, simple stoichiometric calculations, basics from organic chemistry.

Offered to foreign students

Not to offer

Course on BUT site

https://www.vut.cz/en/students/courses/detail/303241

Lecture

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, elective

Syllabus

  • 1. Inroduction, composition of nuclei, isotopes, radioactivity, atomic stucture.
  • 2. Atomic weight, molecular mass, molecules, chemical equations, stoichiometry, chemical bonds.
  • 3. States of the matter,gases,liquids, solids, behaviour on the interface.
  • 4. Chemical kinetics, reaction rate, catalysis, thermochemistry, chemical equilibrium.
  • 5. Dispersions - gels, suspensions, aerosols, emulsions, coloids, real solutes, surfactants.
  • 6. Silicon and its compounds, chemistry and degradation of glass.
  • 7. Chemical composition and properties of lime, gypsum and hydraulic binders, degradation processes and protection against corrosion.
  • 8. Electrochemical properties of metals, electrolysis, corrosion of metals.
  • 9. Composition and general properties of carbon-based polymers and thier chemical stability.
  • 10.Polymer materials used in civil engineering - structure, properties, utilization.
  • 11. Characteristics of water composition, chemical equilibria in water, pH, calcium-carbonate equilibrium.
  • 12. Water hardness and its elimination, ion exchangers.
  • 13. Basic toxicological terms, essential polutants in the environment.

Exercise

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, compulsory

Syllabus

  • 1. Information regardeing laboratory session.
  • 2. Basic stoichiometric calculations. Nomenclature of inorganic compounds.
  • 3. Acids and bases.
  • 4. Neutralization and hydrolysis of salts.
  • 5. Oxidation and reduction.
  • 6. Lime, plaster of Paris.
  • 7. Cements and other building materials.
  • 8. Preparation and dilution of sulutes. Calculations from chemical equations.
  • 9. Metals.
  • 10. Composition of water.
  • 11. Water hardness and its removal.
  • 12. Ecotoxicological bioassays their evaluation.
  • 13. Final test.