Chemistry Elective

This course is intended for first-year students (L1) who have chosen the PCSI track. It introduces the basic rules of calculation that will enable you to better follow more formal lectures, complete the tutorials, read and understand the books in the university library, and so on. It complements the “Mathematical Tools 1” and “Mathematical Tools 2” courses. This course is primarily based on practice in calculation through exercises. Course reviews are generally brief, and the emphasis is primarily on developing certain automatic skills designed to master, speed up, and streamline the mathematical operations most commonly used in the sciences (at the L1 level). The topics covered include: elementary calculations and operations, trigonometry (particularly geometric trigonometry), complex numbers, vectors and coordinate systems, elementary geometry, basics of polynomials, and basics of statistics and probability.

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This course aims to raise awareness among first-year students about issues related to the use, exploitation, and management of the Earth’s natural resources.

As an introduction, an overview identifying the different types of these resources (energy, mineral, and water) and the major issues associated with them (economic and environmental) will be presented.

Various types of resources will then be presented in three stages:

- The concept of mineral resources will be explored in depth by tracing the journey of chemical elements, from their formation in the universe to their storage in the minerals that make up rocks and their applications in everyday technologies. This will serve as an introduction to basic concepts in solid-state chemistry and mineralogy, illustrated through mineralogy tutorials and lab sessions.

- The challenges and operation of geological reservoirs that store natural resources will be discussed, with a focus on conventional energy resources (hydrocarbons) and future resources (underground storage of resources, geothermal energy).

- Finally, the major global challenges related to water resources will be explored in depth. The global water cycle on Earth will be presented, and the key concepts necessary for understanding today’s major challenges will be identified (definitions of an aquifer and a hydrosystem, along with the main types encountered; chemical interactions between water and rocks; and illustrations of processes focused on the chemistry of mineral and thermal waters).

Hourly volumes:

CM: 18

TD: 12

TP: 6

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This course is an introduction to the differential calculus of functions of several variables. It is intended for first-year PCSI students and provides an introduction to the mathematical tools used—among other things—in thermodynamics.

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