Table of Contents

Electrochemistry is the study of chemical processes that cause electrons to move. This movement of electrons is called electricity, which can be generated by movements of electrons from one element to another in a reaction known as an oxidation-reduction ("redox") reaction.

Complexes or coordination compounds are molecules that posess a metal center that is bound to ligands (atoms, ions, or molecules that donate electrons to the metal). These complexes can be neutral or charged. When the complex is charged, it is stabilized by neighboring counter-ions.

This chapter will present a quantitative description of when the chemical composition of a system is not constant with time. Chemical kinetics is the study of reaction rates, the changes in the concentrations of reactants and products with time. With a discussion of chemical kinetics, the reaction rates or the changes in the concentrations of reactants and products with time are studied.

Nuclear reactions differ from other chemical processes in one critical way: in a nuclear reaction, the identities of the elements change. In addition, nuclear reactions are often accompanied by the release of enormous amounts of energy, as much as a billion times more than the energy released by chemical reactions. Moreover, the yields and rates of a nuclear reaction are generally unaffected by changes in temperature, pressure, or the presence of a catalyst.