The thing that trips people up in PCH 202 is that it asks two different skills at once. One minute you are explaining why a coordinate bond in a cobalt complex behaves like any other covalent bond, the next you are reading a burette to 0.1 mL and pushing a titre through a stoichiometry ratio. As a 200 Level Pharmacy student at ABUAD, you are expected to move between the descriptive side of inorganic chemistry and the arithmetic of an assay without treating them as separate subjects.
This EverythingABUAD guide walks the second-semester syllabus for PCH 202 – Inorganic Pharmaceutical Chemistry in plain language, one topic at a time, and shows you where the marks actually sit. You get the reasoning first, then original practice questions with fully worked answers, including the titration and percentage-purity items that decide most scripts. The complete workbook sits in the interactive reader lower down, free to read online or download for offline revision.
- Course: PCH 202 – Inorganic Pharmaceutical Chemistry
- College / Department: College of Pharmacy / Pharmacy
- Level / Semester: 200 Level, Second Semester
- Topics covered: Volumetric (Titrimetric) Analysis; Solution Concentration & Calculations; Chemical Bonding & Molecular Shape; Electronic Effects, Periodicity & Atomic Structure; Coordination Chemistry & IUPAC Nomenclature; and Pharmaceutical Inorganic Chemistry, Antacids & Assays
- Best for: Continuous assessment + final exam revision
Topics Covered in PCH 202
1. Volumetric (Titrimetric) Analysis
Titration is the backbone of this course. You measure the volume of a standard solution, the titrant, needed to react exactly with your analyte, then read the concentration off the stoichiometry. Get the vocabulary straight: the equivalence point is theoretical, the end point is what your indicator actually shows, and the gap between them is titration error. You also need why a primary standard like potassium iodate can be weighed directly while sodium thiosulphate must be standardised first because it drifts. Exam tip: learn the four titration classes with one reaction each, and be ready to explain the self-indicating permanganate end point and why starch goes in late.
2. Solution Concentration & Calculations
This block turns definitions into numbers. Molarity counts moles per litre; normality counts reactive equivalents per litre, so for sulphuric acid, with two ionisable hydrogens, the normality is twice the molarity. Expect to convert a clinical figure like blood glucose in mg per 100 mL into a molar concentration, and to describe preparing a solution of exact strength from a weighed solid in a volumetric flask. Exam tip: write mass equals molarity times volume times molar mass every single time, keep volume in litres, and state whether your solid is a primary or secondary standard because that decides if the concentration is exact or needs standardising.
3. Chemical Bonding & Molecular Shape
Here you explain how bonds form and what they do to a molecule's geometry. Sort out ionic, covalent and coordinate bonds by where the shared electrons come from, then use VSEPR to predict shapes: methane tetrahedral at 109.5 degrees, ammonia pyramidal near 107, water bent near 104.5, with lone pairs squeezing the angle down. Hybridisation ties in cleanly, sp is linear, sp2 trigonal planar, sp3 tetrahedral. Exam tip: practise assigning hybridisation, geometry and bond angle to each carbon in a mixed molecule, and be ready to say why one Lewis structure fails for a resonance system like nitrate or aniline.
4. Electronic Effects, Periodicity & Atomic Structure
This is the reasoning half of the paper. The inductive effect travels through sigma bonds and fades with distance, while the mesomeric effect shifts pi and lone-pair electrons across a conjugated system. That framework explains carbocation stability, why tertiary beats secondary beats methyl, and why aniline's nitrogen lone pair activates the ring. On the periodic side you handle the four quantum numbers, Hund's rule, and the radius trends across periods and down groups. Exam tip: tie every trend back to nuclear charge and shielding rather than memorising lists, and rehearse the four quantum numbers with their allowed values so that recall question is a guaranteed mark.
5. Coordination Chemistry & IUPAC Nomenclature
Complexes look intimidating until you name the parts: the central metal ion, the ligands donating lone pairs, and the coordination sphere inside the brackets versus the ionisation sphere outside. Coordination number counts donor bonds, so hexaamminecobalt is six. Naming runs ligands alphabetically before the metal, with anionic complexes taking the -ate suffix. Nomenclature also stretches to organic chains, en-yne numbering and substituted benzoic acids. Exam tip: drill naming both ways, structure to name and name to structure, and remember only the ionisation-sphere counter-ions precipitate with silver nitrate, which is a favourite way to test the coordination sphere idea.
6. Pharmaceutical Inorganic Chemistry, Antacids & Assays
The applied block rewards you for connecting chemistry to the medicine cabinet. Aluminium salts constipate and act slowly, magnesium salts are laxative and act fast, so combining them in an antacid balances the bowel effect and smooths neutralisation. Magnesium sulphate stays out because the sulphate ion purges rather than neutralises. On assays, separate a chemical assay from a bioassay, list the marks of a good method, and know why HPLC handles non-volatile drugs. Exam tip: be able to write balanced neutralisation equations for aluminium and magnesium hydroxide, and keep short, sharp notes on retention time, quality control and gross errors ready to reproduce.
Sample Practice Questions (With Answers)
A few sample items below, written in our own words, with the working laid out so you follow the why and not just the final number:
Q1. A student standardises sodium thiosulphate against iodine liberated from 0.4280 g of KIO₃ (M = 214 g/mol), titrating the iodine from a 1/10 aliquot and using 20.0 mL of thiosulphate. One mole of iodate is equivalent to 6 moles of thiosulphate. Find the thiosulphate concentration.
Answer: Moles of KIO₃ in the aliquot = (0.4280 ÷ 214) × (1/10) = 2.00 × 10⁻⁴ mol. Each mole of iodate matches 6 moles of thiosulphate, so moles of thiosulphate = 6 × 2.00 × 10⁻⁴ = 1.20 × 10⁻³ mol. Concentration = moles ÷ volume = 1.20 × 10⁻³ ÷ 0.0200 L = 0.060 M.
Q2. A 25.00 mL portion of oxalic acid reacts with 18.40 mL of 0.05 M KMnO₄. Using the 2:5 mole ratio, find the mass of oxalic acid in the 100 mL from which the 25 mL was drawn. (M of C₂H₂O₄ = 90.03 g/mol.)
Answer: Moles of KMnO₄ = 0.05 × 0.01840 = 9.20 × 10⁻⁴ mol. From 2 permanganate : 5 oxalate, moles of oxalate in 25 mL = (5/2) × 9.20 × 10⁻⁴ = 2.30 × 10⁻³ mol. Scaling to 100 mL: 2.30 × 10⁻³ × (100/25) = 9.20 × 10⁻³ mol. Mass = 9.20 × 10⁻³ × 90.03 = 0.828 g.
Q3. Blood glucose in a healthy person sits around 90 mg per 100 mL. Express this as a molar concentration. (M of glucose, C₆H₁₂O₆ = 180 g/mol.)
Answer: First fix the units: 90 mg/100 mL = 0.90 g/L. Moles per litre = 0.90 ÷ 180 = 5.0 × 10⁻³ mol/L, which is 5.0 mM. The trick here is scaling the 100 mL up to a litre before dividing by the molar mass.
Q4. Urea, CO(NH₂)₂, should contain a fixed percentage of nitrogen. Analysis of a sample returns 40.0% N. Calculate the theoretical value and say what the result tells you. (M: C=12, O=16, N=14, H=1.)
Answer: Molar mass of urea = 12 + 16 + 2(14 + 2) = 60 g/mol. Nitrogen mass = 2 × 14 = 28, so theoretical %N = (28 ÷ 60) × 100 = 46.67%. Since the measured 40.0% falls below this, the sample is impure, carrying a non-nitrogenous impurity or having partly decomposed.
Q5. Name the complexes (i) [CoCl(NH₃)₅]Cl₂ and (ii) K₄[Fe(CN)₆], and identify the ligands in each.
Answer: (i) Pentaamminechloridocobalt(III) chloride: five ammonia and one chloride ligand sit in the coordination sphere [CoCl(NH₃)₅]²⁺, cobalt is +3, and the two outer chlorides form the ionisation sphere. (ii) Potassium hexacyanidoferrate(II): six cyanide ligands give [Fe(CN)₆]⁴⁻ with iron at +2. Ligands are cited alphabetically before the metal, and an anionic complex takes the -ate ending.
How to Study PCH 202 Effectively
- Separate your revision into a calculations stream (titrations, concentration conversions, percentage purity) and a descriptive stream (bonding, periodicity, coordination, antacids), and give the calculations daily reps since they are the most recoverable marks.
- Build one page of standard facts: which substances are primary standards, which are secondary and why, and pin down the self-indicating permanganate end point and the late addition of starch.
- Practise VSEPR and hybridisation on real molecules until you can state shape, bond angle and orbital type for each atom without pausing.
- For every titration sum, write the balanced equation first, read off the mole ratio, then carry units through so they cancel before you trust the figure.
- Drill coordination naming both ways, structure to name and name to structure, and always split the coordination sphere from the ionisation sphere.
- Use this guide to understand each concept first, then open the workbook below to self-test under timed conditions.
Download the Full PCH 202 Practice Workbook
Once the concepts feel solid, open the interactive reader below and work through the full question set with its complete worked answer key. Read it straight on the page, or grab it as a free bonus to keep for offline revision as your exam approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this PCH 202 material free?
Yes, all of it. Every guide and workbook on EverythingABUAD is open to ABUAD students at no charge, whether you read online or download a copy.
Will these exact questions appear in my exam?
No. Our student team wrote this revision set from scratch in our own wording. It is not a past paper and not a forecast of any test. Use it to sharpen the concepts, and always work from your lecturer's current course outline.
Do I need strong maths to handle the titration and assay calculations?
You need care more than speed. Most PCH 202 sums lean on a few tools, mainly mole ratios from a balanced equation, molarity to normality, and percentage purity. Write the equation, attach units to every number, and the arithmetic stays manageable even under exam pressure.
About this resource: All summaries, explanations, study tips, and practice questions on this page were written, paraphrased, and adapted by the EverythingABUAD student team to support exam revision. This is an original study aid, not an official ABUAD document, and it is not a prediction of any future exam. Always cross-check quantities, doses and definitions against your lecturer's current course outline and the current pharmacopoeia.
