Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 3 sessions / week, 1 hour / session
Recitations: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session
Overview
This subject deals with both chemical thermodynamics and chemical kinetics. The material that will be covered in this subject is intended to provide you with the tools and understanding to handle basic problems involving chemical systems at equilibrium and rates of simple chemical reactions.
Textbook
Silbey, R., R. Alberty, and M. Bawendi. Physical Chemistry. 4th ed. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. ISBN: 9780471215042.
Other Resources
Atkins, P., and J. de Paula. Physical Chemistry. 7th ed. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company, 2001. ISBN: 9780716735397.
Castellan, G. Physical Chemistry. 3rd ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1983. ISBN: 9780201103861.
Houston, P. Chemical Kinetics and Reaction Dynamics. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2001. ISBN: 9780072435375.
Examinations
There will be three one-hour examinations during the term and a final examination. The exams will be closed-notes and closed-book unless otherwise announced. Tutorial reviews will be held prior to each exam.
Homework
Problems will be assigned every week. Late problem sets are not accepted. Homework will be graded by the recitation instructor and returned in recitation.
Grading
Grades for the subject will be based on a total of 600 points:
| ACTIVITIES | POINTS |
|---|---|
| Three one-hour exams | 100 (each) |
| Homework | 100 |
| Final exam | 200 |
Calendar
| SES # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | State of a system, 0th law, equation of state | |
| 2 | Work, heat, first law | |
| 3 | Internal energy, expansion work | |
| 4 | Enthalpy | |
| 5 | Adiabatic changes | Problem set 1 due |
| 6 | Thermochemistry | |
| 7 | Calorimetry | |
| 8 | Second law | Problem set 2 due |
| 9 | Entropy and the Clausius inequality | |
| 10 | Entropy and irreversibility | |
| 11 | Fundamental equation, absolute S, third law | Problem set 3 due |
| 12 | Criteria for spontaneous change | |
| First hour exam | ||
| 13 | Gibbs free energy | |
| 14 | Multicomponent systems, chemical potential | |
| 15 | Chemical equilibrium | |
| 16 | Temperature, pressure and Kp | Problem set 4 due |
| 17 | Equilibrium: application to drug design | |
| 18 | Phase equilibria — one component | |
| 19 | Clausius-Clapeyron equation | Problem set 5 due |
| 20 | Phase equilibria — two components | |
| Second hour exam | ||
| 21 | Ideal solutions | |
| 22 | Non-ideal solutions | |
| 23 | Colligative properties | |
| 24 | Introduction to statistical mechanics | Problem set 6 due |
| 25 | Partition function (q) — large N limit | |
| 26 | Partition function (Q) — many particles | |
| 27 | Statistical mechanics and discrete energy levels | Problem set 7 due |
| 28 | Model systems | |
| 29 | Applications: chemical and phase equilibria | Problem set 8 due |
| 30 | Introduction to reaction kinetics | |
| Third hour exam | ||
| 31 | Complex reactions and mechanisms | |
| 32 | Steady-state and equilibrium approximations | |
| 33 | Chain reactions | |
| 34 | Temperature dependence, Ea, catalysis | Problem set 9 due |
| 35 | Enzyme catalysis | |
| 36 | Autocatalysis and oscillators | |
| Final exam |