Syllabus for CHEM 321 - Physical Chemistry I

Main Text:

Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach, by Donald A. McQuarrie and John D. Simon

Course Outline

1. A short discussion on the relevance of Physical Chemistry to everyday life
   
   
2. Math Review (Chapter 2, MathChapters A & C)
   1. Complex Numbers
   2. Vectors
   3. Operators
   4. The Classical Wave Equation
   
   
3. The Schrödinger Equation (Chapter 3, MathChapter B)
   1. Probability and Statistics
   2. More on Operators, Eigenvalues & Eigenvectors
   3. The Particle in a Box
   4. The Uncertainty Principle
   5. Multi-dimensional problems
   
   
4. Postulates & Theorems of Quantum Mechanics (Chapter 4)
   1. ψ is.
   2. Operators represent classical variables
   3. Observable quantites are eigenvalues of Operators
   4. The Time-dependent Schrödinger equation
   5. Eigenfunctions of Quantum operators are orthogonal
   6. Commuting operators = simultaneuously measurable quantities
   
   
5. The Harmonic Oscillator (Chapter 5)
   1. Hooke's law and bond stretching
   2. Energy levels of the Harmonic Oscillator
   3. Hermite Polynomials
   
   
6. Angular Momentum (Chapter 5, MathChapter D)
   1. Spherical Coordinates
   2. Energy levels fo a Rigid Rotator
   3. Legendre Polynomials
   
   
7. The Hydrogen Atom (Chapter 6)
   1. Spherical Harmonics
   2. Energy levels fo a Rigid Rotator
   3. Orbitals
   4. Confirmation of things you learned in General Chemistry
   
   
8. Approximation Methods (MathChapters E & F, Chapters 7 & 11)
   1. Determinants
   2. Matrices
   3. Variational Method
   4. Perturbation Theory
   5. Gaussian Basis Sets & Computational Quantum Chemistry
   
   
9. Molecules (Chapters 9 & 10)
   1. Born-Oppenheimer Approximation
   2. Molecular Orbital theory
   3. The Pauli Exclusion principle
   4. SCF-LCAO-MO
   5. Term symbols
   6. Hybrid orbitals
   
   
10. Spectroscopic methods (Chapters 12 through 15 (selected topics))
    1. The Franck-Condon Principle
    2. Rotational Spectra
    3. Vibrational Spectra
    4. Selection Rules
    5. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (hitting a piano with a sledgehammer to see what notes it used to play)
    6. Lasers
    7. Photochemistry