CHEM 4531: Physical Chemistry II

Fall 2011

J. M. Weber

Technicalities(1)• Requirements:

– CHEM 4511 or 4411 – PHYS 1120 or 2020 – recommended: firm grasp of algebra, complex

numbers, calculus, differential equations

• Class hours:MWF 09:00 am to 09:50 am

• Office Hours: M: 5 pm – 6 pmTF: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Technicalities(2)• Locations:

– JILA tower A709

– phone 492-7841

– email weberjm@jila.colorado.edu

– web site: http://jila.colorado.edu/weberlabs/course-CHEM4531.html

• Exam schedule:

– Two-hour exams: September 22, October 20, December 15-7 pm, locations TBA

– Final Exam: date, time, and location TBA

Technicalities(3)• Problem sets (homework):

– usually handed out (i.e. posted on course web site) on Wednesdays, to be returned the following Wednesdays before class

– homework will be graded by graduate student TA Mirvat Abdelhaq.

– credits accumulated over the semester determine your homework performance grade. Everyone may drop one homework assignment without penalty.

• Travel: Due to professional travel, there will be no lecture on Nov. 16. As the 2-hr exams are held outside of class hours, up to two more lectures may be cancelled.

Technicalities(4)

• Additional lectures (voluntary):Cover some material in more depth, review some math and

physics, do some computer experiments to enhance

learning. Some Thursdays 6 pm – 7 pm, will be announced.

Location: EKLC E1B50

• Final grades: – homework performance: 40%

– clicker questions (participation) 5%

– average of the two-hour-exams: 30%

– final exam: 25%

Technicalities(5)• Textbooks:

Required: Donald A. McQuarrie “ Physical Chemistry”

Please note that reading material will be part of homework and

relevant for exams.

Optional: James R. Barrante “Applied Mathematics for Physical

Chemistry”

• Science Education ResearchHow do people learn quantum mechanics?

Program funded by the National Science Foundation

Graduate student researcher in charge: Callie Cole

Your cooperation will help future generation of students

I will not see individual results from your input, only class

average

Clicker Questions and PowerPoint Slides will

be posted on the course web site!

Homework Assignments This Week

• Read McQuarrie & Simon, Chapters 1, A, 2, B

before Wednesday, August 31

• Problem Set 1: Mathematics

due before class on Friday, August 26

• Problem Set 2 will be posted on Wednesday, August 24

due before class on Wednesday, August 31

Additional Lecture This Week:

A Refresher on Complex Numbers

Developing the Vocabulary of Quantum Mechanics: The Particle in a Box

Vibrating Molecules: The QM Harmonic Oscillator

The QM Description of the H-Atom

Multielectron Atoms

Molecular Bonding

Spectroscopy

From QM to Thermodynamics on a Molecular Level: Statistical Mechanics

MASTERY OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE (Graduate Course)

Where Classical Physics Fails …

Rotating Molecules: The QM Rigid Rotator

H H