100: Physical Chemistry
Syllabus

The topic list for this project is: thermodynamics, chemical equilibrium, surface chemistry, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics, quantum chemistry, and statistical mechanics.

Instructor: George E. Hrabovsky, george@madscitech.org, 608-276-6832.

Task #1: Start and keep a notebook for your study of the subjects of this course. This should be bound and have at least 100 sheets. You may need more than one notebook. Each notebook started and completed is worth two points towards your final total. To begin your notebook you will need a list of topics. The one listed below is only one possible choice. This choice is the default. Any choice other than this one must be approved by your instructor.

Procedure for the Course

If a topic from the list below is underscored that means there is some resource material for it. If there is no resource material for it then you must develop that for yourself.

It is expected that you will develop one or more questions for each topic. Questions can be of the form who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Once you have written down a set of questions for a topic, you either answer each of these qurestions or you explain how you attempted to answer the question and failed. Don't be alarmed; even some elementary questions resist answering. You can learn a lot just by making the effort.

The next step is to ask a set of new questions based on your previous attempts at answering your first set of questions (this can include those questions you were unable to answer before). Answer each of those questions as best you can and create another set of questions for each answer. Answer each of those to the best of your ability and ask another set of questios for each, but do not answer them right away. If you are really interested in one or more of these questions attempt to answer them in a, "topic of personal interest," session; or you may answer them in a personal research project.

Wherever possible give at least three examples of any definition, principle, or procedure.

This course will require just under a page of notes for each topic to fill a 300 page notebook.

  1. The nature of physical chemistry
  2. Experimental physical chemistry
  3. Theoretical physical chemistry
  4. Computational physical chemistry
  5. Ideal gases
  6. Real gases
  7. Kinetic theory
  8. Transport phenomena
  9. Liquids and solids
  10. First law of thermodynamics
  11. Thermochemistry
  12. Second law of thermodynamics
  13. Entropy
  14. Third law of thermodynamics
  15. Free energy
  16. Thermodynamics in Mathematica
  17. Topic of personal interest (including, but not limited to ideal gases, mixtures of ideal gases, equations of state, Boltzmann distribution, collision frequency, mean free path, viscosity, diffusion, thermal conductivity, heat capacities, van der Waals equation, absorption of light, molar refraction, molar polarization, Gibbs and Helmholtz functions, chemical potential, heats of reaction, Carnot cycle, thermometry, activities, thermodynamic relations)
  18. Topic of personal interest.
  19. Topic of personal interest.
  20. Review of topics to date
  21. Chemical equilibrium
  22. Reaction equilibrium for ideal mixtures
  23. Phase equilibrium
  24. Ideal solutions
  25. Ideal dilute solutions
  26. Nonideal solutions
  27. Reaction equilibrium for nonideal systems
  28. Colloidal solutions
  29. Multicomponent phase equilibrium
  30. Chemical equilibrium in Mathematica
  31. Topic of personal interest (including, but not limited to equilibrium constants, equilibrium in aqueous solutions, Clapeyron equation, Trouton's rule, phase maps, surface tension, nucleation, spontaneity, concentrations)
  32. Topic of personal interest.
  33. Topic of personal interest.
  34. Review of topics 21-33
  35. Review of topics to date
  36. Surface chemistry
  37. Surface chemistry in Mathematica
  38. Topic of personal interest (including, but not limited to interfaces, surface thermodynamics, films on liquids, adsorption, foams)
  39. Topic of personal interest.
  40. Topic of personal interest.
  41. Review of topics 36-40
  42. Review of topics to date
  43. Solutions of electrolytes
  44. Redox reactions
  45. Electrochemical cells
  46. Electrochemistry in Mathematica
  47. Topic of personal interest (including, but not limited to conductivity, ionic activity, bioelectrochemistry)
  48. Topic of personal interest.
  49. Topic of personal interest.
  50. Review of topics 43-49
  51. Review of topics to date
  52. Chemical reactions
  53. Rates of chemical reactions
  54. Reaction kinetics
  55. Gas-phase kinetics
  56. Chemical kinetics in Mathematica
  57. Topic of personal interest (including, but not limited to reaction order and rate constants, radioactive decay, temperature effects, catalysis, photochemistry, transition-state theory)
  58. Topic of personal interest.
  59. Topic of personal interest.
  60. Review of topics 52-59
  61. Review of topics to date
  62. Quantum mechanics
  63. Atoms
  64. Diatomic molecules
  65. Angular momentum
  66. Symmetry
  67. Group theory
  68. Representation of groups
  69. Two level systems
  70. Molecules
  71. Rotational spectra
  72. Vibrational spectra
  73. Electronic spectra
  74. Nuclear magnetic resonance
  75. Intermolecular bonding
  76. Lasers
  77. The solid state
  78. The liquid state
  79. Macromolecules
  80. Nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry
  81. Chemistry of fundamental particles
  82. Quantum chemistry in Mathematica
  83. Topic of personal interest (including, but not limited to postulates of quantum mechanics, the harmonic oscillator, spectroscopy, hydrogenic atoms, helium, many-electron atoms, molecular energy, molecular vibrations, molecular orbital theory, approximation methods, atomic spectra, molecular vibrations, molecular rotations)
  84. Topic of personal interest.
  85. Topic of personal interest.
  86. Review of topics 62-85
  87. Review of topics to date
  88. Statistical mechanics
  89. Statistical thermodynamics
  90. Intermolecular forces
  91. Electrical conductivity
  92. Critical phenomena
  93. Dynamical systems
  94. Chaotic dynamics
  95. Statistical mechanics in Mathematica
  96. Topic of personal interest (including, but not limited to fluctuations, partition functions, light scattering, ensembles, monatomic crystals)
  97. Topic of personal interest.
  98. Topic of personal interest.
  99. Review of topics 88-98
  100. Review of topics to date

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