Spring 2009

Administrative Information

Class meets: MWF 10:10-11:05am in ST 129
Optional Class Text: Any Physical Chemistry textbook for your reference. Popular ones include McQuarrie and Simon; Atkins and de Paula; Berry, Rice and Ross; Levine; Barrow; Silbey and Alberty. I will not be following a textbook closely so it does not matter which one you use.
Class web site: http://home.sandiego.edu/~jkua/chem312spr09.html

Instructor: Dr. Jeremy Kua
Office: ST 381
Phone: (619) 260-7970
E-mail:
Office hours: Mon 1-3pm, Tue 2:30-4pm, Thu 9-10:30am

Why should I care? What is thermodynamics? Does the Second Law of Thermodynamics constrain me to get progressively disorganized and messy as life goes on? Does everything that we observe hinge simply on statistics and what is most probable? How do you count zillions and zillions of probability states anyway and why should I bother? If you've ever asked yourself any of these questions, then this course will begin to answer some of them, but it will also bring up more nagging, but vitally interesting, questions!

Course goals: To understand and apply thermodynamics and kinetics to chemistry. This course will begin with the study of gases as an example of how microscopic properties relate to macroscopic properties. It will then cover the first three laws of thermodynamics, free energy, and kinetics (in brief).

Course requirements:
1. There will be three in-class exams and one Final Exam. There will be seven problem sets composed of a mixture of assigned questions both from the text and from me. There will be many worksheets, some of which we will do in-class and some of which (approximately twelve) you will turn in for a grade.

2. A good grasp of calculus is important for understanding the material and completing the problem sets and exams. It is your responsibility to refamiliarize yourself with your calculus text if you need a refresher.

3a. Collaboration is allowed, and even encouraged, on problem sets and worksheets but each student must write up their own work. I am not as interested in whether you got the right answer but how you arrived at your answer. Intermediate steps must be shown.
3b. There will be NO collaboration on any exam. You do need to really understand the material deep down in your very own self.

4a. Grade breakdown is as follows:
                7 Problem Sets @ 2% each      14%
                12 Worksheets @ 0.5% each     6%
                3 Exams @ 16% each              48%
                Final Exam                               32%
4b. Tentative Grading Scale (subject to change by the instructor at any time)
                A        85-100%
                B        70-84%
                C        55-69%
                D        40-54%
                F           0-39%
Appended + and - will approximately constitute 3% widths at either end of the scale for A-D grades.

5a. Late problem sets will receive no credit (although I will go through your answers with comments).
5b. There are no make-up exams. If you have a very good reason for missing an exam you have to let me know beforehand or as soon as possible. If I judge the reason to be valid and you did let me know beforehand or ASAP, an alternative will be available (probably in the form of an oral exam where I ask you anything I would have expected you to know on the exam).

6a. Students are most welcome to come in during office hours. Generally if my office door is wide open even if not during my office hours, you're more than welcome to stop by. Remember, I'm here to help you master the material. On the rare instances I'm super-busy right when you appear, I'll just ask you to come back a little later. I check my e-mail reasonably often during working hours so you can contact me that way too. (Don't expect replies on weekends and evenings.)
6b. I love talking about the statistical thermodynamics and entropy and the strangeness of the universe we live in. So if you have a wild thought or idea, I'd probably be interested in hearing it while giving you a dose of my wild ideas. Hopefully that will be obvious from class!

7a. All students are expected to adhere strictly to the Academic Integrity policy. Violations will be dealt with through the Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, in accordance with the University of San Diego policy on academic integrity.
7b. Use of an unauthorized solutions manual or one from previous years is considered a violation of academic integrity.

Chem312 Equation Sheet (pdf) Changes may be made. (Last updated: 16 Jan 2009)

Section I. Gases: Bridging Microworld and Macroworld
Section I.1: Physical Properties of Gases
26 Jan    Ideal Gases, Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases Worksheets1-4(pdf)
28 Jan    Deviations from Ideal Gas Law, Critical Phenomena
30 Jan    Two-parameter Equations of State to describe Real Gases

02 Feb    Pairwise intermolecular interactions
Section I.2: Energies of Collections of Molecules (17,18)
04 Feb    Energies in the Atomic/Molecular World Worksheets5-11(pdf)
               Degrees of freedom, molecular motion, level spacings
06 Feb    Energies of Collections of Molecules
               Thermal Energy, Distributions

09 Feb    Derivation of the Boltzmann distribution
11 Feb    Partition Functions and Thermal Energy
13 Feb    Translation partition function

16 Feb    Rotation and vibration partition functions
18 Feb    Rotation and vibration partition functions (ctd)
20 Feb    Exam #1

Section II. Thermodynamics
Section II.1: Energy and the First Law of Thermodynamics
23 Feb    First Law and Conservation of Energy Worksheets12-17(pdf)
25 Feb    Heat, Work and Isothermal Processes
27 Feb    Enthalpy and chemical reactions
               Standard enthalpies of formation

02 Mar    Heat capacity
04 Mar    Adiabatic Processes
06 Mar    Molecular Basis of Thermal Energy: Bond Energies

Spring Break

Section II.2: Entropy and the Second and Third Laws of Thermodynamics
16 Mar    Second Law and Entropy Worksheets18-23(pdf)
18 Mar    Carnot Cycles
20 Mar    Entropy and Spontaneity

23 Mar    Third Law and Zero Temperature
25 Mar    Molecular Basis of Entropy
27 Mar    Trouton's Rule

30 Mar    Exam #2
Section II.3: Free Energy and Chemical Equilibria in Gases
01 Apr    Free Energy: property, spontaneity Worksheets24-29(pdf)
               Relationship of Free Energy and Mechanical Energy
03 Apr    Standard Free energies of Formation
               Free Energy and Pressure

06 Apr    Free Energy and the Equilibrium constant
               Free Energy and Temperature
08 Apr    Equilibria and Distributions

Easter Break

15 Apr    Fugacity and Free Energy of Real Gases
17 Apr    Interrelating Thermodynamic Properties
               Maxwell's Equations

Section II.4: Applications of Thermodynamics
20 Apr    Ideal Mixtures Worksheets30-33(pdf)
22 Apr    Raoult's Law
24 Apr    Chemical Potential and the Gibbs-Duhem relationship

27 Apr    Entropy and the Arrow of Time
29 Apr    Exam #3
Section III: Kinetics
01 May   Rate equations and Rate Laws Worksheets34-38(pdf)

04 May   Reaction Rates and Equilibria
               Relaxation Methods
06 May   Reaction Mechanisms
08 May   Unimolecular Gas Phase Reactions
               Molecular Collisions

11 May   Temperature dependence of the rate constant
               Transition State Theory

Final Exam is 11am-1pm on Mon, May 18.