Spring 2010

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/chem312spr10.html

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

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).

Learning outcomes: At the end of the course you will be able to derive the molecular properties of thermodynamics from statistical mechanics and apply this knowledge to solve various chemical problems, both macroscopic and microscopic, involving thermodynamics and kinetics.

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: 12 Jan 2010)

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

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

08 Feb    Derivation of the Boltzmann distribution
10 Feb    Partition Functions and Thermal Energy
12 Feb    Translation partition function

15 Feb    Rotation and vibration partition functions
17 Feb    Rotation and vibration partition functions (ctd)
19 Feb    Exam #1

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

01 Mar    Heat capacity
03 Mar    Adiabatic Processes
05 Mar    Molecular Basis of Thermal Energy: Bond Energies

Spring Break

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

22 Mar    Third Law and Zero Temperature
24 Mar    Molecular Basis of Entropy
26 Mar    Molecular Basis of Entropy

29 Mar    Trouton's Rule
31 Mar    Exam #2

Easter Break

Section II.3: Free Energy and Chemical Equilibria in Gases
07 Apr    Free Energy: property, spontaneity Worksheets24-29(pdf)
               Relationship of Free Energy and Mechanical Energy
09 Apr    Standard Free energies of Formation
               Free Energy and Pressure

12 Apr    Free Energy and the Equilibrium constant
               Free Energy and Temperature
14 Apr    Equilibria and Distributions
16 Apr    Fugacity and Free Energy of Real Gases

19 Apr    Interrelating Thermodynamic Properties
               Maxwell's Equations
Section II.4: Applications of Thermodynamics
21 Apr    Ideal Mixtures Worksheets30-32(pdf)
23 Apr    Raoult's Law

26 Apr    Chemical Potential and the Gibbs-Duhem relationship
28 Apr    Exam #3
Section III: Kinetics
30 Apr   Rate equations and Rate Laws Worksheets34-38(pdf)

03 May   Reaction Rates and Equilibria
               Relaxation Methods
05 May   Reaction Mechanisms
07 May   Unimolecular Gas Phase Reactions
               Molecular Collisions

10 May   Temperature dependence of the rate constant
               Transition State Theory

Final Exam is 11am-1pm on Mon, May 17.