General Information Syllabus Chemistry 304 Statistical Thermodynamics & Kinetics Fall 2017 Lecture Time: T Th 8:30 am - 10:00 am Lecture Location: Hilles 108 Lecturer: Dr. Yang Yang (office: KINSC E304C) Email: yyang2@haverford.edu (please include [Chem 304] in the subject) Phone: 610-896-2949 Office Hours: T Th 10:30 am - 12:00 pm (KINSC Hilles H304C, conference room in the Science Library), and by appointment TA: Rosalind Xu (jxu@haverford.edu) Q&A Section: W 8:00 pm 9:30 pm, KINSC L309 (from week 2) Grader: Caroline McKeon (cmckeon@haverford.edu) Introduction Statistical Thermodynamics & Kinetics discusses the macroscopic view of matter and chemical phenomena using the tools of thermodynamics, kinetics and statistical mechanics. The goal is to provide the physical and mathematical underpinnings of an ensemble description of physical and chemical properties and change. Upon the study of this course, students are expected to establish a recognition of the fundamentally important role of Physical Chemistry in molecular science, to gain a better understanding of the relationship between Physical Chemistry and other sub-areas of chemistry (such as Organic, Inorganic, Analytical, Biological, Environmental and Materials Chemistry), to develop an appreciation of the relationship between chemistry and Physics, Mathematics and other disciplines in science, and to be able to assess and judge some of the pressing societal issues in health, environment, and new technologies from the point of view of Physical Chemistry. You need to prepare to devote significant amount of time and efforts to mastering physical chemistry principles and solving problems. To excel, you must plan to study P-Chem Every Day! (Don t be scared, we are ready to help you!) Textbooks and Other Course Materials 1. Textbook. One required textbook: Donald A. McQuarrie and John D. Simon, Molecular Thermodynamics (University Science Books, Sausalito, CA, 1999). Page 1 of 5
Online texts: McQuarrie & Simon s Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach (University Science Books, 1997) will be available as downloadable PDFs on Moodle. Great additional readings: Prof. Joshua Schrier s textbook on Introduction to Computational Physical Chemistry. Related materials will be available as downloadable PDFs on Moodle. 2. Moodle. Assignments and handouts can be found electronically at Moodle (http://moodle.haverford.edu/). Please let me know immediately if you are unable to access Moodle. 3. Library resources. If you need to search any specific resources for our course work, please feel free to contact our Science Librarian, Carol Howe (chowe@haverford.edu; Hilles 300), for direct support. 4. Subject to Change. The information in this syllabus may be changed during the semester. For any changes, I will clarify them in the class. Course Information 1. Attendance. Each lecture I will introduce principles and illustrate concepts with examples. At the end of this syllabus, you may see a tentative topics outline. Attending all classes is required, since many of the materials introduced in classes are not directly from textbooks. If you will be missing a lecture, please let me know well in advance of or as soon as possible following your absence if a prior notification is impossible. 2. Laptop/iPad/Smart Phone in Class. Laptop/iPad are permitted in class, but ONLY for the purpose of taking notes, viewing class notes or calculation. Download lecture notes/handouts to your hard drive before class, and view them from there. You MUST NOT play games, browse internet, or exchange messages with others during class. NO SMART PHONE is allowed to use in the class for any purpose! 3. Homework. You cannot survive Physical Chemistry without doing the homework carefully and thoughtfully. Please take your homework seriously and do not hesitate to come directly to me and TAs with any questions. Problem solving is a crucial aspect of this course. A problem set as your homework will be assigned on Thursday, and the homework is due at 12:30pm of the following Thursday in an envelope (labeled with Chem 304 Homework ) outside my office (KINSC E304C). No late homework is acceptable. Please do show your work to get the full points. One of the best ways to learn chemistry is to do problems while and after you read the textbook and lecture notes: study the textbook Examples, try the textbook Exercises, and work on the assigned Problems as soon as possible. Group Study is highly encouraged for your chemistry learning. Discuss your questions with your partners, and share your thoughts, achievements, and difficulties during the course of solving problems. Group members of a study group are particularly encouraged to come together to office hours to Page 2 of 5
discuss your questions with me. Though group study is recommended for problem discussions, each student must complete his/her own homework. Copying others work is not allowed! Each problem on the problem sets will be graded on the following basis, which places an emphasis on presenting clear, concise arguments in mathematical, verbal, or computational form, and to facilitate my paying attention to your material in a timely fashion. a. I expect CLEAR solutions. That means that they should be written at a level of neatness that does not allow one symbol to be confused with another. If we can t read your handwriting or follow your train of thought, we cannot give you credit for the work. Please present your work legibly. b. I want you to write CLEAR EXPLANATIONS of what is going on in each and every solution. Do not write solutions involving only equations. A solution is a story telling the story in words first, will help your understanding, your recall, and help you avoid mistakes. c. Each solution should begin on a new page. The only exceptions are the short numerical calculations you can put up to four of these on a page if you wish. If you are concerned about the environment, buy recycled paper. d. Verbosity and clarity are not the same thing, but if obeying rule c) makes you think you are wasting paper, then you are being too brief. e. Include diagrams to help you translate equations to physics, fix notation, and help you avoid mistakes. f. All problems should be turned in numerical order. Using separate sheets of paper will facilitate this. Problem sets should be stapled together. g. Don t forget to write your name on the submitted homework set. Homework Set Grading Reference. Points on each problem will be assigned in the following way. a. Short problems: b. Long problems: 2 points: Totally correct and totally clear. 1 point: Some mistakes, but the solution is clearly presented (to the standard above) 0 points: Some mistakes and we can t easily figure out what you are doing. 5 points: Totally correct and totally clear. 4 points: Minor errors (dropping a minus sign, factor of 2, factor of π, etc.) in a lengthy derivation, but the work is presented clearly, making it easy for an outsider to figure out where things went wrong. 3 points: Major errors, but the work is presented clearly, making it easy for us to figure out where things went wrong. 2 points: Minor errors and the work is not presented clearly. Page 3 of 5
1 point: Major errors and the work is not presented clearly. 4. Exams. There will be two midterm exams and one final exam. The midterm/final exams are open-book, open-notes; you may use one contiguous 24-hour period to complete the exam. The exams will test your ability to apply what you have learned to open ended problems. The exams are based on the lecture materials and closely related to problems assigned in the homework sets. Midterm exams will focus primarily on material covered since the previous exam, but because of the interrelated nature of the material covered, each exam should be considered cumulative. The final exam will cover materials from the entire semester. The exact exam dates will be informed during the semester. 5. Grades. Your final grade will be computed with the following scheme Homework 20% Midterm I 25% Midterm II 25% Final Exam 30% TOTAL 100% *There is NO EXTRA CREDIT in this class.* Note: Your total scores will be used to determine your final letter grade. Plus and minus letter grades will be awarded on final grades to people close to the borders. 6. Accommodations. is committed to supporting the learning process for all students. Please contact me as soon as possible if you are having difficulties in the course. There are also many resources on campus available to you as a student, including the Office of Academic Resources (https://www.haverford.edu/oar/) and the Office of Access and Disabilities Services (https://www.haverford.edu/ads/). If you think you may need accommodations because of a disability, please contact Sherrie Borowsky, Coordinator of Accommodations, Office of Access and Disability Services at hc-ads@haverford.edu. If you have already been approved to receive academic accommodations and would like to request accommodations in this course because of a disability, please meet with me privately at the beginning of the semester (within the first two weeks if possible) with your verification letter. 7. Honor Code. The Honor Code, as outlined in the Catalog and administered by the Honor Council, applies to all submitted work in Chem 304. Students are encouraged to work together on problem sets, but it is a requirement that all submitted material be your own; this includes plots and graphics generated using a computer. You must acknowledge in writing any assistance you receive from the literature, other students, textbooks, internet, or any source but Dr. Yang. Please consult Dr. Yang if you have any questions regarding the Honor Code. Page 4 of 5
8. General Course Outline (May be altered as necessary, and I will inform the class for any variation.) Note: The chapters are short, and we will work through them very quickly. read and pay attention and do your best to keep up. You MUST Classical Thermodynamics Chapter 2: The Properties of Gases Chapter 5: The First Law of Thermodynamics Chapter 6: Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics Chapter 7: Entropy and the Third Law of Thermodynamics Chapter 8: Helmholtz and Gibbs Energies Statistical Thermodynamics Chapter 1: The Energy Levels of Atoms and Molecules Chapter 3: The Boltzmann Factor and Partition Functions Chapter 4: Partition Functions and Ideal Gases Mixtures and Equilibria Chapter 9: Phase Equilibria Chapter 10: Solutions I: Liquid-Liquid Solutions Chapter 11: Solutions II: Solid-Liquid Solutions Chapter 12: Chemical Equilibrium Kinetics and Dynamics (Chapters are from Physical Chemistry, a Molecular Approach ) Chapter 27: The Kinetic Theory of Gases Chapter 28: Chemical Kinetics I: Rate Laws Chapter 29: Chemical Kinetics II: Reaction Mechanisms Chapter 30: Gas-Phase Reaction Dynamics Page 5 of 5