CH 353 - Physical Chemistry I Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, & Equilibria Spring 2017 Unique #51380 TTh 11:00-12:30 WEL 2.110 Class: T/H 11:00am-12:30pm, WEL 2.110 Instructor: Prof. David A. Vanden Bout WCH 2.222 232-0677 dvandenbout@cm.utexas.edu Office Hours: Tues 4-5, or by appointment Teaching Assistants: Geoffrey Geberth, gtgeberth@utexas.edu TA Office Hours: Geoff Geberth Thurs 2-3 Wel 3.134, or by appointment Textbook: McQuarrie and Simon, Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach Alternative: Physical Chemistry, 9 th Ed. Atkins and de Paula PREREQUISITES: First and second semester calculus, first and second semester general chemistry, and first and second semester physics.
The prerequisites above are to ensure that you possess both the mathematical background and underlying knowledge of basic chemistry & physics necessary to tackle the problems that we ll encounter this semester. If you have not met the above prerequisites, but still want to enroll in this class, please contact me. Textbook: No textbook for this class is explicitly required as homework problems, quizzes, and exams will be fully written out and exams will only cover material that I introduce in lecture. However, using a textbook can help to supplement the topics that we discuss in class. The text I ve used as a primary source for my lectures is: Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach by Donald A. McQuarrie & John D. Simon (1997) Other Useful Texts: A good alternative to McQuarrie & Simon is: Physical Peter Atkins & Julio de Paula (2010) While McQuarrie & Simon present a bottom-up approach starting with the intrinsic properties of molecules governed by quantum mechanics that builds to a macroscopic picture described by thermodynamics, this ordering of topics differs from the top-down approach we ll follow and those using this text will find that we ll start in the middle and skip from chapter to chapter. Atkins & de Paula instead follow the standard approach to physical chemistry that follows the historical evolution of the field, starting with hermodynamics and building towards quantum approaches. The course schedule also has the chapters for Atkins & de Paula. Copies of both texts are available in the Chemistry Library on reserve. The course outline below lists a schedule for this class and the sections of both McQuarrie & Simon that each lecture will focus on. This schedule is tentative and will be readjusted as the course progresses. If you feel that you need a refresher on your calculus and algebra skills, then I would recommend: Applied Mathematics for Physical Chemistry, by James R. Barrante McQuarrie & Simon also includes a few small Mathchapters that are good refreshers. Webpage & Email Policy: We will be using Piazza for online class discussion: piazza.com/utexas/spring2016/ch353/home If you have questions regarding either the course material or logistics, submit them to the course website and not to me via personal email. I consider such questions to be public and will ask you to repost them to Piazza so that your colleagues can benefit from the discussion.
Please check the website regularly! Announcements relevant to exams and other course logistics will be posted as well as periodic class polls. Lecture Notes: My lectures will entail notes that I will hand write during class and display using the document camera. These notes will be posted to the course website after each class. I will also post a brief summary that identifies the key concepts of the material covered in class each day. Context for understanding these notes is critical and I encourage you to take your own notes during class to supplement these materials. I also encourage you to ask questions during class. If you are having trouble understanding a concept, then I can guarantee that you re not the only one in the room with that question. Homework & Quizzes: Seven homework assignments will be given out on a ~biweekly basis as a way to help you work through and internalize the lecture material. Homework will be graded for both completeness and correctness. For full points, we must be able to follow your logic in completing a problem. Homework will be collected on the dates noted on the schedule below at the start of that day s lecture. Late homework will not be accepted, but your lowest homework score will be dropped. Homework contributes 10% of your total grade. I strongly encourage you to form study groups and to work together on the homework. If you work in groups, note down who your collaborators are on the assignment. Homework solutions will be posted shortly after they are due to help you study for quizzes and exams. Your mastery of the homework material will be evaluated through seven closed-note/closedbook quizzes that will occur in the class immediately following the due date for each homework. These quizzes will be administered during the first 15-20 minutes of the scheduled lecture period and will cover topics and questions taken from the homework. These quizzes will count towards 15% of your grade. No makeup quizzes will be given. Contact me well in advance if you have a conflict. In class work: We will have a number of opportunities to work on problems in class. While these activities will not directly be incorporated into your grade they can be used to substitute for missing HW assignment. Points will be counted based on participation only. Participation on 75% of the activities will allow you to swap one HW grade for 100%, 90% will allow swapping one quiz score for 100%. Exams: Three closed-note/closed-book midterm exams will be given during the regularly scheduled lecture periods on the following dates. 2/16, 3/23, and 4/20. The exams will be given during the normal class time. The exams will be on the dates given on the syllabus. Plan now. Will not drop any exam scores. The exams will not be comprehensive in the sense that they will not ask question that only cover material from earlier parts of the course. They will however expect you to remember this material. Everything builds upon previous material.
Final Exam: The final will cover everything from the entire course. There will be questions that are representative of all the homework assignments and all the exams. In addition there will be problems that synthesize the concepts from the entire course. The final counts slightly more than one hour exam. Should your final exam score be higher than one of your one-hour exams, we will automatically replace that score with your final score. So it is possible the final will comprise a higher percentage of your final grade. The Final is currently scheduled for Wednesday May 10 from 7-10pm (official final exam times will be posted three weeks before the end of the semester). Grades: The basis for the grades will be the homework assignments and the exams. Of the seven homework sets, the lowest two will be dropped. No exam scores will be dropped. The breakdown will be as follows: Homework 10% Quizzes 15% Exams 50% Final 25% We will use one of two possible grading schemes in this course, depending on the final class mean score. Case 1: IF THE FINAL CLASS MEAN SCORE REMAINS ABOVE 70%: Grade: A = 90% and above A- = 85 89% B+ = 80 85% B = 75 80% B- = 70 75% C+ = 65 70% C = 60 65% C- = 55 60% D = 45 54% F < 45% Case 2: IF THE FINAL CLASS MEAN SCORE DROPS BELOW 70%: Grades above the mean will receive A s and B s. Grades at and below the mean will receive C s, D s, and F s.
I will show grade distributions following each quiz/exam to give you an idea of your standing relative to the class mean. If your final score lies below the cutoff for a given grade, I may improve your grade if you ve shown demonstrable improvement on exams and class participation. Students with Disabilities: Please notify me of any modification/adaptation you may require to accommodate a disability-related need. You will be requested to provide documentation to the Dean of Students' Office, in order that the most appropriate accommodations can be determined. Specialized services are available on campus through Services for Students with Disabilities. Drop Dates: The last date to drop the course for a possible refund is February 1, 2016. The last day to drop the course for academic reasons is April 3, 2016. (requires Dean s Office Approval). After this, students may go to the Dean s office, WCH 2.112, to appeal for non-academic reasons. Observance of Religious Holidays: Religious holy days sometimes conflict with class and examination schedules. It is the policy of The University of Texas at Austin that the student must notify each instructor at least fourteen days prior to the classes scheduled on dates he or she will be absent to observe a religious holy day. For religious holidays that fall within the first two weeks of the semester, the notice should be given on the first day of the semester. The student may not be penalized for these excused absences but the instructor may appropriately respond if the student fails to complete satisfactorily the missed assignment or examination within a reasonable time after the excused absence. Course Material: CH 353 is a first-semester course in physical chemistry that covers the basics of thermodynamics. The course will mainly cover ideal systems in an effort to clearly describe the concepts. While some aspects of non-ideality will be discussed, they are presented to give exposure to these ideas rather than a comprehensive understanding. The course will progress in three major stages. The first portion will cover the fundamentals of thermodynamics and the concepts and applications with gas laws and chemical reactions. The second portion will deal with entropy, free energy, and phase equilibria. The last section
will deal with solutions, mixtures, and chemical equilibria. A final section will address statistical mechanics.