SUNY Purchase

Physical Chemistry II

CHE 3520.10
Credits: 4
Spring, 2001

Instructor:             Dr. Taina H. Chao Room 3033, Natural Sciences

Office Hours:         Monday 2:00-4:00, Tuesday 2:00 - 4:00 and by appointment.

Text:                     Robert A. Alberty and Robert J. Silbey @Physical Chemistry@, 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

This course is a continuation of Physical Chemistry I and will cover chapters 9-17 and 19 of your text.

Software:      CAChe (for modeling and computational applications) and Mathematica       are available for student use in the NS Computer Lab.

Grade Evaluation:
       Exams - 70%
       Problem sets - 30%

Grade Evaluation:

                                Exams - 70%

                                Problem sets - 30%

Syllabus

 1. Quantum Theory

    Postulates and Some Simple Applications

    The uncertainty principle

    Particle-in-a-box problem

    Particle-on-a-sphere problem

    Angular momentum

    The quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator

    The tunnelling effect

2. The Electronic Structure of One Electron Atoms and lons

    The Schrodinger equation for hydrogen-like atoms

    The geometric details and physical significance of hydrogen-like orbitals

    Energy levels and spectrum of the hydrogen atom

    Selection rules

    Angular momentum, magnetic moment and electron spin

EXAM I

3. The Electronic Structure of Many-Electron Atoms

    The helium atom

    The variational method

    The lithium atom and the Pauli exclusion principle

    Screening and the orbital energies of many-electron atoms

    The self-consistent-field orbitals

    The aufbau principle and the periodic table

    Spin-orbit interaction. Term symbols.

    Atomic spectra and selection rules. Zeeman effect.

4. Molecular Electronic Structure

    The hydrogen molecule ion

    The Born-Oppenheimer approximation

    Valence bond theory

    Molecular orbital theory
 
    The state symbols, excited states and electronic spectra of diatomic molecules
 
    Hybrid orbitals and directed valence

    lonic Bonding

5. Symmetry

    Symmetry operations and symmetry elements

    Identification of point groups of molecules

    Character tables and their uses

Exam II

6. Rotational and Vibrational Spectroscopy

    Rotational spectroscopy

    Vibrational spectroscopy

    Vibration-rotation spectroscopy

7. Electronic Spectroscopy of Molecules

    Electronic spectra - Energy levels and selection rules

    The Franck-Condon principle

    Electronic spectra of polyatomic molecules

    Fluorescence and phosphorescence

    Principles of laser
 
    Photoelectron spectroscopy

8. Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

    Nuclear magnetic resonance

    Spin-spin coupling

    Relaxation processes

    Advanced NMR techniques

    Electron spin resonance

EXAM III

9 Statistical Mechanics

    Introduction

    Molecular energy levels and the Boltzmann distribution
 
    Partition functions

10. Statistical Mechanical Treatment of Thermodynamics Quantities

    How to calculate the thermodynamic functions

    How to calculate equilibrium constants of reactions of ideal gases

11. Kinetic Theory of Gases

    Maxwell distribution of speeds

    Pressure of an ideal gas
 
    Collision frequencies

    Transport Phenomena

12. Chemical Dynamics and Photochemistry

    Simple collision theory

    Potential Energy Surfaces

    Theoretical Calculation of a Rate Constant

    Transition State Theory

    Principles of Photochemistry

EXAM IV