CHEM3500 - Elements of Physical Chemistry

 

Syllabus

 

Course Information

 

Course description:   CHEM 3500 is a one-semester, non-calculus-based survey of physical chemistry designed for those desiring the B.S. degree with a major in chemistry, education, pre-professional studies, biology, or students in general. No credit will be allowed toward the ACS-accredited B.S. Chem Degree.

 

Course date: Tuesday, January 18, 2005 through Thursday, May 5, 2005

 

Location:        Foster Hall 220

Meeting day(s):         MWF

Meeting time(s):        8:00 - 8:55 AM

Prerequisite(s):         CHEM 1120 and MATH 1510 (Concepts of Calculus) or equivalent.

 

Instructor Information

Name:            Scott H. Northrup, Professor and Chair of Chemistry

Email: snorthrup@tntech.edu

Office location:           Foster Hall 219

Office hours:   Tuesday 2:00-4:30 PM or by appointment

Phone:           931-372-3421

Biography:     

 

Education

 

*         Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, 1978, Univ. of Colorado, Thesis advisor J. T. Hynes

*         M.S., Chemistry, 1976, University of Colorado, Boulder

*         B.S., Chemistry, 1973, University of Northern Colorado

*         Postdoctoral Fellow, 1978-80, Univ. of Houston, Dept of Chemistry, Postdoc advisor J. Andrew McCammon

 

Area of Specialization

 

*Physical Chemistry.

*Computer simulation of atomic motion in proteins, lipids, and other biomolecules.

*Brownian dynamics simulation methods as applied to the treatment of diffusional reactions of charged macromolecules.

*Electron Transfer in Metalloproteins.

*Nonspecific association of proteins with DNA.

*Chemical Education: Application of computational chemistry in the Curriculum.

 

Course Goals

 

Physical chemistry is concerned with the principles of physics which underlie the structure and behavior of matter. It provides the mathematical foundation for all of chemistry, and so is mathematical rather than descriptive in nature. As such a fair amount of mathematical background is required to understand physical chemistry. This course provides a one-semester overview of the subject leaving out the complex mathematical derivations which usually accompany the one-year course. In doing so the basic concepts and techniques of the subject will be discussed without the mathematical rigor. The major areas of physical chemistry will all be discussed at length - thermodynamics, kinetics, quantum mechanics, and spectroscopy, omitting statistical mechanics. Students completing this course will be able to use improved critical thinking skills to solve problems related to physical chemistry and demonstrate a breadth of factual knowledge in thermodynamics, kinetics, quantum mechanics, and spectroscopy.

 

Policies

 

Required Materials

 

*         The Elements of Physical Chemistry, 3rd Edition, by P.W. Atkins.

*         The Elements of Physical Chemistry: Lecture Notes, by S.H. Northrup.

*         WebAssign Access Code, purchase at TTU Bookstore

 

 

Additional information:         

 

We will have 4 Hour Examinations during the semester and then a comprehensive Final Examination. These exams will be a mixture of multiple choice,true/false, short answer, and problems worked out in detail. You will need to use a scientific calculator capable of taking logarithms, roots, exponential notation, raising to powers, trig functions, etc. These 4 hourly exams will constitute 45% of your total grade. I will DROP YOUR LOWEST. For the first exam you will be allowed to refer to a 3x5 index card filled with formulas and conversion factors to help you with the exam. For the second exam you may consult TWO index cards, three cards for the third exam, and four cards for the 4th exam, and 5 cards for the Final Exam. (see Grading below).

 

You will find Dr. Northrup's close adherence to the flow and material of the textbook to be a great benefit to your reading and studying. The lecture notes are identical in content to the PowerPoint Dr. Northrup uses on in lecture.

 

Online Homework which correlate with the lectures and reading assignments are available in WebAssign. You will need to pay for a subscription to WebAssign (at the Bookstore) to have access to these required homework problems. Answers to homework will be submitted back to Dr. Northrup on the WebAssign site, and will be worth 30% of your grade. You will submit the answers to a homework set during the time window of availability posted. It will be graded and the results available for your inspection within moments of each submision. You may see what you missed, rework the problems, and then get unlimited chances to resubmit to improve your grade. While working your homework, feel free to email Dr. Northrup if you get stumped, and he will send you helpful hints. However, you need to work independently on the homework.

 

The Final Exam will be comprehensive.

 

 

Grading:

*         45% 4 Hour Exams (lowest one dropped)

*         25% Final Exam

*         30% Problem Sets

 

Textbook

 

Required reading:      The Elements of Physical Chemistry, Peter Atkins, Freeman Press, 3rd Edition

 

Acknowledgments

 

The development of the on-line Web-based/aspects of this course was made possible by a special grant of a Tablet PC from Provost Marvin Barker in the Academic Affairs office. Help with technological issues of this course has been provided by Dr. Robert Clougherty and Dr. Sandi Smith of the Institute of Technological Scholarship.

 

Students with a Disability

 

Students with a disability requiring accommodations should contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS). An Accommodation Request (AR) should be completed as soon as possible, preferably by the end of the first week of the course. The ODS is located in the Roaden University Center, Room 112; phone 372-6119.