Chemistry 3890

Honors Physical Chemistry I

Fall 2009

Room: Olin 255
MWF 9:05--9:55 am

COURSE INFORMATION

• Instructor: Professor Gregory Ezra

• Chem 3890 will provide an introduction to Quantum Mechanics as a foundation for Physical Chemistry. In addition to the basic theory, applications to atomic and molecular structure, chemical bonding and spectroscopy will be discussed.

• A list of topics to be covered is given in the course syllabus.

• For further details on course organization, see the course information sheet.

• Textbooks:

  Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 2nd edition, by D. J. Griffiths

  Physlet Quantum Physics: An Interactive Introduction by M. Belloni, W. Christian, and A. J. Cox.

  These books are available as a packaged set in the bookstore.

  The book by Griffiths is a very readable introductory text on Quantum Mechanics. The Physlet book has an accompanying CD with a number of instructive applet-type programs illustrating some of the principles encountered in the course. (We will see that such calculations can also be done with Mathematica.)

  We will also cover material from McQuarrie & Simon:

  Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach, by D.A. McQuarrie and J.D. Simon (University Science Books).

  You will need to buy this book in any case for Chem 3900.

• For further information, please contact Professor Ezra.
  

• We will use the computer program Mathematica extensively for both analytical and numerical computations. Students can:

  • License a copy for one academic year through the Cornell licensing program, or directly from Wolfram research.

  • Purchase the software outright, either through the Campus Store or directly from Wolfram research.

LECTURE DOCUMENTS

• 2-slit experiment

• Towards the quantum superposition of living organisms

MATHEMATICA NOTEBOOKS

• Professor Kelly's Mathematica tutorials: Essential Mathematica for Students of Science.

• Mathematica basics.

• Chem 3890 units notebook.

• Solving the TDSE using NDSolve.

• Color phasor plots for complex functions.

• Visualizing complex wavefunctions.

• Complex conjugation of wavefunctions.

• Solving the Schrodinger equation using NDSolve.

• Expansion in PIB eigenfunctions (includes animation).

• QM at a potential step.

• QM of the square potential barrier.

• QM HO wavefunctions and probability densities.

• Solving Legendre's equation.

• Visualizing spherical harmonics.

• QM rotor wavefunctions and probability densities.

• Hydrogen wavefunctions and probability densities.

PRELIM REVIEW

• List of review topics for Prelim III
  

PROBLEM SETS

• Problem set 9. Due, in class, Friday November 20.
  

PROBLEM SET SOLUTIONS

• Problem set solutions are available on the Chem 3890 Blackboard page (in the "Course Documents" folder).
  All students currently enrolled in 3890 should be able to access this site.