Readings and Lecture Notes

Lecture notes (with blanks) are provided for each lecture. Students are expected to follow along during the lecture in order to fill in the blanks in the notes.

Readings are from the required textbook:

Buy at Amazon Atkins, Peter, and Loretta Jones. Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight. 4th ed. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman and Company, 2007. ISBN: 9781429209656.

The reading assignment listed for the first session is a review of information you are expected to know before you begin the class. This information is not discussed during lecture.

In addition, no lecture notes were provided for the first session. The handout associated with that lecture is an overview of the class format and expectations.

SES # TOPICS READINGS LECTURE NOTES
L1 The importance of chemical principles Section A.1
Sections B.3-B.4
Sections C-H
Sections L-M
(PDF)
L2 Discovery of electron and nucleus, need for quantum mechanics Sections A.2-A.3
Sections B.1-B.2
Section 1.1
(PDF)
L3 Wave-particle duality of light Sections 1.2 and 1.4 (PDF)
L4 Wave-particle duality of matter, Schrödinger equation Sections 1.5-1.6 (PDF)
L5 Hydrogen atom energy levels Sections 1.3, 1.7 up to equation 9b, and 1.8 (PDF)
L6 Hydrogen atom wavefunctions (orbitals) Section 1.9 (PDF - 1.2 MB)
L7 p-orbitals Sections 1.10-1.11 (PDF)
L8 Multelectron atoms and electron configurations Sections 1.12-1.13 (PDF)
L9 Periodic trends Sections 1.14-1.18, and 1.20 (PDF - 1.6 MB)
L10 Periodic trends continued; Covalent bonds Sections 2.5-2.6, and 2.14-2.16 (PDF - 1.6 MB)
L11 Lewis structures Sections 2.7-2.8 (PDF)
L12 Exceptions to Lewis structure rules; Ionic bonds Sections 2.3 and 2.9-2.12 (PDF - 1.1 MB)
L13 Polar covalent bonds; VSEPR theory Sections 3.1-3.2 (PDF - 5.1 MB)
L14 Molecular orbital theory Sections 3.8-3.11 (PDF)
L15 Valence bond theory and hybridization Sections 3.4-3.7 (PDF - 1.0 MB)
L16 Determining hybridization in complex molecules; Termochemistry and bond energies/bond enthalpies Sections 6.13, 6.15-6.18, and 6.20 (PDF)
L17 Entropy and disorder Sections 7.1-7.2, 7.8, 7.12-7.13, and 7.15 (PDF)
L18 Free energy and control of spontaneity Section 7.16 (PDF)
L19 Chemical equilibrium Sections 9.0-9.9 (PDF)
L20 Le Chatelier's principle and applications to blood-oxygen levels Sections 9.10-9.13 (PDF)
L21 Acid-base equilibrium: Is MIT water safe to drink? Chapter 10 (PDF)
L22 Chemical and biological buffers Chapters 10 and 11 (PDF)
L23 Acid-base titrations Chapter 11 (PDF)
L24 Balancing oxidation/reduction equations Section K
Chapter 12
(PDF)
L25 Electrochemical cells Chapter 12 (PDF)
L26 Chemical and biological oxidation/reduction reactions Chapter 12 (PDF)
L27 Transition metals and the treatment of lead poisoning pp. 669-681 (PDF)
L28 Crystal field theory pp. 681-683 (PDF - 1.4 MB)
L29 Metals in biology pp. 631-637 (PDF - 1.2 MB)
L30 Magnetism and spectrochemical theory Chapter 16 (PDF)
L31 Rate laws Sections 13.1-13.5 (PDF)
L32 Nuclear chemistry and elementary reactions pp. 498-501 and 660-664 (PDF)
L33 Reaction mechanism pp. 549-552 (PDF)
L34 Temperature and kinetics Sections 13.11-13.13 (PDF)
L35 Enzyme catalysis Sections 13.14-13.15 (PDF)
L36 Biochemistry   (PDF)