Course Meeting Times
Lectures: 3 sessions / week, 1 hour / session
Recitations: 2 sessions / week, 1 hour / session
Prerequisites
Prerequisites for this course are 8.02 Physics II: Electricity and Magnetism, 18.02 Multivariable Calculus, and one of the following:
5.111 Principles of Chemical Science, 5.112 Principles of Chemical Science, or 3.091 Introduction to Solid State Chemistry.
Textbook
McQuarrie, Donald A. Quantum Chemistry. 2nd ed. University Science Books, 2008. ISBN: 9781891389504. [Preview with Google Books]
Other Books
Atkins, P., and J. de Paula. Physical Chemistry. 7th ed. W. H. Freeman and Company, 2001. ISBN: 9780716735397.
Silbey, R., R. Alberty, and M. Bawendi. Physical Chemistry. 4th ed. John Wiley & Sons, 2004. ISBN: 9780471215042.
Karplus, M., and R. Porter. Atoms and Molecules: An Introduction for Students of Physical Chemistry. W. A. Benjamin, 1970. ISBN: 9780805352184.
Format
There will be clicker exercises (classroom response devices) in almost every lecture. Students will be awarded participation points (up to a maximum of 50) based on the number of clicker questions to which they respond. There will also be prizes for the recitation section with the largest percentage of correct clicker answers.
Exams
There will be three one-hour examinations during the term and a regularly-scheduled three-hour final examination. An information sheet summarizing details of the examinations will be distributed prior to each examination. All of the exams will be closed-notes and closed-book.
Homework
Problems will be assigned every week. Late problem sets are not accepted. Homework will be graded by the recitation instructor and returned in recitation.
Grading
A total of 650 points is possible in the course as follows:
| ACTIVITIES | POINTS |
|---|---|
| Homework | 100 |
| Exams | 300 (100 each) |
| Clicker Question Responses | 50 |
| Final exam | 200 |
| Total | 650 |
Calendar
The calendar below provides information on the course's lecture (L) and exam (E) sessions.
| SES # | TOPICS | KEY DATES |
|---|---|---|
| L1 | Historical Background | |
| L2 | Wave Nature of the Electron and the Internal Structure of an Atom | |
| L3 | Two-Slit Experiment. Quantum Weirdness | |
| L4 | Classical Wave Equation | |
| L5 | Quantum Mechanics: Free Particle and Particle in 1D box | Problem set 1 due |
| L6 | 3-D Box and Separation of Variables | |
| L7 | Classical Mechanical Harmonic Oscillator | |
| L8 | Quantum Mechanical Harmonic Oscillator | Problem set 2 due |
| L9 | The Harmonic Oscillator: Creation and Annihilation Operators | |
| L10 | The Time-Dependent Schrödinger Equation | Problem set 3 due |
| L11 | Wavepacket Dynamics for Harmonic Oscillator and PIB | |
| L12 | Looking Backward Before First Hour Exam | |
| E1 | First Hour Exam | |
| L13 | Interaction of Light with Matter | |
| L14 | Non-Degenerate Perturbation Theory I | |
| L15 | Non-Degenerate Perturbation Theory II | Problem set 4 due |
| L16 | Rigid Rotor I | |
| L17 | Rigid Rotor II | Problem set 5 due |
| L18 | Perturbation Theory III | |
| L19 | Hydrogen Atom | |
| E2 | Second Hour Exam | |
| L20 | Hydrogen Atom (cont.) | |
| L21 | Helium Atom | |
| L22 | Helium Atom (cont.) | Problem set 6 due |
| L23 | Many Electron Atoms | |
| L24 | Molecular Orbitals I | |
| L25 | Molecular Orbitals I (cont.) | Problem set 7 due |
| L26 | Molecular Orbitals II | |
| L27 | Qualitative Molecular Orbital Theory | |
| L28 | Qualitative Molecular Orbital Theory (cont.) | |
| L29 | Modern Electronic Structure Theory: Basis Sets | |
| E3 | Third Hour Exam | |
| L30 | Modern Electronic Structure Theory: Electron Correlation | Problem set 8 due |
| L31 | Using Gaussian | |
| L32 | Intermolecular Interactions | |
| L33 | Electronic Spectroscopy and Photochemistry | |
| L34 | Electronic Spectroscopy and Photochemistry (cont.) | Problem set 9 due |
| L35 | Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) | |
| L36 | Course Review / Makeup Lecture | |
| E4 | Final Exam |