Instructor: Dr. Sanford A. Safron Room 314 DLC, 644-5239, <safron@chem.fsu.edu>
Office Hours:10:00 - 11:00 am MWF, or by appointment.
Text: P. W. Atkins, Physical Chemistry, 6th Edition, W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 1997.
Course Description:
Physical Chemistry is the branch of chemistry which is concerned with the investigation of the underlying physical principles that govern chemical processes. This includes understanding how the laws of thermodynamics determine the approach to thermal, chemical and phase equilibria; what factors govern the rates of chemical reactions and other processes; why molecules have the structures they have; and how molecules interact with each other and with electromagnetic radiation.
This semester the course will focus largely on macroscopic behavior; namely, the application of the laws of thermodynamics to chemical processes. While studying thermodynamics, you should always keep in mind (or maybe in the back of your mind) that no matter how complicated and abstract a problem may appear you are basically just doing two things: first, you are making use of the law that energy must be conserved no matter what process is going on; and second, you are relying on the notion that macroscopic systems are composed of huge numbers of molecules and therefore that certain arrangements (or distributions) of the available energy are statistically very much more probable than other arrangements. Sometimes energy conservation and the statistical arrangement of it work together to make a process very favorable; sometimes they work together to make the process very unfavorable; and sometimes they work against each other to make the process somewhat favorable or somewhat unfavorable. An important consideration this semester will be to see how the experimental variables like temperature, pressure and concentrations affect the balance of these two principles.
Towards the end of this semester the focus of the course will shift to the subject of chemical kinetics which is the study of the rates of reactions and other processes. At first, we will examine the macroscopic behavior; i.e., rate laws which describe the rate of a process in terms of the concentrations of the chemical reactants and products. Then, we will look at the reaction processes at the microscopic or molecular level.
To understand the material in this course, it is necessary to develop qualitative and quantitative facilities with the subject. Both are important! In trying to decide what process might occur in a given situation, you first, usually, need to imagine qualitatively what factors should play the important roles. Then, you try to verify your qualitative picture by evaluating the quantities involved. Sometimes even a very rough evaluation is good enough. However, if it does not work out, you probably need to modify the picture and try the evaluation again. (This is how people "calibrate" their intuitions!) Finally, though, as a check on any calculations, you should be able to convince yourself that the answer makes good physical sense.
Homework problems will be assigned regularly and will be collected at
the beginning of the class on the date due. The solutions will be posted
in HTL and also made available on reserve in the Dirac Science Library.
If you are having trouble doing the homework assignment, please ask questions
in class or come to office hours or make an appointment with the instructor.
(Please do the same if you are having trouble following the material explanations
presented in class lectures.) The exams in this course will consist of
a mix of numerical problems and qualitative descriptions or explanations.
The final exam will cover the entire semester's work.
TESTS:
Three in-class tests will be given and will cover material discussed in class, the text, and any outside assignments. The test dates are scheduled as follows:
| Test 1: | October 2 |
| Test 2: | November 4 |
| Test 3: | December 2 |
Final Exam: A comprehensive final exam will be given and is scheduled for Thursday, December 10, 10:00 - 12:00 AM.
GRADING:
| Homework: | 100 pts. |
| Tests: | 200 pts. |
| Final Exam: | 200 pts. |
| Total: | 500 pts. |
Final Grades will be determined by curving the point totals for the class
Academic Honor Code
From the FSU General Bulletin and the FSU Student Handbook, "The Academic Honor System of the Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility to: 1) Uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work, 2) Refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the academic community, and 3) Foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the University community."
For this class, if you want to work together with the other students on homework assignments, that is fine with me. I only ask that you identify the other person or persons on the homework papers. This does not affect the grading of the homework. The work on hour and final exams must be exclusively your own.
Any violations of the Academic Honor Code on exams, including the use
of unauthorized material on exams, will result in an "F" for the course
grade.
CHM 4410-01 Homework Assignments
Click for Homework
Keys
Click for: 
Click for: 
Click for: