Instructor: Professor Eric R. Bittner
Office: Fleming 221B
Email: bittner@uh.edu (use PCHEM: in subject line)
Phone: 3-2775
Course Web Page: http:/mini-me.chem.uh.edu/pchem07/index.html
Class Times: Tues/Thurs. 4:00-5:15pm SEC 201
Required Text: Quantum Chemistry and Spectroscopy by Th. Engel
Recommended Software: Mathematica
Course Overview
This course is the second half of a two semester overview of modern physical chemistry. Here, we continue to develop and apply quantum mechanical principles towards understanding and predicting molecular structures, spectroscopies, and dynamics. This serves as the basis for our later explorations of chemical reaction kinetics, statistical mechanics, and reaction dynamics. Other topics, such as surface chemistry, ultra-fast spectroscopy, and electron transfer theory will be introduced with emphasis upon modern research efforts.
Mathematical Level:
We will make liberal use of mathematical results and manipulations to develop the theoretical and computational skills required to make quantitative predictions. Consequently, it is assumed that the students are comfortable with the principles of Calculus, linear algebra, and solving elementary differential equations. As a tool for getting through these calculations, we will make liberal use of Mathematica, which is a software package useful for performing symbolic manipulations, graphics, and a wide variety of numerical calculations. This program is available on the computers in the Computation Center.
Exams:
We will have 1 mid-Term exam
• Exam 1: 22 February
The second exam may be moved to the 29th depending upon my travel to the American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago.
Exam Rules: For both exams, you may use a non-programable electronic calculator and a single 8.5'' x 11'' page of notes. Other electronic devices such as cell phones, pagers, radios, or other such devices are not allowed to be on during class or exam. Just to give you a hint, I don't believe any exam I've given in the past 5 yrs. required any more computing power than a pencil, paper, and your brain. I tend to not give numerical problems on exams.
Missed Exams: There will be no makeup exams. At my option - and depending on the acceptability of your excuse for missing (which I will decide) - your exam score will either be commuted to a zero, or will be averaged with your other scores (homework and exam) to generate your final grade.
Final Paper/Presentation: As part of the quantum chemistry/molecular structure segment of this course, students will be assigned a quantum chemistry exercise from either Chapter 16 in the text or other suitable source. I will provide a list of possible projects towards the middle of the course and each student will pick a different project from this list. The student will prepare a 3-4 page report on their project and give a 5-7 min PowerPoint presentation to the class during the last week of the term. The Paper and Presentation will count as an exam.
Grading Scheme:
Grades will be based upon the following weights:
Midterm: 25%
Paper: 25%
Final: 30%
Homework: 20%
Your grade will be computed from a sliding scale based relative to the top performer in the class as a whole. Exam scores will be posted on WebCT and you may request a regrade up to 72 hours after they have been posted. However, I will regrade the entire exam...not just the problem in question.
Final grades once posted on WebCT are final.
Add/Drop:
Please either make a committment to stay in the course or drop the course by the end of the second week. I will not sign drop cards following the first Midterm exam.
Note-taking:
Writing out your own notes during lecture is a grossly under-appreciated mechanism of learning. I would strongly encourage everyone to be present at every lecture and to take detailed notes. The very act of writing out these notes will assist you with remembering key concepts described in lecture (some of which may not be covered in the book at all!).
Homework:
There are no shortcuts. To learn chemistry, you must practice problem- solving. It is impossible to learn by osmosis (e.g., watching me work problems, hearing about problems from your friends, thinking about problems while watching TV, etc.). Many have tried, all have failed. Homework problems will be assigned each week and both the Midterm and Final exams will be exclusively problem based - not multiple guess. One thing is absolutely certain, your exam performance will reflect your knowledge of the material covered in this course and therefore will be closely related to the effort and time you invest in problem solving before the exam.
Homework problems will be assigned on Tuesday of each week. These will be posted on the course web-site. Unless otherwise stated, completed homework will be due by 5pm at the end of each week.
Two types of problems - Graded and Non-Graded will normally be assigned. Both types of problems will represent material which it is essential for you to understand in order to do well on the exams, and in the course. The Graded problems will generally be more involved and go into more detail than the Ungraded problems. Unfortunately, because our TA support for this course is extremely limited, relatively few problems each week - perhaps just two - will be graded. On order to receive full credit for a problem set, however, you must work through and turn in even the Ungraded Problems. Typically, the answers for these problems will be in the text. Here the journey is worth more than the actual trip, so even though you know the answer, it is extremely important to be able to figure out how to arive at the correct answer.
Additional problem set requirements. In order to receive full credit on any problem, problems must be presented in a clear and logical way showing as much detail as required.
◦ Problems requiring textual solutions should be written neatly or better yet typed out.
◦ Mathematical derivations should have some text between various steps explaining the logical sequence, and the meaning of the various special symbols where needed.
◦ Numerical values should be inserted at the last step if a numerical answer is required.
◦ All graphs must be done on either a computer using Mathematica or or some other program or on graph paper using a ruler. Hand drawn graphs will not be graded.
In short, if I can not read it, I will not grade it.
Academic Dishonesty:
The penalty for cheating on an exam, or on the homework, is an F in the course. Be aware that aggressive methods, such as random photocopying of graded exams, will be used to protect the vast majority of you who are honest.