Fall 2018

Stony Brook University

Department of Chemistry
College of Arts and Sciences

CHE 301: PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY I

Section: 01, Credits: 4

INSTRUCTOR AND TA CONTACT INFORMATION AND OFFICE HOURS:*

Prof. Surita R Bhatia [email protected] Mon 8:00 am – 10:00 am, Chem 441
Prof. Daniel Raleigh [email protected] Mon 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm; Tue 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm, Chem 647
Weiping Liu [email protected] Wed 10:00 am – 11:00 pm, Chem 451
Bing Zheng [email protected] Thurs 9:00 am – 10:00 am, Chem 515

*Additional help sessions will be held by undergraduate TAs in the Chemistry lobby or Chemistry 315. The schedule for
these will be posted on Blackboard. If you need to make an appointment outside of office hours, email the instructors.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is the first half of a two-semester overview of modern physical chemistry, introducing students to the quantitative
study of chemical systems. The fundamentals of thermodynamics from both macroscopic and microscopic standpoints are
covered, with applications to chemical problems. May not be taken for credit by students who have completed CHE 312.
SBC Designation: STEM+

Course Pre/co-requisites: Prerequisite: CHE 132 or 151; MAT 132 or 142 or 127 or 171 or AMS 161. Pre- or Corequisite:
PHY 121/123 or 125 or 131/133 or 141

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Attendance and Make-up policy: Attendance will not be taken in class. However, attendance is strongly encouraged. If you
cannot attend a class, we suggest that you have a classmate take notes for you, or review the recorded lecture if it is available
(see below). In certain cases, you may be asked to review some lecture material online instead of attending the in-class
lecture. These dates are indicated on the syllabus in blue. If there is a HW due on the date of a video lecture, you will be
given instructions on how to turn it in.

Reviews for exams will be held during regular class periods, and the midterm exams will be held during the evening
recitation section. If you cannot attend an exam due to participation in a University-sanctioned event, observation of a
religious holiday, medical or graduate school interviews, or due to illness or a family emergency, contact Prof. Bhatia. To
reschedule an exam due to a University-sanctioned event, an interview, or observance of a religious holiday, please contact
Prof. Bhatia as soon as possible and at least a week before the due date. If you miss an exam due to an illness or family
emergency, please contact Prof. Bhatia as soon as you are able, and please provide documentation such as a doctor’s note.

ECHO recordings of lecture: We have requested that TLT record the in-class lectures and post links to the lectures on
Blackboard, and also to live-stream the lectures. The recordings and live-stream are intended to help you in reviewing the
material or in cases where you cannot attend class because of an emergency. However, as with all technology, there is the
possibility of a hardware/software failure. Students should not rely on the recordings or live-stream as their sole source of
instruction. Students are expected to attend class and should not expect that a recording or live-stream will be available in all
instances. Failure of a recording or live-stream to occur does not count as a legitimate excuse for lack of student performance.

Policy for late work: Homework is due IN CLASS, at the beginning of class on the due date. Assignments slipped under the
door, left in faculty mailboxes, or emailed to the faculty or the TAs WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. In general, late homework
will not be accepted. However, if you require additional time due to participation in a University-sanctioned event,
observation of a religious holiday, medical or graduate school interviews, or due to illness or a family emergency, please
contact Prof. Bhatia to arrange additional time. For extensions due to a University-sanctioned event, medical or graduate
school interviews, or observance of a religious holiday, please contact Prof. Bhatia as soon as possible and at least a week
before the due date. For extensions due to an illness or family emergency, please contact Prof. Bhatia as soon as you are
able, and please provide documentation such as a doctor’s note. Only Prof. Bhatia can approve late work. Please do not ask
the TA for permission to turn in assignments late.

CHE 301, Syllabus and Class Schedule

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Description and schedule of Required Readings and/or Assignments:
Textbook: Physical Chemistry, 11th ed., Atkins, de Paula, Keeler. Please see attached schedule for detailed schedule of
readings and assignments.

Exams
Midterm Exams: Midterm exams will be held in the evening during the recitation period. If you have a conflict with the
recitation period, please discuss this with Prof. Bhatia as soon as possible.
(1) Monday, October 1, 7:00 pm – 8:20 pm, Frey Hall 119, second room to be determined (TBD)
(2) Monday, November 5, 7:00 pm – 8:20 pm, Frey Hall 119, second room TBD
Final Exam: Friday, December 14, 11:15 am – 1:45 pm, location TBD
All exams will be closed book and notes. Any additional information that you need (conversion factors, etc.) will be given to
you as part of the exam. Basic equations may also be given to you as part of the exam. You may use a calculator during
exams (but not the calculator on your cell phone). It is your responsibility to bring a calculator to exams.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the end of this course, students should:
1. Be adept at solving quantitative problems in the chemical sciences, including correct use of significant figures, unit
conversions, and dimensions.
2. Understand thermodynamic quantities such as heat, work, internal energy, enthalpy, and entropy; and be able to
calculate these quantities for pure solids, liquids, and ideal gases.
3. Be able to derive relationships between thermodynamic variables.
4. Understand the relationship between Gibbs free energy and the equilibrium constant for chemical reactions.
5. Be able to calculate or estimate the activity of components in gas mixtures and in solutions, including nonidealities
arising from charged species.
6. Understand the relationship between chemical potential and phase equilibria.
7. Be able to solve simple phase equilibria problems using Raoult’s Law and Henry’s Law.
8. Be able to interpret phase diagrams for pure components and mixtures.
9. Understand the concept of reaction order and be able to obtain integrated rate expressions.

GRADING:
The relative weight for each component of the course is:

Exam #1 25%
Exam #2 25%
Homework 25%
Final Exam 25%

Your lowest homework grade will be dropped in calculating your homework average.

In determining your grade on an exam, your thought process and methods of analysis will be weighted more heavily than
your final numerical answer. Thus, if you are running out of time on an exam, try to explain in words what you would like to
do, or what methods you would use to solve the problem. If you can do this correctly, you may get partial credit. On your
homework sets, credit will be given for both your method of analysis and your final answer, with the TAs deducting up to
25% of the points off for errors in either the analysis or the final numerical answer. Thus, you should take the time to
check your calculations carefully. In real life, both your method of analysis AND your final answer will be important, so it is
a good idea to get in the habit of checking and re-checking your calculations now.

Grades will be given on an absolute scale, based on the percentage of points as indicated below:

A 100 – 90
B 90 – 80
C 80 – 70
D 70 – 60
F 60 and below

There will be no curving of grades. If you all get above 90, I will (happily) give you all A’s, and if you all get below 60, I
will (unhappily) give you all F’s. If at any point during the semester you are concerned about your grade, please come and
speak to Prof. Bhatia. Plus/minus grades (e.g., A-, B+) will be given to students on the borderline of the above cut-offs
at the discretion of the instructor.
CHE 301, Syllabus and Class Schedule
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You are responsible for individual homework assignments and for exams. For homework assignments, you may work
together in a study group, however; direct copying or paraphrasing another student's solution to a problem, or permitting your
own solution to be copied or paraphrased, is considered cheating, and you could receive a zero for the assignment.

Physical chemistry is all about quantitative problem-solving. There is no way to learn this other than working through
problems yourself. You will not be doing yourself any favors by copying homework solutions from other students or from
online sources. The good news is that problem-solving is a skill that you can get better at with practice. So, practice re-
working examples from the textbook, lecture, and recitation on your own, as well as doing the homework.

Be sure to properly reference any information, facts, figures, definitions, or ideas that are taken from other sources, including
the Internet. This includes both ideas that are paraphrased and text that is taken directly from another source (such text must
be enclosed in quotation marks). To include such information without giving proper credit to the source is plagiarism, and
you could receive a zero for the assignment.

During exams, using outside sources of information, communicating with another student in any way during an exam, or
copying from another student is cheating. If you are caught cheating, you may receive a zero for the exam. For more
information, please refer to the academic integrity website at:
http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/academic_integrity/index.html

MEETING SCHEDULE: Lecture MWF, 11:00 am – 11:53 am, Humanities 1003

Recitation Mondays, 7:00 pm – 8:20 pm, Frey Hall 119

CLASS PROTOCOL: Out of respect for the instructor and other students, no cell phone usage or texting are permitted
during class. Please switch your phone to vibrate during class, and if you receive a call you must take, please take the call in
the hallway outside of class.

CLASS RESOURCES: The syllabus, homework assignments, and homework solutions will be posted on Blackboard.

HOMEWORK GUIDELINES:
1. Homework should be neat and legible. We cannot grade what we cannot read. Points may be deducted for illegible
answers.
2. Turn in your homework on lined, unlined, or engineering paper. You may use the backsides of scrap printer paper, as
long as the paper is still in good condition.
3. Staple pages of each homework set together. Do not rely on the faculty or the TA to bring staplers to class or keep
track of loose pages of your assignments.
4. On each page, please print the following in the upper right hand corner: your name, the course number, the date, and
the homework number.
5. Always show your work and/or describe your method of analysis. No credit will be given if you only write down the
final answer.
6. State all assumptions clearly and justify their use.
7. Indicate if equations used in the homework come from class notes or the text. If they come from the text, include the
equation number.
8. Clearly define any variables that you use. For thermodynamic problems involving a complex process, draw and label a
diagram with the relevant state variables, and indicate the system clearly.
9. Manipulate your equations symbolically, then substitute numerical values and calculate.
10. Properly reference any additional information you use.
11. For problems requiring a numerical answer, check your calculations several times, and draw a box around your final
answer. ALWAYS check to make sure you have the correct units.

CHE 301, Syllabus and Class Schedule

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CLASS SCHEDULE AND READINGS: All readings from Physical Chemistry, 11th ed., Atkins et al. Schedule below is
for lecture period, MWF 11:00 am – 11:53 am, Humanities 1003, except for Midterm Exams, which are indicated in RED
will be held during recitation session, Mondays 7:00 pm – 8:20 pm, in Frey Hall 119 and a second room, TBD.

On the that are indicated in BLUE below, we will not have an in-class lecture. Review the video lectures posted on
Blackboard. If there is a HW due on the date of a video lecture, you will be given instructions on how to turn in the HW.

Week Date Topics Reading and handouts Assignments due

1 8/27 Class expectations and guidelines 2A, 2A.1, 2A.2, 2A.3a,b
Systems and surroundings Review derivatives and
Pressure and work integrals:
The first law of thermodynamics Inside front cover, pgs. 14,
21, 44, 862, 863
8/29 Heat and heat capacity 2.A.4, pg. 5
Mathematical expression of first law
Units and unit conversions
8/31 State variables and equations of state 1A.1, 1A.2, 1C.1 intro,
Enthalpy 1C.2a, 2B.1
HW #1
2 9/5 Dependence of energy and enthalpy of a pure solids, 2B.2 and class notes
pure liquids, and ideal gases on P, V, and T
9/7 Reversible adiabatic expansion of an ideal gas 2A.3c,d, 2E.1, 2E.2 HW #1
HW #2
3 9/10 NO IN-CLASS LECTURE. Watch video lectures: 2D.1, pgs 44 and 105
Partial derivatives in thermodynamics
9/12 Derivation of exact expression for dU 2D.2
9/14 Derivation of exact expression for dH 2D.3 and class notes HW #2
Relationship between Cv and Cp 2C.1
Phase changes HW #3
4 9/17 Energy changes for chemical reactions 2C.2, 2C.3
Temperature dependence of reaction enthalpy
9/19 NO IN-CLASS LECTURE. Watch video lectures: 3A.1, 3A.2, 3A.3
Heat engines and the development of entropy
The second law of thermodynamics
9/21 Calculation of entropy 3B.1, 3B.2, 3B.3, 3B.4 HW #3
The third law of thermodynamics 3C.1, 3C2
5 9/24 Derivation of exact expressions for dS 3E.1 and class notes
9/26 Maxwell relations 3E.1 and class notes
More practical equations for thermodynamic
calculations
9/28 Gibbs free energy and Helmholtz Free Energy 3D.1, 3D.2
6 10/1 Review for Exam #1 6.1, 6.3
10/1 EXAM #1 in evening, 7:00 pm – 8:20 pm
10/3 Derivation of Gibbs-Helmholtz Equation 3E.2
Pressure dependence of G
10/5 Partial molar quantities and the chemical potential 5A.1, 6A.1b, 6A.2a HW #4
Free energy and chemical equilibria HW #5
The equilibrium constant
7 10/10 Gibbs Free Energy of mixing 5A.2, 5A.3, 5F.1, 5F.2,
Activity and activity coefficients 5B.1b, 6A.2b,c
Ideal solutions
Chemical equilibria in solutions
10/12 Activity coefficients for electrolyte solutions 5F.4, 6B.2 HW #5
Dependence of the equilibrium constant on T HW #6
CHE 301, Syllabus and Class Schedule
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8 10/15 Conditions for phase equilibria 4A.1, 4A.2a, 1C.1b, 1C.1c,
Real gases and cubic equations of state 1C.2b, class notes
Coexistence on a PV diagram
10/17 Phase diagrams and the phase rule 4A.2b
10/19 NO IN-CLASS LECTURE. 4B.1, 4B.2, 5A.3 HW #6
Chemistry Research Day!!! Go see some Chemistry HW #7
posters. Then watch on-line lectures:
The Clausius-Clapeyron equation
Raoult’s Law and Henry’s Law
9 10/22 Vapor-liquid equilibria of binary mixtures 5C.1, 5C.2, 5C.3
Distillation
10/24 Binding equilibria Class notes
Transfer between phases and partition coefficients
10/26 Colligative properties 5B.2 HW #7
Boiling point, freezing point, osmotic pressure HW #8
10 10/29 NO IN-CLASS LECTURE. Watch video lectures: 1B.1
Kinetic theory and molecular motion
10/31 NO IN-CLASS LECTURE. Watch video lectures: 1B.1, 13A.1, 13A.2
Root-mean-square velocity
Probability distribution and degeneracy
11/2 Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution 1B.1, 1B.2 HW #8
Mean free path and collision frequency
11 11/5 Review for Exam #2
11/5 EXAM #2 in evening, 7:00 pm – 8:20 pm
11/7 Random walks and diffusion Class notes, 16A.1, 16A.2a
(see also 14D.3)
11/9 Measurement of diffusion coefficients Class notes
Dynamic light scattering 16C.1, 16C.2, 16C.3
HW #9
12 11/12 NO IN-CLASS LECTURE. Watch video lectures: 17A.2, 17B.2
Introduction to kinetics
First-order kinetics
11/14 Reversible reactions and equilibrium 17C.1, 17D.1, 17D.2
Temperature dependence of rate constants
11/16 Reaction mechanisms and sequential reactions 17E.1, 17E.2, 17E.3, 17E.4 HW #9
Rate-determining steps HW #10
13 11/19 Catalysis and Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics 17.3, 17F.4
Data analysis for enzyme kinetics
THANKSGIVING BREAK!
14 11/26 Conceptual introduction to quantum mechanics 7A.1a, 7A.1c, 7A.2
11/28 Heisenberg uncertainty principle 7C.3
11/30 Introduction to spectroscopy Pg. 238, 11A.2 HW #10
Linewidths and lifetime broadening HW #11
15 12/3 Introduction to statistical mechanics 13A.1, 13A.2, 13B.1, 13E.2
The partition function and entropy
12/5 Review for final exam
12/7 NO IN-CLASS LECTURE. Watch video lectures: 14B.3, 14C.1 HW #11
Interaction potentials, the radial distribution function

Disability Support Services (DSS) Statement:

If you have a physical, psychological, medical or learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact
Disability Support Services, ECC (Educational Communications Center) Building, room 128, (631) 632-6748. They will

CHE 301, Syllabus and Class Schedule

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determine with you what accommodations, if any, are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is
confidential. Students who require assistance during emergency evacuation are encouraged to discuss their needs with their
professors and Disability Support Services. For procedures and information go to the following website:
http://www.stonybrook.edu/ehs/fire/disabilities

Academic Integrity Statement:

Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work.
Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Faculty are required to report any suspected instances of
academic dishonesty to the Academic Judiciary. Faculty in the Health Sciences Center (School of Health Technology &
Management, Nursing, Social Welfare, Dental Medicine) and School of Medicine are required to follow their school-specific
procedures. For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty, please
refer to the academic judiciary website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/academic_integrity/index.html

Critical Incident Management Statement:

Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights, privileges, and property of other people. Faculty are required to
report to the Office of Judicial Affairs any disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of
the learning environment, or inhibits students' ability to learn. Faculty in the HSC Schools and the School of Medicine are
required to follow their school-specific procedures.

CHE 301, Syllabus and Class Schedule

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