Physical Chemistry I (saylor.org)

This course will focus on the fundamentals of thermodynamics. Thermodynamics is the study of energy and its transformations. Energy is a physical property that can be converted from one form to another to perform work. For example, a stone rolling down a hill is converting gravitational potential energy into kinetic energy of motion.

Thermodynamics can be applied to systems we use every day—from the operation of refrigerators to the thrusts of rockets. An awareness of thermodynamics will help you learn other concepts involving chemical processes more quickly and will enable you to understand why many physical phenomena (such as automobile engines or chemical explosives) work the way they do, determine how much work they can put out, and know how to optimize their operation.

In this course, you will learn about the three laws of thermodynamics, thermodynamic principles, ideal and real gases, phases of matter, equations of state, and state changes. We will also take a look at chemical kinetics—a branch of study concerned with the rates of reactions and other processes—as well as kinetic molecular theory and statistical mechanics, which relate the atomic-level motion of a large number of particles to the average thermodynamic behavior of the system as a whole.

In this course, we will concentrate on bulk properties of systems that can be described by classical mechanics. However, there are many systems in which quantum mechanical effects influence or dominate. These will be treated in Physical Chemistry II.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

State and use laws of thermodynamics.

Perform calculations with ideal and real gases.

Design practical engines by using thermodynamic cycles.

Predict chemical equilibrium and spontaneity of reactions by using thermodynamic principles.

Describe the thermodynamic properties of ideal and real solutions.

Define the phases of matter, describe phase changes, and interpret/construct phase diagrams.

Relate macroscopic thermodynamic properties to microscopic states by using the principles of statistical thermodynamics.

Describe reaction rates and then do calculations to determine them.

Relate reaction kinetics to potential reaction mechanism.

Calculate the temperature dependence of rate constants and relate that to activation energy.

Describe a variety of complex reactions.

Describe catalysis.

Describe enzymatic catalysis.