CH213: Physical Chemistry I

by Prof. Woo Youn Kim ()

Instructors Contact Information
Email: wooyoun@kaist.ac.kr, Office: 3102 (E6-4), Office Phone: 042-350-2815
Exercise session: Mon 17:00 18:00, #102 in Creative Learning Bldg. (E11)
Office hour: Monday 14:00-16:00, #3102 or #3120 (TA)
Course Description:
This course is designed to give to the undergraduate student in chemistry a basic concept of quantum
mechanics, which plays indispensible role for the description and understanding of natural phenomena,
specially which occur on a very small scale. The intention of this course to provide illustrations of quantum
mechanics by taking many examples from different fields such as atomic physics, molecular physics and
solid state physics, by concentrating on the quantum mechanical aspect of the physical phenomena.

Textbook: Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

by Donald A. McQuarrie, John D. Simon, University Science Books
Auxiliary textbook:
1. Donald A. McQuarrie, "Quantum Chemistry", 2nd ed., University Science Books, 2007. (strongly
recommended)
2. Ira N. Levine, "Quantum Chemistry", 6th ed., Pearson International Edition, Prentice Hall, 2008.(for
advanced students)
3. Stephen Gasiorowicz, "Quantum Physics", 3rd ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2003 (recommended)

Course Schedule:
This course schedule may be updated depending on the phase of the class and situation.
Chapters

Weeks

Chapter 1: The Dawn of the Quantum Theory

1,2

Chapter 3: Schrdinger equation and Particle in a box

Chapter 4: Postulates and General Principles of Quantum Mechanics

Chapter 5: Harmonic Oscillator

Special Topic: Operator Method

Special Topic: Time-dependent Schrdinger equation

Chapter 6: Hydrogen Atom

Chapter 7: Approximation methods

Midterm exam

Chapter 7: Approximation methods

Chapter 8: Multielectron Atoms

10

Chapter 9: The chemical bond: Diatomic Molecules

11, 12

Chapter 10: Bonding in Polyatomic Molecules

12, 13

Chapter 13: Molecular Spectroscopy

13, 14

Chapter 15: Lasers, Laser Spectroscopy, and Photochemistry

14, 15

Final exam

Evaluation: Quiz (30%), Midterm Exam (30%), Final Exam (40%), Bonus (5%)
1. Exercise Quiz (30%): 75% from homeworks and 25% from elsewhere, four times, Mon. 5:30 6:30 PM
2. Exams: 40% from Homework+Quiz, 60% from elsewhere.
3. No exercise session at the 1 st week
4. No attendance score, but if missing more than 7 times, F will be given regardless of the other records.
Grade: Absolute evaluation NOTE: the average of the total score except bonus points is shift to 65 and the
score of each student is adjusted with respect to it.

95-100pts: A+, 90-95pts: A0, 80-90pts: A-, 70-80pts: B+, 60-70pts: B0, 50-60pts: B-, 40-50pts:
C+, 30-40pts: C0, 20-30pts: C-, 10-20pts: D+, 0-10pts: F
Bonus Points: During the class, bonus points will be given to those who actively participate in
the class (ex. Questions).
Course Website: klms.kaist.ac.kr site will be utilized. Homework problem sets, due dates and
important notices will be posted on this website.