Physical Chemistry

About Physical Chemistry

The text is still divided into three parts:
Part 1 of the text develops the concepts that are needed for the discussion of
equilibria in chemistry. Equilibria include physical change, such as fusion and
vaporization, and chemical change, including electrochemistry. The discussion is
in terms of thermodynamics, and particularly in terms of enthalpy and entropy.
We see that we can obtain a unified view of equilibrium and the direction of
spontaneous change in terms of the chemical potentials of substances. The
chapters in Part 1 deal with the bulk properties of matter.

In Part 2 (Structure) the chapters have been updated with a discussion of contemporary techniques of materials science—including nano-science and spectroscopy. We have also paid more attention to computational chemistry, and have revised the coverage of this topic in Chapter 10.

Part 3 has lost chapters dedicated to kinetics of complex reactions and surface processes, but not the material, which we regard as highly important in a contemporary context. To make the material more readily accessible within the context of courses, descriptions of polymerization, photo chemistry, and enzyme- and surface-catalysed reactions are now part of Chapters 21 (The rates of chemical reactions) and 22 (Reaction dynamics)—already familiar to readers of the text—and a new chapter, Chapter 23, on Catalysis.


1. The properties of gases
1.1 The states of gases
1.2 The gas laws
1.3 Molecular interactions
1.4 The van der Waals equation

2. The First Law
2.1 Work, heat, and energy
2.2 The internal energy
2.3 Expansion work
2.4 Heat transactions
2.5 Enthalpy
2.6 Adiabatic changes
2.7 Standard enthalpy changes
2.8 Standard enthalpies of formation
2.9 The temperature dependence of reaction enthalpies
2.10 Exact and inexact differentials
2.11 Changes in internal energy
2.12 The Joule–Thomson effect

3. The Second Law
3.1 The dispersal of energy
3.2 Entropy
3.3 Entropy changes accompanying specific processes
3.4 The Third Law of thermodynamics
3.5 The Helmholtz and Gibbs energies
3.6 Standard molar Gibbs energies
3.7 The fundamental equation
3.8 Properties of the internal energy
3.9 Properties of the Gibbs energy

4. Physical transformations of pure substances
4.1 The stabilities of phases
4.2 Phase boundaries
4.3 Three representative phase diagrams
4.4 The dependence of stability on the conditions
4.5 The location of phase boundaries
4.6 The Ehrenfest classification of phase transitions

5. Simple mixtures
5.1 Partial molar quantities
5.2 The thermodynamics of mixing
5.3 The chemical potentials of liquids
5.4 Liquid mixtures
5.5 Colligative properties

6. Chemical equilibrium
6.1 The Gibbs energy minimum
6.2 The description of equilibrium
6.3 How equilibria respond to changes of pressure
6.4 The response of equilibria to changes of temperature
6.5 Half-reactions and electrodes
6.6 Varieties of cells
6.7 The cell potential
6.8 Standard electrode potentials
6.9 Applications of standard potentials

7. Quantum theory: introduction and principles
>Mathematical background 3: Complex numbers
8. Quantum theory: techniques and applications
>Mathematical background 4: Differential equations
9. Atomic structure and spectra
>Mathematical background 5: Vectors
10. Molecular structure
>Mathematical background 6: Matrices
11. Molecular symmetry
12. Molecular spectroscopy 1: rotational and vibrational spectra
13. Molecular spectroscopy 2: electronic transitions
14. Molecular spectroscopy 3: magnetic resonance
15. Statistical thermodynamics 1: the concepts
16. Statistical thermodynamics 2: applications
17. Molecular interactions
18. Materials 1: macromolecules and self-assembly
19. Materials 2: solids
20. Molecules in motion
21. The rates of chemical reactions
22. Reaction dynamics
23. Catalysis

📗Key features:
✔Checklist of key equations
✔Discussion questions
✔Exercises
✔Problems