Physical Chemistry Laboratory: Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy

Physical chemistry centers on the development of mathematical models to understand and predict chemical properties and reactivity. At its core, physical chemistry is composed of fundamental ideas and theories that explain general behavior qualitatively, as well as the ability to describe specific chemical systems in an accurate, quantitative manner.These laboratory experiments address the microscopic behavior of chemical systems. Four experiments relate electronic, vibrational, and rotational spectroscopy of molecules to their corresponding quantum mechanical models:Conjugated Dyes: Particle in a BoxVibrational Spectroscopy of Polyatomic Molecules: Harmonic OscillatorRotation-Vibration Spectroscopy of HCl: Rigid RotorVibronic Spectrum of Iodine: Molecular Potential Energy SurfacesThese classic experiments have been extended to incorporate modern applications:Quantum Dots, Global Warming Potentials, Computational Chemistryand analysis:Probability Distribution Moments, Multiple Linear Regression, Basis Sets and MethodsEach experiment includes a detailed written description and also lecture slides of the background and data analysis. Emphasis is placed on acquiring spectra, data analysis, model fitting, interpretation, and comparison to literature. Linear least square fitting, scientific tables and plots, error propagation, and report writing are also developed. Read more