Cover image for Physical chemistry : statistical mathematics
Title:
Physical chemistry : statistical mathematics
Personal Author:
Publication Information:
New York, NY : Taylor & Francis, 2006
Physical Description:
xxiv, 292 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. + 1 CD-ROM
ISBN:
9780815340850
General Note:
Accompanied by CD-ROM : CP 016296

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30000010206190 QC174.8 M47 2006 Open Access Book Book
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Summary

Summary

This is a new undergraduate textbook on physical chemistry by Horia Metiu published as four separate paperback volumes. These four volumes on physical chemistry combine a clear and thorough presentation of the theoretical and mathematical aspects of the subject with examples and applications drawn from current industrial and academic research. By using the computer to solve problems that include actual experimental data, the author is able to cover the subject matter at a practical level. The books closely integrate the theoretical chemistry being taught with industrial and laboratory practice. This approach enables the student to compare theoretical projections with experimental results, thereby providing a realistic grounding for future practicing chemists and engineers. Each volume of Physical Chemistry includes Mathematica® and Mathcad® Workbooks on CD-ROM.

Metiu's four separate volumes-Thermodynamics, Statistical Mechanics, Kinetics, and Quantum Mechanics-offer built-in flexibility by allowing the subject to be covered in any order.These textbooks can be used to teach physical chemistry without a computer, but the experience is enriched substantially for those students who do learn how to read and write Mathematica® or Mathcad® programs. A TI-89 scientific calculator can be used to solve most of the exercises and problems.


® Mathematica is a registered trademark of Wolfram Research, Inc.
® Mathcad is a registered trademark of Mathsoft Engineering & Education, Inc.


Author Notes

Horia Metiu is Professor of Chemistry and Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1974. Prof. Metiu has won several Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar awards and is a former Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He received the Exxon Solid State Chemistry ACS Award, the UCSB Faculty Research Lectureship, and a Senior Humboldt Award. Prof. Metiu is Associate Editor for the Journal of Chemical Physics and a fellow of the American Physical Society and Japan Association for the Promotion of Science.


Reviews 1

Choice Review

This four-volume series is primarily designed to be a set of course resources for a full-year program in physical chemistry. The volumes include an introduction to thermodynamics, kinetics, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics. Writing conversationally, Metiu (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) uses first-person techniques to introduce the motivation for particular aspects and approaches to the material. Periodically, the author includes interesting historical context for how ideas, (e.g., the temperature scale) were developed. Each volume includes a CD-ROM that has both Mathematica and MathCAD workbooks for readers to explore the behavior of mathematical expressions. Although the CD-ROM workbooks are useful, readers can use the printed volumes without access to these programs. The author does not limit investigations to ideal cases, as the non-ideal regime is where most practicing physical chemists work. The writing level is such that students with a year of introductory physics and at least a year of calculus can read the book and learn the topics on their own. As with any series, there are compromises in what is covered, but each chapter includes accessible references for further reading. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. J. A. Bartz Kalamazoo College


Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Fundamental Equations of Statistical Mechanics
Chapter 2 The Physical Interpretation of the Fundamental Equations of Statistical Mechanics
Chapter 3 Interpretation of the Thermodynamic Quantities
Chapter 4 The Partition Function of a System of Independent Particles
Chapter 5 The Partition Function of an Ideal Gas of Atoms
Chapter 6 The Thermodynamic Functions of an Ideal Gas of Atoms
Chapter 7 The Thermodynamic Properties of an Ideal Gas for which Electronic and Nuclear Contributions are Negligible
Chapter 8 A Test of the Theory for a Gas for which Electronic and Nuclear Degrees of Freedom Matter
Chapter 9 The Statistical Mechanics of a Gas of Diatomic Molecules
Chapter 10 A Gas of Diatomic Molecules: Comparison with Experiment
Chapter 11 Chemical Equilibrium
Chapter 12 Transition State Theory: The Physical Content
Chapter 13 Transition State Theory: The Motion of an Adsorbed Atom
Chapter 14 Transition State Theory: The Rate Constant
Chapter 15 Transition State Theory: Calculating the Rate Constant