Author Profile

Herbst Eric Professor in Natural Science at Stanford University, graduated from Harvard University, where he received his B.A. degree in chemistry and physics. He has done his Ph.D. in chemical physics. He became an assistant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but moved to the University of Colorado holding joint appointments in the departments of chemistry, and physics and astrophysics. He was appointed to a full professorship in the chemistry department at Columbia University, becoming the Higgins Professor of Natural Science in 1997. He was named Chair of the Department of Chemistry at Stanford University in 2005 and served in that capacity for six years. In 2006 he was named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Professor. He is renowned for his research in laser chemistry, resulting in a greater understanding of chemical reactions at the molecular level. By experimental and theoretical studies, he has made seminal contributions to our knowledge of molecular collision processes and contributed very significantly to solving a variety of problems in chemical analysis.

About The Book

This book provides a contemporary approach to the study of physical chemistry. By beginning with quantum chemistry, students will learn the fundamental principles upon which all modern physical chemistry is built. Thermodynamics is simultaneously taught from a bulk and microscopic viewpoint that enables the student to understand how bulk properties of materials are related to the properties of individual constituent molecules. This text includes a variety of modern research topics in physical chemistry as well as worked problems and examples. Written primarily to meet the requirements of students at the undergraduate level, this book aims for a self-learning approach. This book provides an introduction to chemical bond, phonons, and thermodynamics; treatment of point defect formation and reaction, equilibria, mechanisms, and kinetics; kinetics chapters on solid state processes; and electrochemical techniques and applications. It offers a coherent description of fundamental defect chemistry and the most common applications. Perhaps the most intimidating aspect of physical chemistry is the liberal use of mathematical topics that you may have forgotten or never learned. As physicists say about physics, physical chemistry is difficult with mathematics; impossible without it. You may not have taken a math course recently, and your understanding of topics such as determinants, vectors, series expansions, and probability may seem a bit fuzzy at this time. In our years of teaching physical chemistry, we have often found it helpful to review mathematical topics before using them to develop the physical chemical topics. Consequently, we have included a series of ten concise reviews of mathematical topics. We realize that not every one of these so-called reviews may actually be a review for you. Even if some of the topics are new to you (or seem that way), we discuss only the minimum amount that you need to know to understand the subsequent physical chemistry.

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Introduction
2. Structure of The Atom–Classical Mechanics
3. Structure of The Atom–Wave Mechanical Approach
4. Isotopes, Isobars and Isotones
5. Chemical Bonding–Lewis Theory
6. First Law of Thermodynamics—Basic Concepts
7. Thermochemistry
8. Second Law of Thermodynamics
9. The Liquids
10. Chemical Equilibrium
11. Chemical Kinetics
12. The Solid State
13. Ionic Equilibria Solubility Product
Bibliography
Index