Contents

The following list contains the topics that will be discussed in the course and the sections of the books in which information on the topic can be found. The abbreviation Ox.y means section y from chapter x of Principles of Modern Chemistry by Oxtoby, Gilles, and Nachtrieb. There are also lecture notes. They can be found on this site. Just click on the link. The whole course is split up in 18 lectures of two hours each.

1. Quantum mechanics
   1. lecture 1
      waves behaving as particles (O15.2): photoelectric effect (O15.2), Einstein's explanation (O15.2)
   2. lecture 1
      particles behaving as waves: Davisson-Germer experiment, de Broglie's relation (O15.5)
   3. lecture 1
      quanta (O15.2, O15.3), emisson spectrum of H (O15.3, O15.4), the Bohr atom (O15.4)
   4. lecture 1
      relations: an electron jumping to another orbit and the corresponding electromagnetic radiation (O15.3, O15.4), length of the Bohr orbit and the de Broglie wavelength (O15.5)
   5. lecture 1
      evaluation of the Bohr model (O15.4): fundamental shortcoming; ad hoc hypothesis, practical shortcoming; doesn't work except for hydrogenic atoms, important because of relation between fundamental constants
   6. lecture 2
      matrix and wave mechanics: Heisenberg's matrix mechanics, Schrödinger's wave mechanics, Dirac's proof of equivalence
   7. lecture 2
      Schrödinger equation (O15.5, O15.6): Hamiltonian, wave function and the Copenhagen interpretation
   8. lectures 2-5
      simple applications: particle in a box and the origin of quantization (O15.6), particle in a 2D box, harmonic oscillator and zero-point energy, scattering and tunneling
2. Atomic physics
   1. lectures 4-6
      the hydrogen atom (O15.7): Born-Oppenheimer approximation (O16.1), radial and angular coordinates (O15.7), s, p, d, ¼ functions and the relations with l and m quantum numbers (O15.7), radial functions and the relation with n (O15.7), energy diagram; levels and degeneracy (O15.7), form of the wave functions and how to draw them (O15.7), probability distributions (O15.7), hydrogenic atoms.
   2. lectures 7-9
      More-electron atoms: the multi-electron wave function, the Dirac bracket notation, solutions without V_ee, the problem with the electron-electron interaction, the variation principle (O16.5), same solution with V_ee: independent-particle model (O15.8), the Fock equation without exchange, the Pauli principle (O15.8), constructing Y's from y's, Slater determinants, the Fock equation (with exchange), Pauli exclusion principle (O15.8), electron spin (O15.7), atomic orbitals and energy diagrams, screening (O15.8), Aufbau principle and Hund's rules (O15.8), electron configuration
   3. lecture 9
      The periodic table (O3.1, O15.8, O15.9): phenomenological origin (O3.1), based on electronic structure (O15.8), properties of atoms and the periodic tables (O3.2, O3.3, O15.9); radii, ionization potential, ¼
3. Simple bonding theories
   1. lecture 10
      Lewis theory: valence and core electrons (O3.2), octet rule (O3.4, O3.6), bonding, lone/nonbonding pairs (O3.6), multiple bonds (O3.6), geometry (O3.8), formal charges (O3.6), resonance and delocalization (O3.6), shortcomings
   2. lecture 10
      molecular properties and VSEPR: bond lengths (O3.5), bond angles (O3.5, O3.8), energy (O3.5), ionicity (O3.3, O3.4, O3.7)
4. Quantum chemistry
   1. lecture 11
      Before the electronics: structure and stability, Born-Oppenheimer approximation (O16.1), electronic Schrödinger-equation
   2. lectures 11-12
      Molecular orbital theory: independent-particle model again (O15.8), and Slater-determinants, Schrödinger equation and Fock equation, Aufbau principle and Hund's rules (O15.8), linear combination of atomic orbitals (O16.2) and the secular equation (O16.5), molecular orbitals and their energy (O16.1, O16.2), electronic, molecular orbitals, and total energy (O16.2), Koopmans theorem
   3. lectures 13-14
      Two-level systems: interaction of two equivalent orbitals (O16.2): H₂ and He₂ (O16.2), (anti)bonding orbitals (O16.2), energetics: MO and binding energies (O16.2), MO diagram and the relation with energy diagrams, interactions of different orbitals (O16.2), role of the difference in energy of the interacting orbitals (O16.2), qualitative MO theory: Li₂ and Be_2, covalent versus ionic bonds (O16.2), core and valence electrons (O16.2)
   4. lectures 14-15
      N₂, O₂, and F₂: s and p orbitals (O16.2), nodal planes and orbital energies (O16.2), MO diagram and the bond order (O16.2), other diatomic molecules (O16.2)
   5. lectures 16-17
      structure and hybridization (O16.3): BeH₂ and the invariance of the all-electron wave function (O16.3), sp³ hybridization: methane, ethane, ¼ (O16.3, O16.4), sp² hybridization: BH₃, ethene, ¼ (O16.3), sp hybridization: ethyn, ¼ (O16.3), double and triple bonds
   6. lecture 17
      delocalization (O16.4): benzene
   7. lecture 18
      valence bond theory: hydrogen molecule

If you're overwhelmed by this list of topics you should have a look at the big picture.