Module CHEM4411: CHEMICAL PHYSICS 4

Department: Chemistry

CHEM4411: CHEMICAL PHYSICS 4

Prerequisites

• Chemical Physics 3 (CHEM3411), Molecules and their Interactions (CHEM3137), AND Computational Chemical Physics (CHEM3151).

Corequisites

Excluded Combination of Modules

• Core Chemistry 4 (CHEM4311) AND Contemporary Chemistry (CHEM4321).

Aims

• To build on material taught at level three and provide students with an advanced overview of more specialised areas.

Content

• Photochemistry.
• Molecular reaction dynamics.
• Polymers and Functional Surfaces: Advanced polymer synthesis; Functional Surfaces; Macromolecular Physical Chemistry.

Learning Outcomes

• appreciate the role of lasers in photochemistry;
• explain how differential cross sections are related to rate constants and how they can be measured;
• deduce the qualitative outcome of a reaction from the key features of the potential energy surface and vice versa;
• calculate and explain how reaction exothermicity is proportioned amongst the internal states of reaction products;
• explain the link between the detailed gas phase properties and averaged observables in gas and solution phase reactions;
• describe the individual steps in charge transfer and chemical reactions and describe how they can be observed;
• be able to calculate electron transfer rate constants from experimental data.
• distinguish between major synthetic routes to polymer molecules and describe the characteristic features of each;
• understand surface phenomena and their translation to applications;
• understand principles of ligand field theory and electronic structure of transition metals, and the relationship to reactivity;
• describe the liquid crystalline meso phases and their physical properties and how these can be exploited in applications;
• understand the relationship between polymer structure, dynamics and material properties;
• understand how interactions between polymers affect their phase behaviour in blends.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Facts and new concepts are introduced in the lecture courses.
• Students' knowledge is tested by examination.
• Undergraduates are aided in the learning process by workshops where they attempt sample problems and office hours where staff are available to answer any queries about the lecture courses.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Workshop problems.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University