Page 51 - Physical Chemistry

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Chapter 1 Psychologic. Rev., 100, 363 (1993)]. It’s a good idea to analyze the kinds of mistakes
Thermodynamics you are making in physical chemistry and deliberately aim to improve in areas you are
deficient in. If you are getting problems wrong because you are making mistakes in
calculus or algebra, practice doing derivatives and integrals. If you get problems
wrong because you are being inconsistent with units, get in the habit of always in-
cluding the units of each quantity when you do problems, and take the time to make
sure that units cancel so as to give the proper units for the answer; make sure you know
what the SI units are for each physical quantity encountered. If you are getting prob-
lems wrong or are unable to do problems because you overlook or misinterpret or
misapply the conditions given in the problems, make sure you are familiar with the
precise definitions of such terms as isothermal and adiabatic, pay careful attention
when you read a problem to what the conditions are, and when you learn starred equa-
tions, make sure you also learn the conditions of applicability for each equation.
As to studying, research has shown that students who study in a quiet place do bet-
ter than those who study in a place with many distractions.
Get adequate sleep. The study of violinists mentioned previously found that the
violinists considered adequate sleep to be an important factor in improving perfor-
mance, and the two best groups of violinists averaged 5 hours more of sleep per
week than the lowest level of violinists. College students are notoriously sleep
deprived. Numerous studies have shown the negative effects of sleep deprivation
on mental and physical performance. (For the amusing and insightful account of
one college student, see A. R. Cohen, Harvard Magazine, Nov.–Dec. 2001, p. 83—
www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/110190.html.)
Some suggestions to help you prepare for exams are

1. Learn the meanings of all terms in boldface type.
2. Memorize all starred equations and their conditions of applicability. (Do not
memorize unstarred equations.)
3. Make sure you understand all starred equations.
4. Review your class notes.
5. Rework homework problems you had difficulty with.
6. Work some unassigned problems for additional practice.
7. Make summaries if you have not already done so.
8. Check that you understand all the concepts mentioned in the end-of-chapter
summaries.
9. Make sure you can do each type of calculation listed in the summaries.
10. Prepare a practice exam by choosing some relevant homework problems and work
them in the time allotted for the exam.
My students often ask me whether the fact that they have to learn only the starred
equations means that problems that require the use of unstarred equations will not ap-
pear on exams. My answer is that if an unstarred equation is needed, it will be included
as given information on the exam.
Since, as with all of us, your capabilities for learning and understanding are
finite and the time available to you is limited, it is best to accept the fact that there
will probably be some material you may never fully understand. No one understands
everything fully.

1.10 SUMMARY

The four branches of physical chemistry are thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, sta-
tistical mechanics, and kinetics.
Thermodynamics deals with the relationships between the macroscopic equilib-
rium properties of a system. Some important concepts in thermodynamics are system
(open versus closed; isolated versus nonisolated; homogeneous versus heterogeneous);