Principles of Physical Chemistry (403-0-01)

Instructors

Songi Han

Meeting Info

Technological Institute LG66: Tues, Thurs 8:00AM - 9:20AM

Overview of class

Visualizing Chemistry and Biochemistry: The focus of this graduate level class will be on extracting information from state-of-the-art physical chemistry measurement tools and learning about effective visualization and communication tools with the help of modern software. The students will go through practical exercises of asking questions, identifying the appropriate measurement methods for the question at hand and interpreting results to report on the chemical system.

We will survey a variety of techniques and spectroscopic methods of utility to all students in chemistry. They include x-ray crystallography, micro electron diffraction, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of solids and crystals, single particle imaging cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), solution and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of the study of structure and dynamics, quantum sensing and quantum computing, as well as computational approaches and artificial intelligence-based tools. This course will place an emphasis on visualization software for analyzing inorganic crystals, proteins, polymers to quantum qubits along with scientific illustration software.

The learning outcome goals are:

1. Become familiar with state-of-the-art physical chemistry measurement tools and concepts to enhance our understanding of chemical systems of study.
2. Gain the knowledge to initiate the use of state-of-the-art measurements available at NU, including how to get help.
3. Enhance skills to analyze complex data to gain a clearer intuitive understanding of the chemical systems.
4. Gain skills to present complex data in visually compelling ways for effective communication, including methods to generate compelling and accurate graphical abstracts of their work.

Class Materials (Required)

None

Class Materials (Suggested)

Download and become familiar with modern visualization software such as Mercuri, ChimeraX, Easyspin, Blenders, VESTA, ChemDraw, Spindrops