This course provides an introduction to quantum mechanics and principles of quantum chemistry with applications to nuclear motions and the electronic structure of the hydrogen atom. It also examines the Schrödinger equation and study how it describes the behavior of very light particles, the quantum description of rotating and vibrating molecules is compared to the classical description, and the quantum description of the electronic structure of atoms is studied.
OpenChem is first and foremost to extend the benefit that we have seen since 2009 from open and free publication of individual chemistry courses to an entire curriculum. What MIT did ten years ago with its OpenCourseWare initiative was to plant the idea of making quality educational resources universally accessible. The MOOCs have laudably extended this approach by providing instructional paths through individual courses at scale. What UCI hopes to do with this initiative is to present a coherent, full curriculum by a top faculty. Today, a learner can sit with us in our lecture halls and follow four years’ worth of chemistry core classes and electives. That is the key innovation: making a full undergraduate education’s worth of classes available for immediate incorporation in part or by institutions.
In the openly licensed format, UCI contributes to global chemistry education at no marginal cost to itself beyond the already completed filming. Our own students also benefit by being able to review presentations and because it is available on YouTube, we don’t have to worry about maintaining it on course pages behind password protection. By making it open, another institution or professor can use some or all of the video presentations without even having to contact us for permission. So we are fulfilling the mission of a land-grant, public university effectively and efficiently.