Physical Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction

Citation

Atkins, P. (2014). Physical Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. Very Short Introductions.

Chapter Summary

A short book of about 120 pages: a preface, seven chapters and an appendix containing the periodic table. Oxford's description acknowledges that physical chemistry is often seen as the most daunting branch of chemistry because it rests on physics, mathematics, quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics, and presents the book as a non-technical account of its central concepts and of its relationship to the rest of chemistry. The chapters follow a deliberate route: from the inside of atoms (Chapter 1), to bulk matter seen from outside (Chapter 2), to the statistical bridge between them (Chapter 3), and then through states of matter, changes of state, chemical reactions and the techniques used to investigate matter.

Chapter 1: Matter from the inside

The electronic structure of atoms and the quantum mechanics behind it: Schrödinger's model of s, p, d and f orbitals, the Pauli exclusion principle and the structure of the periodic table. The chapter then covers atomic radius, ionization energy and electron affinity, ionic and covalent bonds, and the two quantum-mechanical accounts of bonding, valence-bond theory and molecular orbital theory.

Chapter 2: Matter from the outside

Thermodynamics as the science of energy and its transformations: the zeroth law and temperature, the first law and conservation of energy, the second law and entropy (presented as a measure of the quality of energy), and the third law and absolute zero, followed by enthalpy and Gibbs energy and how thermodynamic laws connect measurable properties.

Chapter 3: Bridging matter

Statistical thermodynamics, which links molecular behaviour to bulk properties. The Boltzmann distribution is the key idea, used to understand stability and reactivity, the composition of equilibrium mixtures and Le Chatelier's principle.

Chapter 4: States of matter

Gases, liquids and solids and the models used to describe them: the van der Waals equation for real gases, viscosity, neutron scattering and NMR for molecular motion in liquids, and X-ray diffraction for solids. It closes with intermediate states such as supercritical fluids, liquid crystals and other soft matter, and graphene.

Chapter 5: Changing the state of matter

Freezing, boiling, dissolving and mixing, all expressed through chemical potential. The chapter covers the effect of temperature and pressure on transitions, Gibbs's phase rule, phase diagrams for mixtures, minerals and alloys, osmosis and solid-to-solid transitions.

Chapter 6: Changing the identity of matter

Chemical reactions from the physical chemist's side: spontaneity, reaction quotient and equilibrium constant, rate laws, reaction mechanisms and rate-determining steps, activation energy and catalysis, with photochemistry and electrochemistry as reactions driven by light and electricity, and chemical dynamics as the study of what happens during a reaction.

Chapter 7: Investigating matter

How physical chemistry identifies substances and determines their structures, with lasers and computers refining classical methods: absorption spectroscopy, NMR, mass spectrometry, photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–3: Inside, Outside and the Bridge

• Atomic orbitals and the Pauli principle: the quantum-mechanical description of electrons that accounts for the periodic table.
• Laws of thermodynamics: four laws establishing temperature, conservation of energy, entropy and absolute zero.
• Gibbs energy: the property that decides the direction of spontaneous change.
• Boltzmann distribution: the population of molecular energy levels at a given temperature, linking molecular and bulk behaviour.

Chapters 4–5: States and Changes of State

• Van der Waals equation: a model of real gases that captures many of their properties.
• Chemical potential: the quantity through which all changes of state and their equilibria can be expressed.
• Phase rule and phase diagrams: Gibbs's rule for equilibria between phases, and the maps of which phase is stable under which conditions.

Chapters 6–7: Reactions and Investigation

• Rate law and rate-determining step: how the rate depends on concentrations, and the slowest step that controls a mechanism.
• Activation energy and catalysis: the energy barrier to reaction and its lowering by a catalyst.
• Spectroscopy: the use of radiation to identify substances and determine their structures.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A clear architecture. The inside–outside–bridge sequence of Chapters 1–3 shows how quantum mechanics, thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics fit together, rather than presenting them as separate subjects.
• Full breadth in little space. In about 120 pages the book touches all the main branches of a physical chemistry course: quantum theory, thermodynamics, statistical thermodynamics, phase equilibria, kinetics and spectroscopy.
• Connects to current research. The publisher's description and the chapter on states of matter refer to computational chemistry, smart materials and graphene, showing the subject as active rather than finished.
• An experienced guide. Atkins is also an author of the comprehensive Physical Chemistry textbook on this course list, so the short book previews the same map of the subject at a much gentler level.

Limitations

• Non-technical by design. The book aims for insight, not calculation; it will not teach the derivations and problem-solving that physical chemistry examinations require.
• Very compressed. Each main area of the subject gets a chapter of roughly 13–21 pages, so some topics, such as electrochemistry or photochemistry, appear only briefly within a broader chapter.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the gentlest way into the physical chemistry course on the list, best read before or at the very start of it. Monk's Physical Chemistry: Understanding our Chemical World is the natural next step: a first-year textbook that introduces each principle through an everyday situation and supports the mathematics. Chang's Physical Chemistry for the Chemical and Biological Sciences is an accessible full treatment of thermodynamics, kinetics and quantum concepts for students working across chemistry and biology.

Atkins, de Paula and Keeler's Physical Chemistry is the comprehensive, mathematically developed textbook for which this book is in effect an overview, and McQuarrie and Simon's Molecular Thermodynamics develops in full the statistical link between molecules and bulk matter that Chapter 3 sketches. Students who find those books daunting can return to the corresponding chapter here to recover the big picture.

How to Use This Book

The book suits students about to begin, or struggling with, a first university course in physical chemistry, students in biology, materials or earth sciences who meet physical chemistry as a supporting subject, and general readers with school chemistry. The publisher describes the book as non-technical, and school chemistry is enough background.

A practical plan:

• Before the course: read Chapters 1–3 in order. They give the framework (atoms, thermodynamics, and the Boltzmann bridge) on which the rest of the book and the course rest.
• Alongside the course: read Chapters 4–5 when the course reaches gases, phase diagrams and solutions, Chapter 6 for kinetics and equilibrium, and Chapter 7 when spectroscopy is taught.
• When stuck: use the relevant chapter as a conceptual summary before going back to a full textbook's derivations and problems.

The book does not replace a textbook; pair it with Monk or Chang for practice and with Atkins, de Paula and Keeler later for depth.