Physical Chemistry for the Chemical and Biological Sciences

Citation

Chang, R. (2000). Physical Chemistry for the Chemical and Biological Sciences. University Science Books.

Chapter Summary

The book has 23 chapters, two appendices (a review of mathematics and physics, and thermodynamic data), a glossary and answers to the even-numbered computational problems. Each chapter ends with problems, and the publisher describes an overview of key equations in every chapter. The sequence is the traditional one: gases, thermodynamics, solutions and equilibrium, kinetics, quantum mechanics and bonding, spectroscopy, then condensed phases and statistical thermodynamics, with biological topics placed inside the chemical chapters rather than collected at the end.

Chapters 1–3: Introduction; The Gas Laws; Kinetic Theory of Gases

The opening chapters cover the nature of physical chemistry, units, force, pressure, energy and the mole, then the gas laws from Boyle's law to the ideal gas equation, real gases, the van der Waals and virial equations, and condensation and the critical state. Chapter 3 builds the kinetic model, the Maxwell distribution, collisions and mean free path, viscosity, diffusion and effusion, and equipartition of energy; its appendices review total and partial differentiation.

Chapters 4–6: The First Law of Thermodynamics; The Second Law of Thermodynamics; Gibbs and Helmholtz Energies and Their Applications

Chapter 4 treats work, heat, enthalpy, heat capacities, isothermal and adiabatic expansion and thermochemistry, including bond enthalpies. Chapter 5 moves through spontaneous processes, statistical and thermodynamic entropy, the Carnot engine, entropy changes and the third law. Chapter 6 introduces Helmholtz and Gibbs energies, their dependence on temperature and pressure, phase equilibria, the Clapeyron equation, phase diagrams, the phase rule and the thermodynamics of rubber elasticity.

Chapters 7–9: Nonelectrolyte Solutions; Electrolyte Solutions; Chemical Equilibrium

Chapter 7 covers concentration units, partial molar quantities, mixing, colligative properties and two-component phase equilibria. Chapter 8 turns to conduction, ionic activity, Debye–Hückel theory, the Donnan effect, biological membranes and membrane transport. Chapter 9 treats equilibrium in gases and solutions, then ligand binding to macromolecules, equilibrium dialysis and a bioenergetics section on ATP, coupled reactions and glycolysis.

Chapters 10–11: Electrochemistry; Acids and Bases

Chapter 10 covers cells, the Nernst equation, electrode types, concentration and fuel cells, and then biological oxidation, the chemiosmotic theory, membrane potential, the Goldman equation and the action potential. Chapter 11 handles acid–base definitions, titrations and indicators, amino acids and the isoelectric point, buffers and the maintenance of blood pH.

Chapters 12–13: Chemical Kinetics; Enzyme Kinetics

Chapter 12 develops reaction rate and order, molecularity, complex reactions, the Arrhenius equation, collision and transition-state theories, fast reactions in solution and oscillating reactions. Chapter 13 applies this to catalysis, Michaelis–Menten and steady-state kinetics, a chymotrypsin case study, multisubstrate systems, inhibition, allosteric interactions, the Hill equation and oxygen binding to myoglobin and hemoglobin.

Chapters 14–16: Quantum Mechanics and Atomic Structure; The Chemical Bond; Intermolecular Forces

Chapter 14 runs from Planck's quantum theory and the photoelectric effect through the Schrödinger equation, the particle in a box, tunneling and the hydrogen atom to many-electron atoms. Chapter 15 covers Lewis structures, valence bond and molecular orbital theory, resonance, the peptide bond and coordination compounds. Chapter 16 treats the types of intermolecular forces, hydrogen bonding, the structure of water and ice, and the hydrophobic interaction.

Chapters 17–19: Spectroscopy; Molecular Symmetry and Optical Activity; Photochemistry and Photobiology

Chapter 17 covers general spectroscopic vocabulary and the Beer–Lambert law, then microwave, infrared, electronic, NMR and ESR spectroscopy, fluorescence and lasers. Chapter 18 introduces symmetry elements, optical rotation and circular dichroism. Chapter 19 covers quantum yields, atmospheric photochemistry (smog, ozone), photosynthesis, vision and biological effects of radiation.

Chapters 20–23: The Solid State; The Liquid State; Macromolecules; Statistical Thermodynamics

Chapters 20 and 21 cover crystal systems and X-ray diffraction, then liquid structure, viscosity, surface tension, diffusion and liquid crystals. Chapter 22 treats methods for determining the size and shape of macromolecules, polymer structure, protein and DNA structure, and protein stability and folding. Chapter 23 closes with microstates, the Boltzmann distribution and partition functions, and their use for thermodynamic quantities, chemical equilibrium and transition-state theory.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–6: Gases and Thermodynamics

• Equations of state: the ideal gas equation, extended by the van der Waals and virial equations for real gases.
• Entropy: defined in both statistical and thermodynamic terms and tied to the second and third laws.
• Gibbs energy: the quantity whose temperature and pressure dependence underlies phase equilibria and the phase rule.

Chapters 7–11: Solutions, Equilibrium, Electrochemistry and Acids and Bases

• Partial molar quantities: the basis for the thermodynamics of mixing and colligative properties.
• Donnan effect and membrane potential: the treatment of ions across biological membranes, with the Goldman equation and the action potential.
• Coupled reactions: how ATP drives otherwise unfavorable processes, developed in the bioenergetics section of Chapter 9.

Chapters 12–13: Kinetics

• Arrhenius equation and transition-state theory: the temperature dependence and molecular theories of reaction rates.
• Michaelis–Menten kinetics: the steady-state treatment of enzyme catalysis, extended to inhibition and allostery.

Chapters 14–19: Quantum Theory, Bonding and Spectroscopy

• Schrödinger equation: introduced through the particle in a box and applied to the hydrogen atom.
• Molecular orbital and valence bond theory: the two bonding descriptions, both applied to biological examples such as the peptide bond.
• Beer–Lambert law: the quantitative basis for absorption measurements across the spectroscopy chapter.

Chapters 20–23: Condensed Phases and Statistical Thermodynamics

• Bragg equation: the relation behind X-ray structure determination.
• Partition function: the link between molecular energy levels and macroscopic thermodynamic quantities.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• The contents show biology built into the standard sequence: ligand binding and glycolysis in the equilibrium chapter, membrane potential in electrochemistry, amino acids and blood buffering in acids and bases, chymotrypsin and hemoglobin in enzyme kinetics, and a full chapter on photochemistry and photobiology.
• The publisher lists worked examples in the text, about 1,000 chapter-ending problems, an overview of key equations in each chapter, a glossary and answers to even-numbered computational problems, with a separate solutions manual.
• Reviewers quoted by the publisher describe it as meeting life-science students where they are (Journal of Chemical Education, 2001) and as a gentler physical chemistry text (advance reviewers).
• Coverage is broad enough for a full-year course, including statistical thermodynamics and macromolecules, so one book can serve the whole sequence.

Limitations

• At roughly 1,000 pages, the book is long for a single-semester course; instructors need to select chapters.
• Quantum mechanics is introduced in a single chapter (Chapter 14) before bonding and spectroscopy, so students who need a deeper quantum chemistry course will want a more mathematical text.

Where It Fits in the Course

Among the physical chemistry books on the site, this is a full-length undergraduate textbook with a biological orientation. Peter Atkins' Physical Chemistry: A Very Short Introduction and Paul Monk's first-year text suit readers who want a lighter or earlier start. Atkins, de Paula and Keeler's Physical Chemistry is the heavier comprehensive text for chemistry majors, and McQuarrie and Simon's Molecular Thermodynamics is a more advanced statistical treatment. Chang sits between these: more complete than an introduction, less demanding than the major's text, and distinctive in the biological applications.

How to Use This Book

The book suits students in chemistry, biochemistry and the life sciences taking a one- or two-term junior-level physical chemistry course, as well as premedical students. The review of mathematics and physics in Appendix A is a useful first stop for readers whose calculus is rusty.

For a first pass, read Chapters 1–13 in order: gases, the three laws, free energy, solutions, equilibrium, electrochemistry, acids and bases, and kinetics. These form the core. Chapters 14–19 give the quantum, bonding and spectroscopy sequence, and can be taken in a separate term. Chapters 20–23 (the solid and liquid states, macromolecules and statistical thermodynamics) are best treated as selectable extensions according to the course.

Work the chapter-ending problems and check the even-numbered answers at the back, using the key-equation overview in each chapter as a revision list. Readers who find a derivation too brief can supplement it with a more rigorous text from the same course.