Physical Chemistry

Book Description

Ira N. Levine's fifth edition of Physical Chemistry provides students with an in-depth fundamental treatment of physical chemistry. At the same time, the treatment is made easy to follow by giving full step-by-step derivations, clear explanations and by avoiding advanced mathematics unfamiliar to students. Necessary math and physics have thorough review sections. Worked examples are followed by a practice exercise.

Customer Reviews:

Very good introduction to physical chemistry.......2007-07-23

A previous reviewer stated that physical chemistry is complicated. As a retired NASA researcher with 44 years experience specializing in physical chemistry I readily acknowledge that physical chemistry can be a very challenging subject. But, personally, I have also found it to be immensely fascinating and rewarding. There are several good textbooks on physical chemistry but, in my opinion, none is better than this one. Levine has done a very good job of presenting the material contained in an understandable fashion without compromising scientific rigor.

An earlier reviewer stated that this book is full of inaccuracies, but I strongly disagree with this statement. One example of an alleged inaccuracy which this reviewer cited is Levine`s statement that, at the velocity of light, photons have mass. This is a true statement; photons do indeed have both mass and momentum and thus can cause pressure on objects they strike. I beg you not to be biased against this outstanding book by this flawed review.

The topic of physical chemistry -- in which chemistry, physics, and mathematics overlap and interact -- clearly does not appeal to everyone. Even many chemists shun the rigors of physical chemistry as much as possible. But for those studying this important subject, I highly recommend this book. And some of you may even come to love this fascinating subject as I do.

for those who don't like Levine.......2007-04-25

If you want the most student friendly book get Physical Chemistry , 4/e by Laidler, Meiser, Sanctuary, ISBN 061815292X.

Description on their website says "With its clear explanations and practical pedagogy, Physical Chemistry is less intimidating to students than other texts, without sacrificing the mathematical rigor and comprehensiveness necessary for a junior-level physical chemistry course. The text's long-standing reputation for accessible writing provides clear instruction and superior problem-solving support for students." I second that.

see my review here Physical Chemistry I mention the alternatives as well.

Terrible semester.......2007-03-31

Physical Chemistry is complicated, there is no way of getting around that. This book will go through the derivations, but never include units. That is a huge problem.

Terrible. Absolutely terrible........2006-09-24

I don't know why so many other people think this book is good. I feel just the opposite.

First, it is filled with factual inaccuracies. Let me quote just one howler, from page 604. "At speed c, the photon has a nonzero mass m." Yes, you heard right, Dr. Levine thinks photons have mass. He then goes on to give an incorrect statement and explanation of the De Broglie wavelength. (Among other things, he uses "mv" instead of momentum, which is of course true only in the case of Newtonian mechanics with massive particles. Sigh.) These gaffes are rarely typos, they are generally the sort of thing which someone with a fundamental understanding of the underlying physics cringes at.

Second, Levine is incapable of going a paragraph without interrupting himself. Given the choice of stating something simply, or filling a paragraph with fifteen references (placed in the text, not in footnotes) and a few asides, he always goes for the latter. References are a fine thing, but placing them inside the text and doing it constantly interrupts the reader's thinking.

Taking an example a few pages earlier in the text, it is not sufficient for Levine to start to explain the photoelectric effect, he has to add in a few lines about practical applications of photocells. All fine and well, but it distracts from the flow of the logic, and frankly the applications of photocells aren't germane to what is being taught here, which is that light is quantized. Levine can never resist the temptation to add a little aside -- there are even spots in the book where he interrupts his own interruptions.

Third, Levine is also incapable of writing without making what he discusses somehow seem meaningless and uninteresting. Take thermodynamics. In the hands of a bad author, thermodynamics can seem like a swirling vortex of formula manipulations, but if you read, say, Enrico Fermi's pamphlet from the 1930s, you instead feel as though you're seeing the power of a few ideas applied rigorously to an interesting domain -- you feel the relevance of the topic to the world and you feel the sparkle of the author's intellect. Levine takes this same topic and makes it feel like an endless parade of noise.

Indeed, Levine can take all sorts topics that are full of inherent interest and relevance and make them seem utterly abstract, boring and lifeless. In order to cover up for this, he throws in lots of asides (see above) and the occassional several paragraph digression about the life of some famous scientist. Sadly, you don't make a topic more "interesting for the kids" by throwing in random asides and distractions -- you do it by knowing how to teach. A good teacher can make anything interesting -- a bad one can't make up for it by doing a few juggling tricks.

Between Levine's self-interruptions, asides and dry presentation, somehow the length of the text always seems an order of magnitude longer than necessary to explain any given subject. I often mentally scream "get to the point already!" as I read.

There is also the question of order of presentation. Honestly, I think that starting a discussion of thermodynamics without first at least glossing to the kinetic theory of gases is a mistake. Abstraction has to be tempered with good mental models of what is going on and why it is going on or the student becomes lost. Even a couple of pages showing that the Ideal Gas Law is an emergent result of a simple classical mechanical model would ground the student better to the material. This sort of thing happens over and over in Levine, with discussion being often both too rigorous and unfounded in basic principles at the same time -- quite a trick to pull off.

Levine's text is, of course, in its fifth edition. Presumably, had the earlier revision been left alone, sales might have flagged as used copies from bored students uninterested in holding on to them filled the market. The publishers have therefore done the usual thing and produced trivial updates every few years to assure that used copies become worthless. Does this new fifth edition come with snazzy new diagrams and all the other stigmata of the modern textbook industry? No. The diagrams in the text -- a text you pay a kings ransom for -- were clearly done in MacDraw and MacPaint in the mid-1980s. I am not that upset about this -- I just find it another irritation. Truthfully, I don't need snazzy illustrations -- my favorite physics and chemistry texts are often decades old -- but if you're going to pretend that you're doing a new edition for some reason other than to keep your sales numbers up, at least have the decency to spend a small amount of money on production to keep up appearances. Milking the students is an embarrassment, especially at the inflated price this book commands.

Oh, and did I mention that the book is insanely heavy? That's not a small thing if you have to haul it around a campus constantly.

As I said, I don't know why other reviewers like this book so much. I'm a confirmed science geek who loves reading science texts for their own sake and I'm having a great deal of difficulty reminding myself that this text (which is being used for a class I'm taking) is not reason enough to find the entire subject of physical chemistry an unbearably boring waste of time -- the topic is in fact interesting, it is this book which is the problem.

To survive the course I'm taking with my mind intact, I've used a succession of small texts by people like Fermi and Pauli. The contrast between people who understand a topic well enough to explain it clearly and simply and the people like Levine that churn out heavy uninteresting textbooks is striking. If you're a professor considering the use of this book, please, please, please don't do it. Find something else. there has to be a decent book on this topic out there somewhere.

As a final comment, let me say this is not the worst text I've ever used. That would be H.J. Pain's "The Physics of Vibrations and Waves". To damn Dr. Levine with faint praise, this book doesn't even come close to being as bad as that other text.

Great Book.......2006-04-22

I took both semesters of P.Chem, failing the first because I took way too many upper level Chem Classes & working as well as a weak background in Calc 3. After studying Calc III by myself over the summer and retaking the class, I am able to absorb so much more and I'm ripping a new one in this class. It is truly an amazing book. Having a solid math background helps one to 'connect the dots' so-to-speak whenever Dr. Levine makes these 'shortcuts'. Tons of worked examples, difficult yet definitely possible homework problems and an acutual intelligent sense of humor are woven into the this book making an extremely complex and difficult subject..... engaging, lol. I spend close to 40hrs. per test and I'm thankful I'm putting myeself through this. Great book, just make sure you have a solid understanding of partial diff eqns. and complex algebra before you take it. Not meant for the weak of mind.

Molecular Thermodynamics of Fluid-Phase Equilibria (3rd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Smith & Van Hess preferable!
Clearly written , Very good book
Good solution thermo, but don't get rid of Smith & Van Ness
Errata
Simple and interesting...

Molecular Thermodynamics of Fluid-Phase Equilibria (3rd Edition)
John M. Prausnitz , Rudiger N. Lichtenthaler , and Edmundo Gomes de Azevedo
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall PTR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0139777458

Customer Reviews:

Smith & Van Hess preferable!.......2004-01-12

This book is used as graduate text for GTech, ChBE course, and suffices in context of summarizing a large amount of material on fugacities in mixtures, empirical methods used for prediction and analysis of phase euilibria problems. With no previous exposure to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, I found Smith and Van Hess to be greatly helpful in explaining basic concepts, and providing a lucid, logical development of the subject. While Prausnitz dwells at length on the behavior of mixtures, the development of the subject leaves one wanting for a lot more, and hence this book will always need atleat one complementary text like Smith's book to be a useful text. The topics explained really well in the text include fugacities in gas and liquid mixtures, and calculation of solubilities of solids or gases in liquids. Other areas of thermodynamics are either ignored or coverage is sketchy (for examples treatment of polymers, electrolytes, use of statistical mechanics, etc).

Clearly written , Very good book.......2001-07-21

The book explains clearly the subjects making easy to understand the topics. I would suggest chem. eng to use it as a tool for understanding any specific subject in phase equilibria. It points out clearly the principles. Any book written by Dr. Prausnitz has high quality.

Good solution thermo, but don't get rid of Smith & Van Ness.......2000-11-23

This is the text that is used for graduate ChE thermo at Georgia Tech. I found many of the chapters to be very useful and complete. For example, the chapters on estimating fugacities and solubilities in gases and liquids were very well written. However, I found the treatment of some topics, such as equations of state and supercritical fluids to be somewhat superficial and not developed very well in general. Smith & Van Ness and The Properties of Gases and Liquids were useful supplements.

Errata.......2000-06-18

En la Ec. 6-122 pg. 264 el subindice del tercer termino de la derecha de la ecuacion: phi* dice 2 debe decir 1.

Por favor si tienen un Fe de Erratas comunicarlo a todos los usuarios.

El libro es excelente. gracias

Simple and interesting..........2000-04-13

I found this book easy to read about some topics that others books make to difficult to understand. I widely recommend this book...

Average customer rating:

Excellent Reference

Distillation Design
Henry Z. Kister
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Distillation Operation
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ASIN: 0070349096

Book Description

This text provides thorough coverage of design principles for distillation processes. It contains an up-to-date presentation of process and equipment design procedures, highlights limitations of some design methods, and offers guidance on how to overcome them.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Reference.......2001-02-01

This book is must for process engineer esp. engineer in Petroleun and Refinery business. Written in very lucid manner shows the author is not only technically competent but has extensive experience in the industry. His book on " Distillation Operation" is also highly recomended.

Schaum's Outline of Physical Chemistry (2nd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Great Supplemental/Review Material
No good, stick to your textbook!
GOOD, BUT OBSOLETE CONTENTS
Excellent supplement!

Schaum's Outline of Physical Chemistry (2nd Edition)
Clyde R. Metz
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0070417156

Book Description

If you want top grades and excellent understanding of physical chemistry, this powerful study tool is the best tutor you can have! It takes you step-by-step through the subject and gives you accompanying related problems with fully worked solutions. You also get hundreds of additional problems to solve on your own, working at your own speed. This superb Outline clearly presents every aspect of physical chemistry. Famous for their clarity, wealth of illustrations and examples, and lack of dreary minutie, SchaumÕs Outlines have sold more than 30 million copies worldwide. Compatible with any textbook, this Outline is also perfect for self-study. For better grades in courses covering physical chemistryÑyou canÕt do better than this SchaumÕs Outline!

Customer Reviews:

Great Supplemental/Review Material.......2005-04-06

For as cheap as it is, this is a great value. It reviews every concept in physical chemistry very well. Obviously it won't replace your textbook, but it will at least cover subjects that maybe your textbook omits. The outline was last updated in 1989, but, honestly, physical chemistry has not changed in at least the last twenty or thirty years. Conceptually, all of physical chemistry has remained the same, so I would not say that this book is obsolete.

No good, stick to your textbook!.......2005-01-21

The examples are from a different planet! The text is very general in the important concepts and too detailed in the obscure stuff; this is definintley not intended for someone new to PCHEM. Stick to you textbook, like Atkins, which probably has better explanations and problems.

GOOD, BUT OBSOLETE CONTENTS.......2003-03-02

The over-five hundred pages that make-up this "Schaum's Outline of Physical Chemistry" were dedicated to giving overview of every aspect of the subject. The book's presentations and analyses are easy-to-follow; and would be appreciated by any Physical Science undergrad.
I valued its exploits in the fields of: Thermodynamics, Equilibrium Properties, Chemical Kinetics, and Intermolecular Forces. Its information are concise; yet, detailed enough. There are both tutorials and worked examples in every chapter: hence, making it a fine revision tool.
However, bear in mind that the contents of this book are more or less obsolete. The fact that it has not been revised since 1988 is discouraging. In view of this, I am reluctant to recommend it!

Excellent supplement!.......2000-11-06

This book is a fabulous supplement to any physical chemistry text. It even includes reviews on quantum and solid state. I found this book especially helpful as i am a physics major taking p.chem with little chemistry background.

Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium Statistical Thermodynamics

Average customer rating:

A worth-while advanced book.
Disappointed

Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium Statistical Thermodynamics
Michel Le Bellac , Fabrice Mortessagne , and G. George Batrouni
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521821436

Book Description

This graduate-level book presents a self-contained exposition of fundamental topics in modern equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical thermodynamics. The text follows a balanced approach between the macroscopic (thermodynamic) and microscopic (statistical) points of view. One notable feature is the large number of problems. Simple applications are given in 71 exercises, while more elaborate challenges are contained in 47 problems, some of which are useful for student projects.

Customer Reviews:

A worth-while advanced book........2006-10-12

This is an advanced book as stated at the end of the backcover. I think the reader should have a good background and read other stat mech books concurrently to achieve the materials in this one. Of course, this is not quite self-contained, since stat mech is a very vast and detailed subject, but it has some pros. Most of theorems therein are very rigorous so that one can check with other books and learn things in more general sense. Most of the topics are very well-explained and nicely illustrative, e.g. Fig.2.4 for the time-reversal invariance concerning the reversibility or irreversibility of the system. Furthermore, it explains the concept of the pair correlation function very well from p.128-135, whereas I didn't get very much from Plischke on this topic even though in that book there is an interesting topic not contained in this one, say perturbation treatment of the pair correlation, and it treats some topics such as dilute Bose gas and Superconductivity very well. I use Le Bellac to prepare lecture notes on graduate stat mech together with some other books like Kubo, Greiner,Plischke,etc. Though pretty old, Kubo is a great book that one can learn from the problems and solutions. Pathria treats almost all interesting areas but rarely goes into details , just quotes the journals. To be effective, use LeBellac togetrher with other textbook you can get along with, you'll find this book fantastic.

Disappointed.......2006-03-07

I do not recommend this book at all. It covers a lot of materials but only very briefly. The book simply lists basic concepts and DOES NOT develop them from a set of well defined principles. So, if you don't know the materials, this is NOT a book to learn them from. On the other hand, if you already know the materials, then, you'll see that their presentation lacks clarity. In short, this is a book written without a definite view point, and hence a well conceived structure.

Statistical Physics I: Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics (Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences)

Average customer rating:

Good on stochastic processes
The best book on Statistical Mechanics
The best book on Statistical Mechanics

Statistical Physics I: Equilibrium Statistical Mechanics (Springer Series in Solid-State Sciences)
Morikazu Toda , Ryogo Kubo , and Nobuhiko Saito
Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 3540536620

Book Description

Statistical Physics I discusses the fundamentals of equilibrium statistical mechanics, focussing on basic physical aspects. No previous knowledge of thermodynamics or the molecular theory of gases is assumed. Illustrative examples based on simple materials and photon systems elucidate the central ideas and methods.

Customer Reviews:

Good on stochastic processes.......2003-05-27

This text provides a good, readable introduction to Markov processes, including Fokker-Planck equations, from the standpoint of typical physical examples. A weakness is that (by only mentioning and not developing Ito calculus) the book does not make it clear to the reader that most stochastic processes are nonstationary. This is important: today, we are interested in far from equilibrium dynamics, much less so in dynamics near equilibrium where the fluctuation-dissipation theorem holds. On the other hand, the standard financial math texts (Baxter and Rennie, Steele, ...) do us no service in this direction either. The book goes beyond the older reference by Wax, which is still a very good introduction to Markov processes. In any case, no existing reference treats the general case of a space-time-dependent diffusion coefficient adequately, the case of most interest for the dynamics of financial markets. Now for details of the weak spots.

There are two mistakes on pages 65-68. The discussion is based on the sde dx=-R(x)dt+D(x,t)^1/2dB(t) where B(t) is a Wiener process. First, it is claimed that the random force D(x,t)^1/2dB is Gaussian with a white spectrum. In general, the random force is not even stationary unless D is independent of x. The unstated assumption is that the random force is always stationary, so that with R(x) <0 there is an approach to equilibrium. When the diffusion coefficient depends on x (or more generally on (x,t)) then there is no approach to equilibrium for the case of unbounded x even with R <0, as the lognormal model of standard finance theory so vividly shows. Second, even if an equilibrium solution of the corresponding Fokker-Planck equation 'exists', it cannot be reached dynamically when the force is nonstationary. Again, the lognormal model illustrates this point. Arguments (typical in economics) that an equilibrium solution 'exists' are meaningless are useless if the dynamics can't approach that solution.

The best book on Statistical Mechanics.......2000-03-26

Statistical Mechanics (1&2) by Toda and Kubo is the best textbook on statistical mechanics I've read. This book has some material such as Linear response theory(in vol 2), ergotic problems(in vol 1) which is difficult to find in other ones. I like the way the author write in linear response part. It is beautiful.

The best book on Statistical Mechanics.......2000-03-26

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Beyond Equilibrium Thermodynamics
Hans Christian Öttinger
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471666580

Book Description

Beyond Equilibrium Thermodynamics fills a niche in the market by providing a comprehensive introduction to a new, emerging topic in the field. The importance of non-equilibrium thermodynamics is addressed in order to fully understand how a system works, whether it is in a biological system like the brain or a system that develops plastic. In order to fully grasp the subject, the book clearly explains the physical concepts and mathematics involved, as well as presenting problems and solutions; over 200 exercises and answers are included. Engineers, scientists, and applied mathematicians can all use the book to address their problems in modelling, calculating, and understanding dynamic responses of materials.

Download Description

Average customer rating:

Solid, comprehensive
A classic reference text

Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics
S. R. De Groot , and P. Mazur
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486647412

Book Description

Classic monograph treats the irreversible processes and phenomena of thermodynamics: non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Covers statistical foundations and applications of the field with special chapters on fluctuation theory, theory of stochastic processes, kinetic theory of gases, derivation of the Onsager reciprocal relations, more. 4 black-and-white illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Solid, comprehensive.......1999-12-10

Systematic and comprehensive introduction to linear non-equilibrium thermodynamics. After an extensive description of the fundamentals, a variety of examples is given. As the authors indicate in their preface, the book only deals with linear NET, which means that the more exciting modern examples of non-linear NET are not covered. This does not mean, however, that this book would be obsolete; a lot of physics happens to be linear, and the classics of linear NET (Wiener-Khinchine, Onsager) are certainly worth studying. I would even say, that linear NET should first be appreciated before venturing in the more modern aspect of non-linear NET.

A classic reference text.......1999-04-22

Not meant as a modern textbook, but highly useful for anyone who's already somewhat familiar with N.E.T. This book has a certain historical value, and it is rather obligatory for people who work with N.E.T. and/or are highly interested in it. Mathematically, it is quite rigorous. Knowledge of fluid dynamics, tensor calculus and other rather advanced mathematical concepts is definitely helpful, but not outright necessary.

Book Description

The present volume studies the application of concepts from non-equilibrium thermodynamics to a variety of research topics. Emphasis is on the Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) principle and applications to Geosphere-Biosphere couplings. Written by leading researchers from a wide range of backgrounds, the book presents a first coherent account of an emerging field at the interface of thermodynamics, geophysics and life sciences.

Customer Reviews:

if you want to understand how Gaia works........2006-03-23

I saw this book reviewed in Nature magazine. It had a rave review there, so I bought a copy. I wasn't dissapointed, this is a reprint of all the seminal papers on the subject of MEP (Maximum Entropy Production). It is a modern version of Schroedinger's famous book - "What is Life".

My only wish is that the book could be a little MORE mathematically complete.

Schaum's Outline of Beginning Physics I: Mechanics and Heat (Schaum's)

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Schaum's Outline of Beginning Physics I: Mechanics and Heat (Schaum's)
Alvin Halpern
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0070256535

Book Description

This powerful study tool makes it possible--even for students with relatively weak training in mathematics and science problem solving--to quickly gain the reasoning skills and confidence they need to master physics and excel on exams. It coaxes readers through the subject matter and methodology, helping them to naturally develop a grasp of the material typical of a rigorous, no-calculus-based course. With this guide, so like an excellent tutor, they'll soon develop an ability to deal comfortably with sophisticated problems.

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