Course description
Quantum Mechanics of Molecular Structures
In molecular spectroscopy, molecules are irradiated with light or electric waves to reveal rich information, including:
- Motions of electrons within a molecule (Week 1),
- Vibrational motions of the nuclei within a molecule (Week 2), and
- Rotational motions of a molecule (Week 3).
In the gas electron diffraction method, molecules are irradiated with an accelerated electron beam. As the beam is scattered by the nuclei within the molecule, the scattered waves interfere with each other to generate a diffraction pattern. In week 4, we study the fundamental mechanism of electron scattering and how the resulting diffraction images reveal the geometrical structure of molecules.
By the end of the course, you will be able to understand molecular vibration plays an important role in determining the geometrical structure of molecules and gain a fuller understanding of molecular structure from the information obtained by the two methodologies.
Upcoming start dates
Who should attend?
Prerequisites:
The basics of quantum mechanics
Course delivery details
This course is offered through The University of Tokyo, a partner institute of EdX.
5-6 hours per week
Costs
- Verified Track -$49
- Audit Track - Free
Certification / Credits
What you'll learn
- Two major methods to determine the geometrical structure of molecules in the gas phase: molecular spectroscopy and gas electron diffraction
- How to quantize various motions of molecules, extract the quantized energy levels, and determine the geometrical structure of molecules from the spectrum
- The fundamental mechanism of electron scattering on the basis of quantum mechanics and how to determine the geometrical structure of molecules from gas electron diffraction images
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