Selected Problems In Physical Chemistry: Strategies And Interpretations

Selected Problems in Physical Chemistry Predrag-Peter Ilich Selected Problems in Physical Chemistry Strategies and Interpretations 123 Dr. Predrag-Peter Ilich Dana College 2848 College Drive Blair NE 68008 USA [email protected] ISBN 978-3-642-04326-0 e-ISBN 978-3-642-04327-7 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-04327-7 Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2010921809 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Cover design: KünkelLopka, Heidelberg Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Preface The latest authors, like the most ancient, strove to subordinate the phenomena of nature to the laws of mathematics Isaac Newton, 1647–1727 The approach quoted above has been adopted and practiced by many teachers of chemistry. Today, physical chemistry textbooks are written for science and engineering majors who possess an interest in and aptitude for mathematics. No knowledge of chemistry or biology (not to mention poetry) is required. To me this sounds like a well-defined prescription for limiting the readership to a few and carefully selected. I think the importance of physical chemistry goes beyond this precept. The subject should benefit both the science and engineering majors and those of us who dare to ask questions about the world around us. Numerical mathematics, or a way of thinking in mathematical formulas and numbers – which we all practice, when paying in cash or doing our tax forms – is important but should not be used to subordinate the infinitely rich world of physical chemistry. With this in mind, I present you a collection of problems and questions in physical chemistry, along with detailed solutions, answers, and explanations of basic ideas. Given my personal interest I tried to focus the book on the puzzl