Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach

by Donald A. McQuarrie, John D. Simon

As the first modern physical chemistry textbook to cover quantum mechanics before thermodynamics and kinetics, this book provides a contemporary approach to the study of physical chemistry. By beginning with quantum chemistry, students will learn the fundamental principles upon which all modern physical chemistry is built. The text includes a special set of "MathChapters" to review and summarize the mathematical tools required to master the material Thermodynamics is simultaneously taught from a bulk and microscopic viewpoint that enables the student to understand how bulk properties of materials are related to the properties of individual constituent molecules. This new text includes a variety of modern research topics in physical chemistry as well as hundreds of worked problems and examples.

Genres: Chemistry, Textbooks, Science, Physics, Nonfiction, Reference, Read For School

1360 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1997

Reviews

[Harry Haller · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is arguably the best physical chemistry book out there. The method of presentation and teaching and the high grade quality of the problems are outstanding. This is a great introduction to quantum mechanics and is used in some physics departments as such.

I studied chemistry, but that was a few years ago. I wanted to get back to studying quantum mechanics as pass-time. I still had my Atkins book but didn't care for it much. I checked out some of the newer editions by Atkins and other authors and found this one by accident. A lucky find to be sure.

The book itself is of very high quality, with beautiful, accurate B&W diagrams. Considering the quality of the book and its content, and that it would be used for three semesters, the price is unbeatable. Other publishers take heed! Enough of this crap with changing a couple of photos and the color scheme and issuing a "new edition," which sells for couple of hundred bucks.

One last thing. I can't believe that some people have given this book low rating "becuase the problems are too hard." Are they now? Oh you poor baby. Watch out, you might learn something. For those people I would recommend the brand new coloring book edition of physical chemistry just published. It comes fully equipped with scratch-and-sniff features and even teaches you first-grade arithmetics.

[Dan Gezelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just adopted this book for my junior-level physical chemistry class. It has one of the best introductory treatments of quantum chemistry out there. The statistical mechanics / thermo sections are a bit weaker, however.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book late in my undergraduate physical chemistry courses and so I only know about chapters 17-30. This book has saved me! Atkins is the traditional book used in my school's physical chemistry courses but for my final term McQuarrie is optional and heavily integrated in to the class. I had enough of Atkins. For me, Atkins is too abrupt! Not enough translation in to the English language. If you are gifted in advanced calculus and physical chemistry, then Atkins seems to work. I'm not so gifted!

Everything we are covering in lecture is in this book. The only thing I don't really need to know is the derivation of the Boltzmann distribution, but it is very helpful in understanding the final form of the equation. For my school, there is not "too much" in the book and everything in it applies to what I will be tested on for UNDERGRADUATE 400-level physical chemistry. I find it very enlightening to read through the chapters. Some say it is too verbose, but the verbosity is what puts those equations in to language that I can understand. I was failing my current course, and now thanks to this book I might be able to pull up and finish with a B.

[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I found the math chapters to be quite helpful, the other chapters seemed to be a bit verbose and go into areas that were not very relevant to an undergraduate level course. Something I confirmed when I took a graduate level course in Statistical Thermodynamics. I found it interesting that this book seemed to work much better for that graduate level class than for the undergraduate course where I originally encountered it. The fact that McQuarrie puts some of the problems found in this book in his Statistical Mechanics book would seem to confirm that fact.

[Jonathan Zheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

(I only used this for the quantum mechanics section. I have heard this book's treatment of thermodynamics is not quite as good.)
Best textbook I've ever used. Chapters are compact but well-written and logically structured. Content is made interesting. Practice problems and math practice sections are infinitely useful to undergraduates. Highly recommend for one learning physical chemistry / quantum mechanics for the first time.

[Lauren Heald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent text for college physical chemistry. Complete with reviews of necessary mathematics and worked examples.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember taking physical/quantum chemistry back in spring 2015. This book could be considered THE RED BIBLE of physical chemistry. It not only helps you review or learn the math you need at the appropriate times as subjects are introduced, but it clearly walks you through the material very pedagogically. The topics are intrinsically difficult by their nature, but with patience this book could perhaps be useful for self-study outside of a formal class. Though you should have many books and references to learn any given subject, I think this should at least be in your library if you are big into chemistry.

I actually used the thermodynamics section of the book to study for my American Chemical Society exams during my senior year in college. 1-2 months of self-study helped me reasonably well on the physical chemistry ACS exam.

[Meghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

"Physical Chemistry is power, it is exactness..."yada yada yada!!!

[Brian Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a Pchem 1 and 2 with this book and wasn't a huge fan. But in grad school I find it the best book to go to for reviewing physical chemistry concepts.

[Marco Valencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as I’m concerned this book is the Bible. Everything under the sun is treated in detail. I especially like the way books moves through quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and finally thermodynamics. While reading this I deeply connected with how the microscopic gives way to the macroscopic. Highly recommend!

[Dade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best textbook for learning physical chemistry at the undergraduate level. The book includes math chapters for anybody without a background in mathematics. If you like Atkins more than this book you were filtered.

[Alex Butzler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The red bible of p chem. Thank you and god bless.

[Jeffrey Sung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly designed for a lower level than his Statistical Mechanics or Quantum Chemistry textbooks, this (enormous) textbook goes into much more depth than McQuarrie normally does. The statmech coverage isn't the greatest, but that's because it's intended for undergraduates and obviously he couldn't fit his statmech textbook into a few chapters of this one.

[David A Khoa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book does its best in explaining physical chemistry such as 1-dimensional particle in a box, the Schrödinger equation, and Hamiltonian equations. My professor had to fill in the gaps when the book got too wordy or there were not enough to illustrate. I recommend that you have a good knowledge of physics, differential equations and calculus in general to make sense out of everything. Overall, this book helped me in passing physical chemistry 1 and 2 and its corresponding lab.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Physical Chemistry...

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

As clear as it is ever likely to be, despite the frequency of statements like "the ten steps from a priori to this point are trivial, and have been omitted."

[Ataur Rahman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very effective

[Hiteshi]

Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach