2022 Faculty Courses School of Materials and Chemical Technology Undergraduate major in Materials Science and Engineering
Physical Chemistry (Surface)
- Academic unit or major
- Undergraduate major in Materials Science and Engineering
- Instructor(s)
- Hidetoshi Matsumoto
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 1-2 Tue (S8-102)
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- MAT.P306
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2022
- Offered quarter
- 3Q
- Syllabus updated
- Jul 10, 2025
- Language
- Japanese
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
This course focuses on intermolecular forces and surface and interface phenomena, which provide fundamental knowledge to understand soft materials including polymers and nanomaterials.
Course description and aims
This courses facilitates student's understanding of physicochemical fundamentals of intermolecular forces and surface and interface phenomena.
Keywords
Intermolecular forces, Electric dipole, van der Waals interaction, Surface tension, Adsorption, Processes at solid surface
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
At the beginning of each class, solutions to exercise problems that were assigned during the previous class are reviewed. Towards the end of class, students are given exercise problems related to the lecture given that day to solve. To prepare for class, students should read the course schedule section and check what topics will be covered. Required learning should be completed outside of the classroom for preparation and review purposes.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Electric Dipole Moment | Understand electric dipole moment, polarization, and polarizability. |
| Class 2 | Intermolecular Forces | Understand dipole/dipole interactions, dipole/induced-dipole interactions, and induced-dipole/induced-dipole interactions. |
| Class 3 | Gases and Liquids | Understand molecular interactions in beams and surface tension. |
| Class 4 | Solids and Liquids | Understand the Laplace equation and contact angle. |
| Class 5 | Solid Surfaces | Understand growth and structure of surfaces. |
| Class 6 | Adsorption at Surfaces | Understand physisorption and chemisorption, and the Langmuir isotherm. |
| Class 7 | Catalytic Activity at Surfaces | Understand catalytic activity at surfaces. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Peter Atkins, Julio de Paula, Atkins' Physical Chemistry, last volume, 10th Ed., Chapters 16 and 22, Tokyo: Tokyo Kagaku Dojin, ISBN: 978-4-8079-0909-4
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Materials used in class can be found on OCW-i.
Evaluation methods and criteria
Students' knowledge of surface and interface phenomena, and their ability to apply them to problems will be assessed. Student's course scores are based on a term-end exam (80%) and exercise problems (20%).
Related courses
- MAT.P204 ： Physical Chemistry (Thermodynamics)
Prerequisites
No prerequisites are necessary, but enrollment in the related courses is desirable.