Quantum Mechanics for Chemistry - Quantum Mechanics for Chemistry

Fall 2026 schedule¶

Homework is due Mondays at the start of class, beginning the second week; each assignment covers the previous week’s lectures. No homework is due in exam week 12 or over Thanksgiving. Both midterm exams are in class on Fridays. The schedule below is the plan. Dates for exams and projects will be additionally confirmed in class and on Canvas.

Week	Dates	Topics	Slides	Due
1	Aug 24 - 28	Ch 1: Origins of quantum theory	1 · 2 · 3
2	Aug 31 - Sep 4	Ch 1: Atomic spectra, wave-particle duality	1 · 2	HW 1: Blackbody radiation (Mon Aug 31)
3	Sep 7 - 11	Ch 2: Waves. No class Mon (Labor Day)	1	HW 2: Bohr model and duality (Wed Sep 9)
4	Sep 14 - 18	Ch 2: The wave equation	1	HW 3: Complex numbers (Mon Sep 14)
5	Sep 21 - 25	Ch 3: The Schrödinger equation, wavefunctions	1 · 2	HW 4: Classical waves (Mon Sep 21), Project 1: Waves (Fri Sep 25)
6	Sep 28 - Oct 2	Ch 3: Particle in a box, review. Exam 1 (Fri Oct 2, Ch 1-3); prep: practice problems, equation sheet	1 · 2	HW 5: Schrödinger equation (Mon Sep 28)
7	Oct 5 - 9	Ch 3: Operators, eigenvalues, expectation values	1 · 2 · 3	HW 6: Particle in a box (Mon Oct 5)
8	Oct 12 - 16	Ch 3: Time dependence, Fourier transforms	1 · 2	HW 7: Postulates of QM (Mon Oct 12), Project 2: Particle in a Box (Fri Oct 16)
9	Oct 19 - 23	Ch 4: Vibrations and the harmonic oscillator	1 · 2 · 3	HW 8: Time dependence (Mon Oct 19)
10	Oct 26 - 30	Ch 4: Angular momentum, rigid rotor	1 · 2 · 3	HW 9: Harmonic oscillator (Mon Oct 26), Project 3: Quantum Waves (Fri Oct 30)
11	Nov 2 - 6	Ch 5: The hydrogen atom	1	HW 10: Angular momentum (Mon Nov 2)
12	Nov 9 - 13	Ch 5: Orbitals and spin. Exam 2 (Fri Nov 13, Ch 4-5); prep: practice problems, equation sheet	1 · 2	no homework due (exam week)
13	Nov 16 - 20	Ch 6: Approximation methods	1 · 2 · 3	HW 11: Hydrogen and spin (Mon Nov 16), Project 4: Atomic Orbitals (Fri Nov 20)
14	Nov 23 - 27	Thanksgiving break, no classes
15	Nov 30 - Dec 4	Ch 7: Multi-electron atoms	1 · 2 · 3 · 4	HW 12: Approximation methods (Mon Nov 30)
16	Dec 7 - 11	Ch 8: Molecular orbital theory, review	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6	HW 13: Multi-electron atoms (Mon Dec 7)
Finals	Dec 14 - 18	Final exam (comprehensive); prep: practice problems, equation sheet

Weekly rhythm: homework covers the previous week’s lectures, and the four computational projects are spaced roughly three weeks apart, due on Fridays of non-exam weeks. Each number in the Slides column opens that lecture’s deck; the full set lives on the Lecture Slides page.