Quantum Mechanics for Chemistry - Quantum Mechanics for Chemistry

Fall 2026 schedule¶

Each homework is listed in the week whose lectures it covers: HW 1 goes with Week 1, HW 2 with Week 2, and so on. Homework is due the following Monday at the start of class (due dates are given with each assignment). 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	Assignments
1	Aug 24 - 28	Ch 1: Why quantum mechanics · Need for quantization · Photoelectric effect	1.1 · 1.2 · 1.3	HW 1: Blackbody radiation (due Mon Aug 31)
2	Aug 31 - Sep 4	Ch 1: Atomic spectra · Wave-particle duality	1.4 · 1.5	HW 2: Bohr model and duality (due Wed Sep 9)
3	Sep 7 - 11	Ch 2: Waves No class Mon (Labor Day)	2.1	HW 3: Complex numbers (due Mon Sep 14)
4	Sep 14 - 18	Ch 2: The wave equation	2.2	HW 4: Classical waves (due Mon Sep 21)
5	Sep 21 - 25	Ch 3: Schrödinger equation and the wavefunction	3.1	HW 5: Schrödinger equation (due Mon Sep 28) Project 1: Waves (due Fri Sep 25)
6	Sep 28 - Oct 2	Ch 3: Particle in a box	3.2 · 3.3	HW 6: Particle in a box (due Mon Oct 5) Exam 1 (Fri Oct 2, Ch 1-3) prep: equation sheet, review HW 1-5
7	Oct 5 - 9	Ch 3: Tunneling and finite wells · Operators · Eigenvalues and expectation	3.4 · 3.5 · 3.6	HW 7: Postulates of QM (due Mon Oct 12)
8	Oct 12 - 16	Ch 3: Time dependence · Fourier transforms (Appendix A)	3.7	HW 8: Time dependence (due Mon Oct 19) Project 2: Particle in a Box (due Fri Oct 16)
9	Oct 19 - 23	Ch 4: Degrees of freedom and classical vibrations · Quantum oscillator	4.1 · 4.2	HW 9: Harmonic oscillator (due Mon Oct 26)
10	Oct 26 - 30	Ch 4: Molecular vibrations · Angular momentum · Rigid rotor	4.3 · 4.4 · 4.5	HW 10: Angular momentum (due Mon Nov 2) Project 3: Quantum Waves (due Fri Oct 30)
11	Nov 2 - 6	Ch 5: Hydrogen-like atoms	5.1	HW 11: Hydrogen and spin (due Mon Nov 16)
12	Nov 9 - 13	Ch 5: Atomic orbitals · Spin	5.2 · 5.3	Exam 2 (Fri Nov 13, Ch 4-5) prep: equation sheet, review HW 6-10 no homework due this week
13	Nov 16 - 20	Ch 6: Variational method · Perturbation theory · Time-dependent perturbation	6.1 · 6.2 · 6.3	HW 12: Approximation methods (due Mon Nov 30) Project 4: Atomic Orbitals (due Fri Nov 20)
14	Nov 23 - 27	Thanksgiving break, no classes
15	Nov 30 - Dec 4	Ch 7: Helium · Multi-electron atoms · Hartree-Fock · Term symbols	7.1 · 7.2 · 7.3 · 7.4	HW 13: Multi-electron atoms (due Mon Dec 7)
16	Dec 7 - 11	Ch 8: Born-Oppenheimer · H2+ ion · H2 molecule · Polyatomics · Hückel theory · Dipoles and bonding, review	8.1 · 8.2 · 8.3 · 8.4 · 8.5 · 8.6	final review, no new homework
Finals	Dec 14 - 18	Final exam (comprehensive)		prep: equation sheet, review all homework

Weekly rhythm: each homework sits in the row of the week it covers and is due the following Monday, 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.