CHEM 110A
Physical Chemistry: Chemical Thermodynamics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; tutorial, one hour. Requisites: course 20B, Mathematics 32A or 3C (for life sciences majors), Physics 1A, 1B, and 1C (may be taken concurrently), or 1AH, 1BH, and 1CH (may be taken concurrently), or 5A, 5B, and 5C (may be taken concurrently), or 6A, 6B, and 6C (may be taken concurrently). Fundamentals of thermodynamics, chemical and phase equilibria, thermodynamics of solutions, electrochemistry. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2017 - Professor Bruinsma's sense of humor is incompatible. It is natural. He doesnt even try to be funny but he will make you laugh during every single lecture. Beside, he cares about his students. He takes the time to explain something that might not be clear or difficult to understand. His tests are reasonable as long as you pay attention in lectures and understand the homework. I had amazing TA when I took this class the Winter quarter so that was one of the reason why I was able to do well.
Winter 2017 - Professor Bruinsma's sense of humor is incompatible. It is natural. He doesnt even try to be funny but he will make you laugh during every single lecture. Beside, he cares about his students. He takes the time to explain something that might not be clear or difficult to understand. His tests are reasonable as long as you pay attention in lectures and understand the homework. I had amazing TA when I took this class the Winter quarter so that was one of the reason why I was able to do well.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - I took this class online during Covid. It is solely based on one midterm (35%) and one final (65%), which is ridiculous. The notes he provides are very sloppy and handwritten in cursive. He has things scribbled out and arrows pointing to where things should be written. He just reads off his lecture notes but he jumps around when talking so it's hard to figure out what he's saying. He assigns about 20-35 HW problems per chapter but they are not graded and are not too helpful when it comes to preparing for the test. His tests are ridiculously hard and nothing like the HW problems. His office hours aren't of much help as he just explains everything the same way he does in the recorded lectures. Class averages on tests are around 50-60% and he seems to be proud of that as all he does is brag about that and tell us that we need to be prepared because the tests are "hard."
Winter 2021 - I took this class online during Covid. It is solely based on one midterm (35%) and one final (65%), which is ridiculous. The notes he provides are very sloppy and handwritten in cursive. He has things scribbled out and arrows pointing to where things should be written. He just reads off his lecture notes but he jumps around when talking so it's hard to figure out what he's saying. He assigns about 20-35 HW problems per chapter but they are not graded and are not too helpful when it comes to preparing for the test. His tests are ridiculously hard and nothing like the HW problems. His office hours aren't of much help as he just explains everything the same way he does in the recorded lectures. Class averages on tests are around 50-60% and he seems to be proud of that as all he does is brag about that and tell us that we need to be prepared because the tests are "hard."
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - Professor Gelbart made this class so much more enjoyable. Naturally, thermodynamics and upper-div physics tend to scare many people with its derivations and fast-paced nature. However, I did not feel this way at all! He does derivations, which I really enjoyed; regardless, follow his words verbatim: "Please, don't memorize or take notes in this class". You'll have access to all the formulas needed on the lecture notes alone, so practice basic derivations and you'll be fine. The class's pace was slower which allowed us more time to learn the material well, had many office hours, spoke interesting stories, and was very accommodating. I straight up missed my final but he let me retake the final, which is unheard of. Some details in this class: - 5 quizzes; 1 will be dropped. Focused all on conceptual parts being similar to the hw. You can ask for any formula you like; ~25 mins. - Final Exam has a cheat sheet with the formulas needed. - You'll have to google a lot to do the hw and it takes an extensive amount of time. - Lecture notes are clear and he usually posts them before starting each lecture - The "tutorial" portion is another discussion section. He focuses more on solving problems. - Very open to feedback. Overall: Highly recommend if he teaches this class again (I think in a year and half? not sure). You don't have to be good at physics to do well on this class. Ask as many questions as you can, and don't worry about taking notes or forgetting a pencil half the time as I did. Lectures are also bruincasted.
Winter 2023 - Professor Gelbart made this class so much more enjoyable. Naturally, thermodynamics and upper-div physics tend to scare many people with its derivations and fast-paced nature. However, I did not feel this way at all! He does derivations, which I really enjoyed; regardless, follow his words verbatim: "Please, don't memorize or take notes in this class". You'll have access to all the formulas needed on the lecture notes alone, so practice basic derivations and you'll be fine. The class's pace was slower which allowed us more time to learn the material well, had many office hours, spoke interesting stories, and was very accommodating. I straight up missed my final but he let me retake the final, which is unheard of. Some details in this class: - 5 quizzes; 1 will be dropped. Focused all on conceptual parts being similar to the hw. You can ask for any formula you like; ~25 mins. - Final Exam has a cheat sheet with the formulas needed. - You'll have to google a lot to do the hw and it takes an extensive amount of time. - Lecture notes are clear and he usually posts them before starting each lecture - The "tutorial" portion is another discussion section. He focuses more on solving problems. - Very open to feedback. Overall: Highly recommend if he teaches this class again (I think in a year and half? not sure). You don't have to be good at physics to do well on this class. Ask as many questions as you can, and don't worry about taking notes or forgetting a pencil half the time as I did. Lectures are also bruincasted.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Homework was a lot, but the tests were much easier than homework problems and extra credit was offered on both the midterm and final (I think like 5% of the test grade available). I was nervous about this class from his other reviews on here but he explains everything well and clearly outlines what is what's important to know. only thing that frustrated me about this class was the textbook, it had multiple errors and used weird notation that was often unexplained but was necessary because it was the source of the homework problems.
Fall 2021 - Homework was a lot, but the tests were much easier than homework problems and extra credit was offered on both the midterm and final (I think like 5% of the test grade available). I was nervous about this class from his other reviews on here but he explains everything well and clearly outlines what is what's important to know. only thing that frustrated me about this class was the textbook, it had multiple errors and used weird notation that was often unexplained but was necessary because it was the source of the homework problems.
Most Helpful Review
I took this guy for both 20B and 110A. I mean overall he is actually a nice guy and you can tell he cares about his students' sturies. However, he failed to explain concept during the class which sometimes leads the whole class in confusion. But his notes are incredible helpful so make sure you understand them. Also, remember those derivations since he likes to test on them. I managed to get A in both his class. If you study hard, you can also do that
I took this guy for both 20B and 110A. I mean overall he is actually a nice guy and you can tell he cares about his students' sturies. However, he failed to explain concept during the class which sometimes leads the whole class in confusion. But his notes are incredible helpful so make sure you understand them. Also, remember those derivations since he likes to test on them. I managed to get A in both his class. If you study hard, you can also do that
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