CHEM 113A
Physical Chemistry: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: course 20B, Mathematics 32A, 32B, 33A, Physics 1A, 1B, and 1C, or 1AH, 1BH, and 1CH, or 5A, 5B, and 5C, or 6A, 6B, and 6C, with grades of C- or better. Departure from classical mechanics: Schrödinger versus Newton equations; model systems: particle-in-box, harmonic oscillator, rigid rotor, and hydrogen atom; approximation methods: perturbation and variational methods; many-electron atoms, spin, and Pauli principle, chemical bonding. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2023 - I loved this class! The professor made every student feel welcomed and supported throughout the whole quarter. He gave out way to much of his time to help his 113A students while still having to do his lab and his general chemistry class. Professor Barr loves what he does and what he teaches. Him and Pujan created new ways to teach us the material. The material is pretty heavy but, with their support it was fun to learn. Be aware this is not an easy class, and it takes a lot of hours! I would recommend taking this class with no labs or other chem/math heavy course.
Spring 2023 - I loved this class! The professor made every student feel welcomed and supported throughout the whole quarter. He gave out way to much of his time to help his 113A students while still having to do his lab and his general chemistry class. Professor Barr loves what he does and what he teaches. Him and Pujan created new ways to teach us the material. The material is pretty heavy but, with their support it was fun to learn. Be aware this is not an easy class, and it takes a lot of hours! I would recommend taking this class with no labs or other chem/math heavy course.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2019 - Absolutely incredible professor. This subject itself is difficult but watching Bruinsma get so passionate about the topic made everything a little bit easier. I looked forward to coming to class every day. The tests were actually fair compared to the homework and the material taught, but it doesn't change the fact that quantum mechanics can get really hard. Homeworks were kind of tedious. The textbook is a surprisingly easy read but Bruinsma's lecture notes are next level, so it definitely pushes you to spend a lot of time with the material on your own. Bruinsma cares about his students and it shows. So thankful to have had him as a professor!!
Spring 2019 - Absolutely incredible professor. This subject itself is difficult but watching Bruinsma get so passionate about the topic made everything a little bit easier. I looked forward to coming to class every day. The tests were actually fair compared to the homework and the material taught, but it doesn't change the fact that quantum mechanics can get really hard. Homeworks were kind of tedious. The textbook is a surprisingly easy read but Bruinsma's lecture notes are next level, so it definitely pushes you to spend a lot of time with the material on your own. Bruinsma cares about his students and it shows. So thankful to have had him as a professor!!
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - do yourself a favor and don't take this class. Justin is smart but he seems like he has 0 interest in teaching. he does not seem like he knows the material well enough to be teaching it. he just derives equations on the board without any good explanation. his homework and exams are impossible because he puts stuff on there that he has not taught us yet. this class is notoriously hard but taking it with him will make your life absolute hell. by far the worst chemistry professor i have ever had.
Fall 2021 - do yourself a favor and don't take this class. Justin is smart but he seems like he has 0 interest in teaching. he does not seem like he knows the material well enough to be teaching it. he just derives equations on the board without any good explanation. his homework and exams are impossible because he puts stuff on there that he has not taught us yet. this class is notoriously hard but taking it with him will make your life absolute hell. by far the worst chemistry professor i have ever had.
Most Helpful Review
My love of Physical chemistry has simply initiated in Prof. Felker's quantum chemistry course. I admit that he may be a bit more difficult than other prof. coz he used too much math and derivations in the class. But,those made me UNDERSTAND every physical parameter with ALL possible relations to others. His course was full of derivations, integrations, and differential equation stuff. But, he allowed open-book, open-note exams which made student a bit more relaxing since NO need to memorize anything. The TRUE result about taking Prof. Felker's course made me interested into Physical chemistry with strong math background. He is actually a very good Pchem prof., shows the mathematics side of chemistry and makes students convince ALL formulas in chemistry simply came from derivations. Thanks a lot, Prof. Felker!
My love of Physical chemistry has simply initiated in Prof. Felker's quantum chemistry course. I admit that he may be a bit more difficult than other prof. coz he used too much math and derivations in the class. But,those made me UNDERSTAND every physical parameter with ALL possible relations to others. His course was full of derivations, integrations, and differential equation stuff. But, he allowed open-book, open-note exams which made student a bit more relaxing since NO need to memorize anything. The TRUE result about taking Prof. Felker's course made me interested into Physical chemistry with strong math background. He is actually a very good Pchem prof., shows the mathematics side of chemistry and makes students convince ALL formulas in chemistry simply came from derivations. Thanks a lot, Prof. Felker!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2017 - Professor Finck taught 20B for the first time Winter 2017. I came from 20A with Scerri, and I thought that chemistry at UCLA would be hard, boring, and a waste of time. Finck made me want to go to class, because his lectures were engaging, and he gave us real life examples of chemistry to tie to the concepts. Finck really cares about student learning (He has DAILY office hours, he will answer your questions through email extremely quickly, and he will set up private appointments if you are struggling.) His class is uncurved, and both the midterm and final exam is worth 20% of your grade. The rest is composed of various homework assignments (They're actually not bad at all), weekly quizzes in discussion, and the dreaded OWLv2. It's not really important to know OWL for the midterms, so just bs your way through that. (1% extra credit for completing the end of the year survey) On top of that, he is an extremely sweet professor. He won't ever mock you for not understanding something (Cough, Scerri, cough, Felker) and he doesn't lose patience when he has to explain things multiple times. One thing I noticed at the end of the year was that he was crying and he seemed depressed. I suspect it was because there was one TA who didn't do his job at all, and it unfairly impacted a group of students. Incoming freshman! Take his class! Form study groups! There is no limit to how many A's can be given out, and forming study groups can really help. (Coming form a sophomore)
Winter 2017 - Professor Finck taught 20B for the first time Winter 2017. I came from 20A with Scerri, and I thought that chemistry at UCLA would be hard, boring, and a waste of time. Finck made me want to go to class, because his lectures were engaging, and he gave us real life examples of chemistry to tie to the concepts. Finck really cares about student learning (He has DAILY office hours, he will answer your questions through email extremely quickly, and he will set up private appointments if you are struggling.) His class is uncurved, and both the midterm and final exam is worth 20% of your grade. The rest is composed of various homework assignments (They're actually not bad at all), weekly quizzes in discussion, and the dreaded OWLv2. It's not really important to know OWL for the midterms, so just bs your way through that. (1% extra credit for completing the end of the year survey) On top of that, he is an extremely sweet professor. He won't ever mock you for not understanding something (Cough, Scerri, cough, Felker) and he doesn't lose patience when he has to explain things multiple times. One thing I noticed at the end of the year was that he was crying and he seemed depressed. I suspect it was because there was one TA who didn't do his job at all, and it unfairly impacted a group of students. Incoming freshman! Take his class! Form study groups! There is no limit to how many A's can be given out, and forming study groups can really help. (Coming form a sophomore)
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