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 2018 - She's pretty good overall. She cares a lot about her students and their individual success and also tries very hard to learn your name. She's also extremely kind and will feed you. I was personally annoyed at mandatory lectures, daily hw, and weekly problem sets, but most all of the assignments were not particularly challenging and her exams are very similar in spirit to the HW and practice tests she gives you so as long as you keep up you can do pretty well. A lot of the more advanced math topics were not covered that well imo and the last two weeks of class are kinda foggy in my brain because the math got too complicated that the book wouldn't go through them anymore so it was just a bunch of formulas thrown at us. The book is OK, not the best. The most stressful part of the class was that the cut off for an A was at 95%, so aim to get every point possible that comes up, including the extra credit assignments. The exams were incredibly dense and took the full 3 hours so make sure to read every question carefully.
Spring 2018 - She's pretty good overall. She cares a lot about her students and their individual success and also tries very hard to learn your name. She's also extremely kind and will feed you. I was personally annoyed at mandatory lectures, daily hw, and weekly problem sets, but most all of the assignments were not particularly challenging and her exams are very similar in spirit to the HW and practice tests she gives you so as long as you keep up you can do pretty well. A lot of the more advanced math topics were not covered that well imo and the last two weeks of class are kinda foggy in my brain because the math got too complicated that the book wouldn't go through them anymore so it was just a bunch of formulas thrown at us. The book is OK, not the best. The most stressful part of the class was that the cut off for an A was at 95%, so aim to get every point possible that comes up, including the extra credit assignments. The exams were incredibly dense and took the full 3 hours so make sure to read every question carefully.
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2016 - If you're going to take 113A with Dr. Neuhauser, make sure you understand the following topics: photoelectric effect (along with all the relevant equations), the Rydberg formula derivation, operators and how they produce eigenvalues, potential wells, harmonic oscillators and the derivation for harmonic energy levels (includes raising and lowering operators), commutators (very important), the Schrödinger Equation (and its derivations for time-dependent and time-independent), expectation value and probability calculations, angular momentum operators (L), perturbation theory, and variational principle. If you genuinely understand these concepts, you'll pass with a decent grade. Dr. Neuhauser's lectures are not very helpful, but the homework sets are a great study tool. Use his notes to understand the derivations. The hardest part about this class is figuring out how to prepare for his exams, but overall they were very fair and the averages were in the D range. Dr. Neuhauser doesn't get the credit he deserves. This is a challenging course regardless of who your professor is, but he is always willing to help his students and encourages them to come to office hours. I definitely felt lost the first half of this class, but by the end, I understood how everything came together and it all made sense. Don't be afraid to take this class with Neuhauser. It is very doable.
Winter 2016 - If you're going to take 113A with Dr. Neuhauser, make sure you understand the following topics: photoelectric effect (along with all the relevant equations), the Rydberg formula derivation, operators and how they produce eigenvalues, potential wells, harmonic oscillators and the derivation for harmonic energy levels (includes raising and lowering operators), commutators (very important), the Schrödinger Equation (and its derivations for time-dependent and time-independent), expectation value and probability calculations, angular momentum operators (L), perturbation theory, and variational principle. If you genuinely understand these concepts, you'll pass with a decent grade. Dr. Neuhauser's lectures are not very helpful, but the homework sets are a great study tool. Use his notes to understand the derivations. The hardest part about this class is figuring out how to prepare for his exams, but overall they were very fair and the averages were in the D range. Dr. Neuhauser doesn't get the credit he deserves. This is a challenging course regardless of who your professor is, but he is always willing to help his students and encourages them to come to office hours. I definitely felt lost the first half of this class, but by the end, I understood how everything came together and it all made sense. Don't be afraid to take this class with Neuhauser. It is very doable.
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Spring 2024 - Eric is by far the best professor I’ve had at UCLA thus far (I’m a rising senior). I was initially very nervous to take this class because, well, it’s quantum mechanics, but I’ve never been so pleasantly surprised. The material itself is hard, but Eric knows how to explain it in a way that you’ll understand. His lecture notes are crystal clear and always uploaded before class, he provides stacks of practice midterms and finals so you’ll know what to expect from exams, and he’s overall just such a kind and caring guy. I took his class during the Palestine protests on campus and he was extremely accommodating (moved our midterm and assignment due dates back) while also making sure to check in with us in light of the situation and ensure that we were all okay, something that none of my other STEM professors did. Exams were very fair considering the abundance of practice problems Eric provides, and he always made them short enough that we would finish on/before the allotted time. At our final, he stopped by with coffee and snacks for us, something I’m sure came out of his own pocket. I would recommend him as a professor to anyone - even if you’re scared to take quantum mechanics!!
Spring 2024 - Eric is by far the best professor I’ve had at UCLA thus far (I’m a rising senior). I was initially very nervous to take this class because, well, it’s quantum mechanics, but I’ve never been so pleasantly surprised. The material itself is hard, but Eric knows how to explain it in a way that you’ll understand. His lecture notes are crystal clear and always uploaded before class, he provides stacks of practice midterms and finals so you’ll know what to expect from exams, and he’s overall just such a kind and caring guy. I took his class during the Palestine protests on campus and he was extremely accommodating (moved our midterm and assignment due dates back) while also making sure to check in with us in light of the situation and ensure that we were all okay, something that none of my other STEM professors did. Exams were very fair considering the abundance of practice problems Eric provides, and he always made them short enough that we would finish on/before the allotted time. At our final, he stopped by with coffee and snacks for us, something I’m sure came out of his own pocket. I would recommend him as a professor to anyone - even if you’re scared to take quantum mechanics!!
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