Avinash
Last Activity: 9 Years ago
Physical chemistry is the study of the fundamental physical principles that govern the way that atoms, molecules, and other chemical systems behave. Physical chemists study a wide array of topics such as the rates of reactions (kinetics), the way that light and matter interact (spectroscopy), how electrons are arranged in atoms and molecules (quantum mechanics), and the stabilities and reactivities of different compounds and processes (thermodynamics). In all of these cases, physical chemists try to understand what is happening on an atomic level, and why.Students who concentrate in physical chemistry may go onto pursue careers in industry, research or teaching.A lot of the current physical chemistry research in industry and academia combines the techniques and ideas from several fields.For example, some chemists apply physical chemistry techniques to investigations of the mechanisms of organic reactions (what collisions and bond rearrangements occur, how fast are they, how many steps are there, etc.) - this type of study is called physical organic chemistry. Others apply physical techniques to the study of biological systems (why do proteins fold into the shapes that they have, how is structure related to function, what makes a nerve work, etc.) - this type of study is biophysical chemistry. Still others may use physical techniques to characterize polymers or study environmental systems.