Practical Physical Chemistry at Oxford

Oxford University
Undergraduate Practical Course in Physical Chemistry

Order of Experiments

In what order should you complete experiments in the PTCL practical course?

1st Year Experiments

In the first year you must do all five experiments, and you will be assigned particular days on which to complete them. Therefore, you don't need to decide in what order to do experiments - we've done that already for you.

2nd/3rd Year Experiments

In the second and third years you can choose from a pool of experiments. In deciding which experiments to do, you may want to consider the following points:

The different experiments illustrate lecture material to different degrees. You may wish to choose experiments which relate to those lecture courses you find most interesting or valuable.
Try asking your tutor which experiments he or she recommends. Most tutors will be happy to identify the experiments which they consider to be of the greatest value in illustrating physical chemistry.
Appropriate theory is discussed in the Introduction to each experiment. However, for some experiments it is helpful (or possibly even vital) that you have tackled the relevant material in tutorials or lectures beforehand.

The following table gives an indication of the time during second and third year when you will probably have the background knowledge needed to tackle each experiment. This table should be regarded as a guide only; if you have tackled the relevant material in tutorial, you may be ready to complete an experiment earlier.

In the table the designations M1-4, M1-5 etc indicate the weeks of the academic year. When this is shown in green you should by this stage have a background appropriate to the experiment, or be able to tackle the experiment with the aid of the theory given in the Introduction to it. Where this is shown in blue, you may wish to consider doing the experiment if you have already had tutorials and/or lectures in the area. If the designation is given in red, it is possible that you will not yet have sufficient background. Talk to a demonstrator or your tutor before you book the experiment.

Expt.

Title

Year 2

Year 3

1.03

Acoustic Interferometry

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

1.05

CO/CO₂ equilibrium

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

1.06

Determination of the surface area of alumina by nitrogen adsorption at 77K

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

2.01

Determination of combustion enthalpies by bomb calorimetry

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

2.02

Stability constant

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

2.04

Sparingly soluble salt

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

2.06

Liquid phase equilibria

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

2.10

Dipole moment

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

3.02

Scanning tunnelling microscope

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

4.04

Redox reactions

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

4.06

Dynamic electrochemistry

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

4.07

Ions in aqueous solution

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

4.08

Introduction to electrode potentials

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

5.02

Persulphate-iodide clock

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

5.08

Oxygen atom reactions

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

5.09

CH₃CHO photolysis

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

6.02

Molecular modelling

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

6.03

Computational NMR

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

6.04

Computer simulation by molecular dynamics

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

7.05

IR rotational fine structure

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

7.06

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

7.08

Iodine absorption spectra

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

7.09

Emission spectrum of N₂⁺

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

7.11

Fluorescence in solution

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

7.12

Photoelectron spectra

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

7.13

Time-of-flight mass spectrometry

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

7.15

Microwave ESR

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

8.02

Solution Calorimetry

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

M 1-4

M 5-8

H 1-4

H 5-8

T 1-4

T 5-8

Return to the Home page for the practical course in physical chemistry at Oxford University
Updated January 9, 2008.

Oxford University Undergraduate Practical Course in Physical Chemistry Order of Experiments

1st Year Experiments

2nd/3rd Year Experiments

Oxford University
Undergraduate Practical Course in Physical Chemistry

Order of Experiments