Introduction to the quantal nature of matter and the basic principles of quantum chemistry. Course meets only for the first third of the term.
CHEM 261 is an introduction to the quantal nature of matter (the Schrödinger equation and the mathematical machinery of quantum mechanics) and the fundamental principles necessary to understand spectroscopy (electronic, vibrational, and rotational). This course, together with CHE 330, provides the prerequisites necessary for enrollment in CHEM 302.