Dr. Aniruddha Chakraborty

Course Details:                                                                                                                <<back

Weekly Lecture Hours: 3
Weekly Tutorial Hours: 0
Subject Code: Not Decided
Examination Duration (Hours): 3
Relative Weightage: Tutorial: 4%, End Term Exam: 60%, Quizzes: 36 %.
Credits: 4
Semester: not decided.
Pre-Requisite: M.Sc. in Physics and Chemistry
Venue: Lecture Hall 1
Timings: Monday (8.00-9.00), TuesDay (9.00-10.00), Wednesday (10.00-11.00).
Instructors: Dr. Aniruddha Chakraborty.
Objective: To provide knowledge of fundamental Physical Chemistry applicable to Biological systems.

Unit 1: Heat, Work and Energy :
Zero-th Law, Temperature, Work, Heat, State Functions, First Law, Heat Capacity, Reversibility, Thermochemistry.

Unit 2: Entropy and Free Energy:
Second Law, Entropy, Third Law, Molecular interpretation of Entropy, Free Energy, Chemical Equilibria, Boltzmann Distribution, Pressure and Temperature Dependence of Free Energy, Phase Changes, Freely Jointed Chain, Chain Conformation, Rubber Elasticity, Electrolyte Solutions, Electrolytes at Interfaces, Cooperativity, Driving Forces for Self-Assembly, Coarse Grain/Monte Carlo Method.

Unit 3: Application of Thermodynamics to Biological Systems:
Biochemical Reactions, Metabolic Cycles, Protein Structure, Protein Folding, Nucleic Acid Structures, DNA Melting, RNA.

Unit 4: Principle of Chemical Kinetics:
Reaction Rates, Determination of Rate Laws, Reaction Mechanisms, Temperature Dependence of Rate Constants, Relationship between Thermodynamics and Kinetics, Reaction rates near equilibrium, Enzyme Catalysis: The Michaelis–Menten Mechanism, DNA Melting and Renaturation.

Unit 5: Basic Principle of Molecular Spectroscopy:
Quantum Mechanics, Particle in a Box, Properties of Waves, Molecular Vibrations, Infrared Spectroscopy, Raman Spectroscopy, Microwave spectroscopy, Structure Determination from spectroscopy, electronic absorption spectroscopy