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Over the years, physical chemistry has become an interdisciplinary branch of science that combines the achievements of chemists, physicists, computer scientists, and specialists in materials engineering and other fields. Highly advanced computing solutions and high-quality equipment explain the relationships between atoms during chemical reactions or other processes, based on the laws and rules of physics. Relationships studied in physical chemistry form the basis of instrumental methods, physicochemical analysis and some issues in chemical engineering and technology.

What does physical chemistry deal with?

In physical chemistry, it is important to understand all the correlations and transformations that take place in atoms and chemical compounds. The aspects concerning the laws governing reactions and all chemical processes are equally important for physicochemistry. Compared to other branches, physical chemistry deals with the principles of physics that underlie all interactions of chemical species, seeking to correlate, measure, and also explain the quantitative aspects of these issues.

The simple answer to the question of what physical chemistry deals with is that it deals with the physics of chemical substances – and there is a lot of truth in it. Keep in mind that this branch of chemistry is extremely interdisciplinary. Chemists use theories, measurements, and techniques of physics to understand the elementary laws that govern chemical compounds and processes. The rapid development of knowledge, as well as measuring equipment and research techniques over the last few decades, now allow for extremely advanced research in the area of physical chemistry and precise description of the properties of materials.

Selected areas of research in physical chemistry

• Thermodynamics

Thermodynamics in physical chemistry deals with the study of the thermal properties of bodies and their systems, and the relationships between heat, work, energy, and temperature. It mainly describes the dynamic nature of heat, which consists in transferring energy from place to place and changing its form. Thermodynamics also deals with the transfer of energy as a result of mechanical work.

• Surface phenomena and colloids

Systems are often built of different phases that differ from each other in terms of states of matter (among other things). The resulting interface between the individual phases (e.g. liquid and gas, liquid and solid or gas and solid) is a place where a number of surface phenomena are observed. It is the physical chemistry that studies their course and characteristics. Knowledge of these interactions lays the foundation for understanding of processes such as adsorption, absorption, distillation, and crystallisation. The issues of surface phenomena are closely related to research on colloids, i.e. systems in which the particle size is larger than in true solutions, but smaller than in suspensions (fragmentation in the range of 1 to 100 nm).

• Chemical kinetics

This branch of physical chemistry deals with aspects of reaction and chemical process rates. Chemical kinetics is sometimes also referred to as reaction kinetics. Its main area of interest is the observation of the influence of various experimental conditions (e.g. concentration of reagents, presence and type of catalysts, temperature) on chemical processes. This allows us to understand the mechanisms that drive chemical reactions and to characterise the emerging transition states. The knowledge of the rate of change in the system of reactants and the knowledge of the influence of experimental factors on it is used in the design of technological processes. On the other hand, understanding the reaction mechanism at the molecular level allows theoretical prediction of the most favourable conditions for the entire process.

• Electrochemistry

Electrochemistry involves studying and analysing the movement of electrons in chemical processes. Reactions involving the transfer of electrons (redox reactions) are important because of the possibility of obtaining electricity from them. The resulting energy provides the basis for describing individual processes with the use of electrical quantities. There are two main divisions in electrochemistry. The first is the study of chemical processes (electrode-electrolyte systems) that are in thermodynamic equilibrium. The second division is electrochemical kinetics. It describes the phenomena occurring during the course of electrode processes.

• Fundamentals of quantum chemistry

Physicochemistry also deals with the description of atomic and molecular systems, as a part of quantum chemistry. For that it uses quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. In quantum chemistry, thanks to the application of mathematical theories, it is possible to predict the behaviour of molecules under specific conditions. In addition, issues such as black-body radiation, wave-particle duality, wave functions of electrons, hybridisation of atomic orbitals, and others are discussed.

The importance of physical chemistry in everyday life

The importance of physical chemistry in everyday life is considerable. Thanks to continuous development and scientific research, not only can we gain better understanding of the reality that surrounds us, but also have a chance to find new, more effective ways to produce medicines, plastics, fuels, and other products. Studying the issues of physical chemistry is extremely important, because as one of the most basic sciences, it helps to understand how nature works. The study of phenomena occurring at interfaces, distillation processes, heat conduction, diffusion, chemical and physical adsorption and many others is necessary in the conduct of chemical and pharmaceutical technology processes, as well as food and textiles production.