Pchem is short for Physical Chemistry. It is hated by all. It is SO bad (the audience asks, “How bad is it?”), that it has it’s own bumper sticker!

Why is pchem so mistreated?

Like a scientific tax accountant, a P-chemist worries about the energetic balance sheet, the gains and losses of energy, the ratio of usable to unusable energy. We pull the thread through all states of matter – liquid, solid, gas, plasma, elastic, plastic, glass, etc.

My favorite subsection of pchem is symmetry and spectroscopy. Spectroscopy is the study of light interacting with matter. And symmetry is used to decipher these interactions. There is no better example of the mathematical beauty of our universe than the unexpected* explanatory power of group theory as it applies to absorption and emission of light.

Fireworks, hair dye, crayons, ink, glow sticks, lightning bugs, and all the rest can be understood through pchem – specifically my field of spectroscopy.

There is much more to pchem. If you have made it this far, then you are truly curious. You and I are kindred spirits!

DW

*unexpected explanatory power – is only unexpected if there is no engineer in charge. But if there is, then we “mini”-engineers can understand the blueprints of the “Engineer” when we discover them. See more about what I believe in this area on my “What I believe and why” page.