Hi there. My name is Patrick O'Malley, and I am your teacher for the quantum chemistry section of this course. This week, we introduce quantum mechanics and its relevance to chemistry. Quantum mechanics essentially began with the realization that all moving particles or objects have wavelike characteristics. For large everyday objects, the wavelength characteristics are minuscule and undetectable. But for microscopic particles such as molecules, atoms and electrons, they're significant and are key to understanding their properties. In a confined space, wavelength phenomena, such as constructive and destructive interference, means only certain wave forms or wave functions are allowed, each having a unique energy. The system can only exist in certain defined energy states. So, like a ladder, we can go from the lowest energy state to the, on the lowest rung, to the highest energy state on the top rung, only in discrete steps or jumps. Transitions between these states requires a precise amount of energy, or using our ladder analogy, the exact spacing between the ladder rungs. Quantum mechanics itself was discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, due to a number of ground-breaking discoveries, and we start our course by introducing these key discoveries. Okay, so what are we going to be doing this week? Well, we'll start with Max Planck, who's often referred to as the father of quantum mechanics, because he was the first to show that energy absorbed or emitted by bodies was not continuous but composed of discrete packets or quantum. Following on from this, we come to Albert Einstein who, based on his analysis of the photoelectric effect, was the first to propose that energy can be described as particle-like in behavior. We then move on to Louis de Broglie, who proposed that all moving particles exhibit wavelike characteristics, and there we have the foundation of the wave-particle nature of matter and energy. Next we progress to Erwin Schrodinger, who developed these ideas into his famous wave equation. Here, we will try to remove some of the mystique around this equation by showing that you can decompose it into some simple components and assumptions. We then move on apply the Schrodinger equation to some simple systems, such as the part in the box, and we can clearly see then how the quantization of energy arises due the imposition of boundary conditions. We also describe the contributions of Max Born, who showed that the square of the wave function can be interpreted as a probability density, and hence it allows us to interpret the way function solutions alter Schrodinger's equation. In addition to the video presentations, you also have the opportunity to take some online quizzes where you can actually test your performance against our students here at Manchester. And there's also a formative quiz for you to compete and test yourself. Okay? So, you've got a busy week ahead, and I am looking forward to hearing your views and thoughts on quantum chemistry in the discussion forum. Have fun, and I'll catch up with you again at the start of next week.