WesMaps - Wesleyan University Catalog 2017-2018       Summer Session       Winter Session       Home       Archive       Search
CS92PROD
Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences


MB&B 381
Fall 2017 not offered
Crosslisting: CHEM 381, MB&B 581
Certificates: Environmental Studies, Molecular Biophysics, Molecular Biophysics
Course Cluster: Health Studies, Integrated Design, Engineering & Applied Science Minor

The course is concerned with the basic physicochemical principles and model systems essential to understanding, explaining, and predicting the behavior of biological systems in terms of molecular forces. The course integrates fundamental concepts in thermodynamics, kinetics, and molecular spectroscopy with the structures, functions, and molecular mechanisms of biological processes. The objectives of the course are to (1) familiarize life science students at the advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate level with basic physicochemical laws, theories, and concepts important to the life sciences; (2) provide a working knowledge of mathematical methods useful in life science research; (3) develop a critical perspective on explanation of biological processes and understanding biological systems; and (4) survey the main applications of physical chemistry in the life sciences with an emphasis on spectroscopy and microscopy. Theory, methodology, and biophysical concepts are distributed throughout the course and are presented in the context of case studies including respiration, light harvesting and photosynthesis, ATP hydrolysis, NAD/NADH redox, energy transfer, FRET spectroscopy, with an emphasis on single molecule as well as ensemble experiments and their interpretation.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: NSM MB&B
Course Format: LectureGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: (CHEM251 AND MATH117) OR (CHEM251 AND MATH120) OR (CHEM251 AND MATH121)
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (CHEM-MN)(CHEM)(CIS)(ENVS-MN)(ENVS)(IDEA-MN)(MB&B)(MOBI-MN)

Last Updated on MAR-18-2024
Contact wesmaps@wesleyan.edu to submit comments or suggestions. Please include a url, course title, faculty name or other page reference in your email ? Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459