Using the ECCE computational program in conjunction with physical chemistry laboratory

CHED 476

Eric T. Sevy, esevy@byu.edu1, Matthew C. Asplund, Matt_Asplund@BYU.edu1, and Gary D. Black, gary.black@pnl.gov2. (1) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, C-100 Benson Science Building, Provo, UT 84602, (2) Computational Sciences and Mathematics Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Box 999, Richland, WA 99352
Because of the prevalence with which computational chemistry tools are being used in chemistry and the need to educate students in the proper use and capabilities of these programs, we have begun to teach the use of the ECCE program in conjunction with each of the experiments performed in our physical chemistry laboratory course. We start with an introductory experiment where we teach students how to use the program and introduce them to several of its capabilities, including geometry optimization, single point energy calculations, and vibrational frequency calculations. For each subsequent experiment, computational calculations are used to aid the students in analyzing data and understanding the physical principles associated with the experiment. At the end of the semester, students perform an entire lab using only the computations tools learned through the semester.