<p>I was wondering if anyone knew what the differences are between Chem 120A and Physics 137A? I know that ChemE is given the option to take either one, so I know they're similar in content. But what's the real difference? Do they cover radically different topics, or are they just different approaches to the same material?</p>
<p>For context, I'm an EECS major. There's a CS class on quantum computing that I want to take, CS191, and I was told that a basic understanding of quantum mechanics is very useful for that class.</p>
<p>I feel Chem 120A is different from Physics 137A in the sense that 120A focuses more on applications of quantum mechanics to molecular structure and chemical bonding i.e. particle in a box and harmonic oscillators used to explain the nature of a chemical bond. I think 137A might be more useful for you since they focus more on the “measurements” of quantum mechanics. I think 137A probably won’t cover Slater orbitals, for example, though someone correct me if I’m wrong. </p>
<p>So in summary, mostly same material, different applications.</p>
<p>I’d like to know this too.</p>
<p>Would it be a waste of time to take both the 137 and 120 series?</p>
<p>No I don’t think so. I’ve had a few friends take 137A and 120A at the same time. I feel the courses “diverge” at a certain point to emphasize different applications of quantum mechanics, but the basic principles of, let’s say, expectation values, braket/Dirac notation, etc. should be the same.</p>
<p>How important is the Physics 7C prerequisite for 137A? And does the fact that 120A is 3 units while 137A is 4 mean that 120A is slightly less work?</p>
<p>in terms of workload, even though chem 120a is only 3 units, its probably has the same workload as physics 137. the only difference is that physics 137 has a discussion session that reviews or go over the topics mentioned in lecture.</p>
<p>I just took 120A last fall. I think 3 units to describe this class is an understatement. There was way more work required than most other 3 unit science classes, and that’s probably because the problem sets we had took about 15-20 hours (weekly) to complete. Most professors for upper division chemistry courses write their own problem sets, so the homework tends to get tricky. I have (fond) memories of my friends and I working until sunrise to finish the problem sets (and we had to take them seriously because they were 25% of our total grade). It’s not an easy class (because a lot of things are abstract topics), and I’m sure 137A students can share the same sentiment. Quantum mechanics is pretty all linear algebra with lots of multivariable calculus, all meshed at the molecular level. </p>
<p>Also, I’d like to point out that we had two discussion sections each week in the evenings. Although they were voluntary, I would say about 80% of the students in the class went every week. </p>
<p>On the side, I’m finding 120B pretty fun. </p>
<p>Disclaimer: Even though I’m kind of ranting on 120A, it’s actually one of my favorite courses that I’ve taken so far. Go figure.</p>