Spring 2027

Physical Chemistry I

Physical Chemistry I covers macroscopic theory including laws and equations of thermodynamics, chemical and phase equilibria, and kinetic theory of gases.

offering recorded3 credits

Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Gilbert Nathanson, Mark Ediger

The material was extremely difficult, and cramming did not work. The workload was described as the perfect amount of effort for a 3-credit class, with fair homeworks and exams.

What you’ll be able to do

Derive, interpret, and explain important thermodynamic relationships from the three laws of thermodynamics.
Explain how thermodynamics and kinetics govern observable physical and chemical properties of matter and their transformations.
Apply the laws of thermodynamics and kinetic theories to solve quantitative problems involving chemical and physical processes.

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗

average GPA
letter grades

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

(CHEM 116, 327, or 329),MATH 222, and (PHYSICS 201, 207, or 247), or graduate/professional standing. Not open to students with credit for CHEM 565 or 665.

- - take all
  - graduate/professional standing
  take one
- - - credit for CHEM 565
    - CHEM 665 · unspecified
    take one
  not eligible with
take all

CHEM 561 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

All of
- Any of
  - All of
  - graduate/professional standing
- Not eligible with
  - Any of
    - credit for CHEM 565
    - CHEM 665 · unspecified

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ARUN YETHIRAJ is recorded teaching in Spring 2011, Fall 2021, Fall 2022. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

GILBERT NATHANSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Fall 2009, Fall 2016, Spring 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MAHESH MAHANTHAPPA is recorded teaching in Spring 2012, Spring 2013. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MARK EDIGER is recorded teaching in Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2020, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

SILVIA CAVAGNERO is recorded teaching in Fall 2012, Spring 2014. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

ZOE TODD is recorded teaching in Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Fall 2025. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

Section	Mode	Enrolled / capacity
LEC 001	Classroom Instruction	0 / 50
DIS 301	Classroom Instruction	0 / 24
DIS 302	Classroom Instruction	0 / 24

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records

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Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Mark Ediger, Gilbert Nathanson

Students found the course challenging but rewarding, with lectures that were vivid and well-paced. Instructors were described as clear and enthusiastic, making difficult material more accessible.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.23 GPA, 50.0% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.38 GPA, 61.5% A/AB (n=26 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.27 GPA, 54.8% A/AB (n=42 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Gilbert Nathanson, Mark Ediger

The material was extremely difficult, and cramming did not work. The workload was described as the perfect amount of effort for a 3-credit class, with fair homeworks and exams.

Past student reviews · Zoe Todd, Gilbert Nathanson

Zoe Todd was noted for remembering student names and being super helpful in office hours. Gilbert Nathanson was praised for being engaging and grading fairly, despite tests that could be unpredictable.

Topics

Laws and fundamental equations of thermodynamics
Chemical equilibria
Phase equilibria
Kinetic theory of gases

Skills

Deriving and interpreting thermodynamic relationships
Solving quantitative problems using thermodynamics and kinetic theories
Explaining how thermodynamics and kinetics govern physical and chemical properties

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1280 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

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Selected offering source records

CHEM 561 · Spring 2027

Physical Chemistry I

Recorded 2026-10-14

Raw records

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    "run_id": "20261014T203208-0851c9a1",
    "semester": "1274",
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    "offering_id": "1274:224:002780",
    "course_id": "CHEM 561",
    "course_uid": "course_6c23abb86fb1851e6a100c80",
    "term_id": "1274",
    "source_course_id": "002780",
    "source_subject_id": "224",
    "title": "Physical Chemistry I",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]

Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades

Model outputs & technical records

Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B

LLM outputs across runs

Download part 1

Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

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Model & dataset provenance

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  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "a51903497b3433149993f14bcaa4d7d4c707185a87216b199b84bcc0f806e0a1",
  "requirements_status": "needs_review",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}

Physical Chemistry I

Summary

What you’ll be able to do

Grade history

Prerequisites

Professors

Calendar & sections

Student experience

the class

difficulty & workload

Topics

Skills

Grades

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

Grades over time

Where this course fits relative to

Sources & history

Catalog & offerings

Student reviews

Grade history

Physical Chemistry I

Summary

What you’ll be able to do

Grade history

Prerequisites

Professors

Calendar & sections

Student experience

the class

difficulty & workload

Topics

Skills

Grades

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

Grades over time

Where this course fits relative to UW–Madison

Sources & history

Catalog & offerings

Student reviews

Grade history

Where this course fits relative to