Should one learn chemical thermodynamics or physical chemistry first?
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As the title suggests, which one should be learned first?
Physical chemistry; otherwise you won’t be able to understand some of the questions
I had self-studied these two courses before, and it was really challenging for those from non-chemical engineering backgrounds.
Knowledge of physical chemistry serves as the theoretical foundation for chemical engineering thermodynamics; the learning process involves first studying physical chemistry and then chemical engineering thermodynamics
This post was last edited by qugd on 2018-9-10 14:07. It’s best to learn *physical chemistry first. This is because physical chemistry forms the basis for studying chemical thermodynamic equilibrium and chemical kinetic processes, and some important concepts in chemical engineering thermodynamics are generally discussed in detail in physical chemistry. For those without a foundation in physical chemistry, learning *chemical engineering thermodynamics directly can be quite challenging, as understanding certain concepts becomes difficult in the absence of prior knowledge.
The four main areas of chemistry (inorganic, organic, physical chemistry, and analytical chemistry) form the foundation; one should learn the basics first before moving on to more advanced topics~
Anyway, it will have to be reviewed over and over again; it doesn’t matter which one is learned first. I’m not a middle school student.
For beginners, it’s really difficult to learn on one’s own.