When you enroll at Susquehanna, you’ll be paired with an advisor and application tool to guide you in your course planning and scheduling. The following is an excerpt from the complete course catalog. Enrolled students follow the requirements of the course catalog for the academic year in which they declare each major and/or minor, consult with their advisor(s) and the Academic Planning Tool.
Learning Goals
- Demonstrate the ability to apply appropriate chemical and physical models to make predictions or draw conclusions regarding chemical systems or phenomenon. Examples of chemical systems are compound formation (synthesis), energy transfer, equilibrium composition, various physical properties, chemical reactivity, etc.
- Demonstrate mastery of laboratory skills and execute common experimental techniques.
- Demonstrate the ability to design, prepare, execute and adjust experiments.
- Describe the theoretical and operational principles of common laboratory instrumentation such as NMR, FT- IR, UV-Vis, AA, fluorescence spectrometers, GC-MS, HPLC and electrochemical analysis instrumentation, as well as their typical uses, sensitivities and limitations. Interpret the data collected with such instrumentation.
- Find topic-specific chemical literature, interpret and evaluate chemical studies as described in scientific journals, and describe these conclusions through written and oral presentations.
- Analyze and interpret data to detect trends, evaluate the quality of data and reach scientifically valid conclusions.
American Chemical Society Accreditation
The department’s major in chemistry is accredited by the American Chemical Society.
Majors in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Chemical Physics
Susquehanna offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry and Bachelor of Science degrees in chemistry, biochemistry and chemical physics. Two biochemistry tracks are available: an ACS-Certified track and a Biology-Intensive track. The ACS-Certified track includes courses that cover properties of metals, spectroscopic techniques and instrumental methods that will prepare students for careers or graduate programs in the areas of biochemistry or biophysics. The Biology-Intensive track includes courses that will offer a solid foundation in chemical principles in addition to biological systems and will prepare students for careers or graduate programs in the biological sciences or biochemistry, or the health care professions. All required courses must be completed with a grade of C- or higher.
Double-counting restriction
Students majoring in chemical physics cannot double-count courses towards a chemistry or physics major
Major in Chemical Physics
The Bachelor of Science degree in chemical physics requires the following courses with grades of C- or better:
4 General Chemistry I
Choose from: CHEM-103 or CHEM-111
4-8 General Chemistry II
Choose from: CHEM-104
or CHEM-232 and CHEM-242
4 PHYS-204 Introductory Physics I: Calculus
4 PHYS-206 Introductory Physics II: Calculus
4 CHEM-221 Organic Chemistry I
4 CHEM-341 Physical Chemistry I
4 CHEM-342 Physical Chemistry II
4 PHYS-404 Thermodynamics and Statistical Methods
4 MATH-111 Calculus I
4 MATH-112 Calculus II
4 MATH-201 Linear Algebra
2 Capstone
Choose from CHEM-500 Problems in Chemistry and Biochemistry
or PHYS-550 Physics Research.
Students must complete at least 2 SH of CHEM-400 Research Experience prior to taking CHEM-500.
Other requirements
Students must select at least four courses from the following list, with at least one course from each department and no more than two courses from a single department. Students may take additional courses as long as the total number of semester hours in the major does not exceed 64.
Chemistry
4 CHEM-306 Nanoscience
4 CHEM-430 Instrumental Analysis
Mathematics
4 MATH-211 Multivariate Calculus
4 MATH-353 Differential Equations
Physics
4 PHYS-101 Introduction to Digital and Analog Electronics
4 PHYS-105 Independent Thought and Exploration in Physics
4 PHYS-306 Modern Physics