Spatial
Analysis of Chemical Bonds
Welcome to the spatial analysis of
chemical bonding! This site was created in conjunction with two classes:
NRE 530 and Masters of Arts with Certification. You will find helpful teaching
resources as well as use of spatial software, such as Atlas GIS, Movie
Gear, and Adobe Photoshop.
We chose to take a spatial analysis
approach to this subject for a couple reasons:
-
Visual Aspects - Using the specialized
software enabled a more clear representation of the material. Students
will be able to see the orientation of electrons in space,
instead of the more abstract, textbook approach.
-
Connectivity - In terms of mapping,
the pathways that electrons follow in an atom can be related to the highways
that connect major cities and rural areas. Atoms are connected to each
other along very specific pathways, there are direct routes for each bond
that occurs.
-
Separation - The electrons that
are spinning around the nucleus of an atom are very similar to the concept
of family. The nucleus would be the home base, always there for you when
needed. However, there will always come a time when a member of the family
has to leave for awhile, creating new bonds with someone else, and perhaps
extending previous ones a bit longer. The new bonds might break, but the
member of the family is always welcome to return home, regroup, and venture
out again to make new bonds.
This site will be especially useful for
chemistry teachers at the secondary level. This page will act as a visual
tool that will enable students to actually see the effects and powers of
chemical bonding within a compound. We will be focusing on ionic and covalent
bonds, with particular attention to the electron interactions.
The web site is organized similar to
that of a chapter on bonding within chemical molecules. The beginning sections
deal with a basic overview of an atom, while defining its constituent parts.
The following segments further expand on the notion of energy levels, and
finally, the two types of bonding found in chemical molecules: Ionic and
Covalent.
Please feel free to let students interact
with the animations and drawings. It is our hope that this will help to
visually represent these notions to the students. If you have any questions
or suggestions, please feel free to email us!
What is an atom?
What are Chemical
Bonds?
What is Molecular
Geometry all about?
Questions or Comments?
Stephanie Motyka
& Jennifer Rifkin