It's All in the Shape:  Quick Guide for Instructors

Here are six activities designed for a General Chemistry for Engineers class.  They depend on a variety of technologies available free on the Internet and could be done as remote labs!  This is a better more interactive and hands-on minds-on approach to learning geometry.  These are Google Docs, so download and then go to File on the menu bar > Make a Copy... to get a copy in your Google account, which YOU can manipulate and/or edit.  A usage guide for Gen Chem 1 along with some assessments are given below.

• It’s All in the Shape:  Discovering Molecular Geometry

Discover geometries for 2-6 electron pairs and introduce wedge diagrams for illustrating geometries!  Explores ideal geometries and their bond angles only!

PhET sim - Molecule Shapes:  Basic

External links

• It’s All in the Shape:  II. Discovering the Behavior of Polar Molecules

Brings in distortion of ideal geometries via experimental bond angle measurements caused by lone pairs plus discover positioning rules on geometries! 

PhET sim - Molecule Shapes

PhET sim - Molecule Polarity

External links

• It's All in the Shape:  III. Large Molecules and Solids

Demonstrates that the geometries occur in larger molecules and crystalline solids.

Avogadro software (freeware)

YouTube video - Avogadro: Manipulate & Measure

Structure files to download

External links

• It’s All in the Shape:  IV. Multiple Bonds and Resonance Structures

This is hybridization with the emphasis on carbon!

YouTube video - Carbon-carbon Bond Rotation

Interactive Excel spreadsheet - Energy Profiles for Internal Rotation

External links

• It’s All in the Shape:  V. The Allotropes of Carbon - DRAFT!

Brings molecular structure in with other course concepts (phase diagrams, crystal structures) and uses materials important in engineering (graphene, nanotubes).

Avogadro software (freeware)

YouTube video - Using the Nanotube Builder in Avogadro - TBD

Structure files to download 

Interactive Excel spreadsheet - Carbon Nanotubes

External links

• It’s All in the Shape:  VI. More on 2D Sheet Structures - DRAFT!

Compares benzene and borazine molecules as the building blocks for graphene and h-BN 2D sheet structures respectively.

Avogadro software (freeware)

Structure files to download                need h-BN 2D sheet structure  (mol or xyz format)

External links