Electronegativity and Lewis Structures

Today we looked at electronegativity as a measure of a bond's polarity and a way to determine bond type. Then we started looking at Lewis structures, finishing up in the middle of NO2. We'll finish up NO2 on Friday and look at some other Lewis structures, including the Lewis structures of polyatomic ions. I know, you're on the edge of your seats...

There's a new MC posted.

Electron configs and properties...

We've been looking at how we can use electron configurations to predict physical properties including size, charge, ionization energy and electron affinity.

If anyone's interested in some more YouTube videos, the following links are a 3-part Bill Nye The Science Guy episode dealing with light and color.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msf-DbYif-4&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEUtp2htuEs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbjuv-meMh8&feature=related

Bill Nye usually does a very good job of explaining scientific concepts in a (hopefully) entertaining way, and this show is no exception. If you're struggling with questions from lab this week, watching this might help.

There's a new Mastering Chemistry posted.

Quantum chemistry and orbitals...

Looks like I missed a couple days...We've been talking about quantum chemistry including the nature of light and radiation. This is so we can look at electrons a little more closely and understand their behavior as particles with wave-like character. A direct result of this wave-like character is that electrons exist in regions of space that are called orbitals. Understanding orbitals helps us interpret the chemistry that we have seen and allows us to predict various properties of atoms, ions and molecules.

There is a new Mastering Chemistry assignment posted, due Nov. 9.