Day 7: Multi-atom Molecules
Bond length and bond energy are determined at the minimum in a graph of energy versus distance between nuclei of two bonded atoms. Molecular orbitals can span all atoms in a molecule and therefore become more complicated as the number of atoms in a molecule increases. Lewis structures are an easy-to-draw approximation of the molecular orbitals for multi-atom molecules but keep in mind that it is the molecular orbitals Lewis structures represent that determine how the atoms are arranged and how a molecule reacts chemically. Typically, each atom in a stable molecule shares eight valence electrons (the octet rule), but there are some exceptions where an atom has fewer than eight shared electrons and some with more than eight.
Here are links to all sections of the work for Day Seven. Be sure to complete them before your whole-class meeting.
D7.1 Bond Length and Bond Energy
D7.2 MOs for Molecules with More Than Two Atoms
D7.3 Lewis Structures for Covalent Molecules
D7.4 General Guidance for Drawing Lewis Structures
D7.5 Formal Charge
D7.6 Exceptions to the Octet Rule
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