ERIC Number: EJ918117
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-May
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Who Needs Lewis Structures to Get VSEPR Geometries?
Lindmark, Alan F.
Journal of Chemical Education, v87 n5 p487-491 May 2010
Teaching the VSEPR (valence shell electron-pair repulsion) model can be a tedious process. Traditionally, Lewis structures are drawn and the number of "electron clouds" (groups) around the central atom are counted and related to the standard VSEPR table of possible geometries. A simpler method to deduce the VSEPR structure without first drawing Lewis structures is described. A sample lecture utilizing this methodology to determine VSEPR geometries is presented. Incorporated into the lecture are discussions of relevant topics including dipole moments, isomers, electron-pair repulsions, and bioinorganic chemistry. Although this lecture is aimed at first-year science majors, it can easily be modified and applied to nonscience-majors courses and advanced inorganic chemistry courses. A lab to accompany the lecture is available in the supporting material. (Contains 1 table, 2 figures, and 5 notes.)
Descriptors: Majors (Students), Inorganic Chemistry, Lecture Method, Science Education, College Freshmen, Teaching Methods, Laboratory Experiments, Scientific Concepts, Higher Education, Textbooks
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A