Pure Science

Weak Forces, Big Effects: The Properties of Covalent Molecular Compounds

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A covalent molecular compound consists of individual molecules that contain only covalent bonds. The covalent bonds within the molecules are very strong and highly directional, so the molecules usually have definite shapes and retain their identities during physical changes. The forces between the molecules are by comparison very weak. It’s these weak intermolecular forces that […]

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The Full Guide to Covalent Bonds: Single, Double, Triple, and Polarity

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Covalent chemical bonds involve the sharing of a pair of valence electrons by two atoms, in contrast to the transfer of electrons in ionic bonds. Atoms will covalently bond with other atoms in order to gain more stability, which is gained by forming a full electron shell. By sharing their outer most (valence) electrons, atoms

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Ionic Bonding Explained: The Complete Transfer of Electrons

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Ionic bonding is a type of chemical bond that the complete transfer of valence electron(s) between atoms and is a type of chemical bond that generates two oppositely charged ions,  resulting in positive and negative ions which attract each other. These ions represent atoms that have lost one or more electrons (known as cations) and

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Hund’s Rule : Maximizing Parallel Spin for the Lowest Energy Electron Configuration

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Hund’s rule of maximum spin multiplicity is an observational rule which states that Pairing of electrons in degenerate orbitals is not possible until all available orbitals contain one electron each. The Aufbau principle let’s us build up an atoms electronic configuration by placing electrons into orbitals of every increasing energy. Hund’s Rule tells us about

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The Aufbau Principle: Its Utility and its Fundamental Flaw

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Aufbau comes from the German word “Aufbauen” which means “to build”. In essence when writing electron configurations we are building up electron orbitals as we proceed from atom to atom. As we write the electron configuration for an atom, we will fill the orbitals in order of increasing atomic number. The Aufbau principle originates from

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Pauli’s Exclusion Principle: Why Every Electron Needs a Unique Quantum ID

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The Pauli Exclusion Principle states that, in an atom or molecule, no two electrons can have the same four electronic quantum numbers. We are aware that in one orbital a maximum of two electrons can be found and the two electrons must have opposing spins. That means one would spin up ( +1/2) and the

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Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle: Why You Can’t Know Everything at Once

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Classical physics was on loose footing with problems of wave/particle duality, but was caught completely off-guard with the discovery of the uncertainty principle. The uncertainty principle also called the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, or Indeterminacy Principle, articulated (1927) by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, that the position and the velocity of an object cannot both be

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Defining the Electron: A Complete Guide to Principal, Azimuthal, Magnetic, and Spin Quantum Numbers

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Q uantom numbers are the address of electrons. These are numbers which are used to specify the position and energy of electrons in an atom. Four quantum numbers are usually used to designed the electrons present in an orbital. Principal Quantum Number (‘n’) T his represents the main shells in an atom. This number gives

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The Math Behind Bohr’s Atom: How to Calculate the Radius (r) of Electron Shells

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Consider an electron of charge ‘e’ revolving around a nucleus of charge ‘ze’, where ‘z’ is the atomic number and ‘e’ the charge on a proton. Let ‘m’ be the mass of the electron, ‘r’ be the radius of the orbit and ‘v’ the tangential velocity of the revolving electron. The electrostatic force of attraction

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Bohr’s Atomic Model: The Bridge to Modern Physics

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The Bohr Model has an atom consisting of a small, positively-charged nucleus orbited by negatively-charged electrons. Here’s a closer look at the Bohr Model, which is sometimes called the Rutherford-Bohr Model Niels Bohr proposed the Bohr Model of the Atom in 1915. Because the Bohr Model is a modification of the earlier Rutherford Model, some

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