How atoms pack give rise to their chemical and physical properties. The way atoms stack into three layers produce the three most important unit cells: body-centered cubic, face-centered cubic, and hexagonal unit cells.
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Ionic Compounds
Why Care About Ionic Compounds? The reason ionic compounds are important might not be obvious you. The first time you see them, is usually in general chemistry. Yet no one explains what they do. As a result, ionic compounds end up as the poor…
Bonds From Atoms
Bonds form from atoms when electrons feel nearby atoms. Outer electrons rearrange to possess lower energy. This happens three ways. An element is either a metal or nonmetal. Recall the periodic table has two general regions: metals and nonmetals, Figure 1. There Are Three Kinds of Bonds …
What is Chemistry? Answered!
What Is Chemistry? When asked: “What is Chemistry?”, chemists have a hard time with an elevator pitch. The most common answer sounds like a dry definition. You hear “the science of matter and change”. That definition hardly does it justice. Chemistry forms the vital science that appears…
Significant Figures
Why Significant Figures Significant figures preserve the precision of measurements. You record data and use numerical values in calculations. Further calculations can only be as accurate as the as the measurements from an experiment. Use of a specific set of rules prevents calculation results more precise than…
Autoionization of Water
The autoionization of water describes when water reacts with water in a solution of water. This forms the basis of understanding aqueous acid base chemistry. Do not suspect a chemical process occurs only when chemicals dissolves in water. Despite what most people believe when they look…
Acids and Bases
Acids and Bases An understanding of acids and bases forms an essential part of a total grasp of chemistry. It encompasses many of the chemical concepts you learn early in a first semester. Organic chemistry and biochemistry cannot be understood without a mastery of acids and bases.…
Chemical Equilibrium
A central idea used to predict how chemicals react to form products, is the concept of chemical equilibrium. Chemical equations show reactants with arrows transform into products. However, many reactions do not completely transform all the reactants into products. Many reactions result in a mixture of reactants…
Lewis structure
Learn how to write Lewis structure of simple molecules
Orbital Hybridization
Orbital Hybridization Orbital hybridization controls the local geometry around an atom. More than any other factor, the hybridization state of electron orbitals is responsible for the shape of molecules. Solitary atoms undergo orbital hybridization under the influence of interactions with other atoms. This allows orbitals with different energies…