Tape and Tetrahedra

• John W. Hill ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Wisconsin–River Falls

     University of Wisconsin–River Falls

     City of River Falls, Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 73, Nº 6 (June), 1996, págs. 531-531
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Ball-and-stick models are often used to represent the shapes of molecules, but students frequently have problems relating what they see to the words we use to describe those shapes. I have found a simple solution to the problem of visualizing the tetrahedron (this can be applied to other molecular geometries and electron-pair geometry). I use masking tape or labeling tape to connect the hydrogen atoms to one another. The tape represents the edges of the tetrahedron; the four hydrogen atoms are the corners. This short article describes the procedure.