Atomic Structure & Theory

Turning on the Light

In this Activity, students investigate the luminescent properties of common items such as glow-in-the-dark stickers, wintergreen-flavored hard candies, and a chlorophyll solution made from spinach leaves. After making observations, they use a flowchart to categorize the luminescent items as fluorescent, phosphorescent, or triboluminescent.

Using Orbital Viewer

Orbital Viewer is a fantastic program for displaying electronic orbitals. It is a great resource for teaching students about orbital shapes and the rules, nomenclature and notation of the quantum numbers n, l and m.