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atomic structure

Analogy Experiment—Projectile Pennies with Rutherford

Ben Meacham | Mon, 11/08/2021 - 15:48

Atomic theory is a common topic throughout any introductory chemistry course. It is likely that Rutherford’s gold foil experiment gets at least some attention in your course. This simple activity gives students an opportunity to replicate Rutherford’s experiment through an analogy experiment that may allow for easier conceptualization of the experiment itself and provide additional support for model development.

Analogy Experiment—Projectile Pennies with Rutherford

Ben Meacham | Mon, 03/11/2019 - 12:18

Atomic theory is a common topic throughout any introductory chemistry course. It is likely that Rutherford’s gold foil experiment gets at least some attention in your course. I have used a simple activity that gives students an opportunity to replicate Rutherford’s experiment through an analogy experiment that may allow for easier conceptualization of the experiment itself and provide additional support for model development.

Extension Activity with Isotopes Matter

Michelle Okroy | Sun, 10/09/2016 - 14:33

After receiving positive feedback from Peter Mahaffy, the IUPAC project co-chair of Isotopes Matter, I decided to add an additional component to the original isotope assignment I posted. The second component of the assignment focuses on the applications of both radioactive and stable isotopes using the interactive IUPAC periodic table.

Building Atoms: One App at a Time

Doug Ragan | Tue, 02/16/2016 - 23:42

In my high school chemistry class, a unit we cover is that of atomic structure. In particular, given an elements symbol, mass number, atomic number, and charge, the objective would be for the student to determine the atoms number of protons, neutrons, and electrons. I have several apps/program suggestions that can be useful for this purpose.

Using Orbital Viewer

Tom Kuntzleman | Tue, 12/03/2013 - 15:54

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.