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- 1.0 Atomic Orbitals
-
- Atoms are composed of a nucleus and electrons that surround the
- nucleus. The electrons tend to stay in specific locations around
- the atom called Atomic Orbitals. An Atomic Orbital may contain
- at most two electrons.
-
- 1.1 Types of Atomic Orbitals
-
- The Atomic Orbitals included in most chemical bonding are the s,
- p, and d type. Each Atom has only one s type orbital. An s
- orbital can bond in any direction. Each Atom has three p type
- orbitals (Px,Py,Pz). In 3-dimensional space one p orbital
- is parallel to each of the 3 axis: X,Y,Z. The direction
- that a p orbital will bond is determined by the axis it is
- parallel with. Each Atom has five d type orbitals Dxy, Dyz,
- Dxz, Dxx-yy, and Dzz (CHEMICAL numbers these a,b,c,d,e).
-
- 1.2 Atomic Orbital Hybrids
-
- The s, p, and d Atomic Orbitals can be combined to form a
- veriety of hybrids such as sp, dsp, sp2, etc. The number of
- hybrids formed matches the number of Atomic Orbitals that
- combined to form the hybrid. The directional characteristics
- taken by a hybrid are determined by the directional tendancies
- of the Atomic Orbitals that are combined. However, bonding atoms
- will tend to spread out evenly in 3 dimensional space. The
- hybrids formed are numbered with the symbols ' ` ^ ~ + : in
- CHEMICAL.
-
- CHEMICAL includes some special versions of the sp2 and sp3
- hybrids to make ring structures easier to generate. The
- sp2_5 and the sp3_5 hybrids should be selected if a 5 atom
- ring is desired. The sp2 and sp3_6 hybrids should be
- selected if a six atom ring is desired.
-
- 2.0 Molecular Orbitals
-
- Atomic Orbitals from two atoms can combine to form Molecular
- Orbitals, the electrons shared (covalently) between the two
- Atoms. Molecular Orbitals replace the Atomic Orbitals. Molecular
- orbitals are either Bonding or Anti-Bonding. The Bonding
- Orbitals are lower energy and are more commonly used for
- bonding. Each Molecular Orbital can hold at most two electons.
-
- 2.1 Types of Molecular Orbitals
-
- There are only three types of Molecular orbitals: sigma, pi, and
- delta. Sigma orbitals are formed when the "ends" of Atomic
- Orbitals bond, and thus are free to rotate after bonding. Pi and
- delta Molecular Orbitals are by side by side bonding and thus
- are not free to rotate. (CHEMICAL Version 2.0 does not include
- delta bonds)
-
- 3.0 Bonding
-
- Atomic and Molecular orbitals have energy states associated with
- them. Bonding occures when a lower energy state occures by
- sharing electrons. No more than two electrons may occupy any
- orbital. When many possible bondings exist the lowest energy one
- will dominate and determine the 3 dimensional configuration.
-
- 3.1 Bonding Electrons
-
- Typically each atom donates an electron for bonding. Sometimes
- one atom will donate both electrons, this is called a Dative
- bond. Sometimes bonding can only occure by using the higher
- energy anti-bonding orbitals.
-
- 3.2 Bond Order
-
- The bond order is determined by the number of pairs of electrons
- in bonding orbitals minus the number of pairs of electrons in
- anti-bonding orbitals. The higher the bond order the stronger the
- bond.
-
- 4.0 Size of Atoms
-
- Atoms for higher numbered elements are generally larger. The
- size also varies with the type of hybrid and bonding. CHEMICAL
- has a built in table of atom sizes according to the orbital
- type and bond order. This information was taken from the Van
- Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia.
-
- 5.0 Ionic Bonding
-
- Some atoms have strong electrostatic charge and tend to bond to
- atoms of opposite charge by Ionic Bonding. CHEMICAL has a built
- in table of atoms with strong electrostatic charge to construct
- chemicals with Ionic Bonding. Negative ions are large because
- they hae gained an additional electron. Positive ions are small
- due to the loss of an electron.
-
- 6.0 Electronegativity
-
- The power of attraction that an atom shows for electrons is called
- electronegativity. Electronegativity is a measure of the attraction
- of an atom for electrons in its outer shell. The EGA colors in
- CHEMICAL are selected to correspond to the electronegativity: Red
- being low and blue being high.
-