Submitted by Aman Sra / University of Texas at Dallas on Mon, 01/13/2014 - 13:01
Additional Authors
Claudia Taenzler / University of Texas at Dallas
My Notes
Categories
Prerequisites
No Prerequisites
Corequisites
No Corequisites
Course Level
First year
Topics Covered
Electronic structure
Subdiscipline
Atomic Structure and Periodicity
Introductory Chemistry
Description

Description: This is an in class activity I use for first year general chemistry students to understand the relationship between quantum numbers and the structure of the atom.

 

Attachment Size
atomicbuilding.pdf 116.02 KB
Learning Goals
  • Students should be able to define orbitals.
  • Students should be able to understand the allowed values of the quantum numbers, n, l and ml.
  • Students should be able to assign quantum numbers to an orbital and use quantum numbers to identify an orbital.
  • Students should be able to define the energy levels of electrons in the hydrogen atom.

 

Equipment needs

Worksheets

Implementation Notes

The students are given the challenge of designing a state of the art “Atomic Building” for UT Dallas by following a certain set of guidelines:

  1. The shape of the building looks like an inverted skyscraper.
  2. Each floor in the atomic building accommodates certain number of classrooms.
  3. The number and the name of each classroom is determined by following the quantum num ber rules for n and l.
  4. Each classroom is fitted with specially designed benches that can accommodate a maximum of only two students. The number of benches in each classroom is determined by the quantum number ml.

 

This activity can also be extended to introduce the Pauli’s exclusion principle.

Time Required
15 minutes for the in class activity and another 10-15 minutes for discussion

Evaluation

Evaluation Methods

I did no formal assessment on this activity.

Creative Commons License
Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share Alike CC BY-NC-SA