Otterbein Symmetry In-Class Activity/Take home activity

Submitted by Kyle Grice / DePaul University on Mon, 01/25/2016 - 21:26
Description

This is an in-class activity I made for my students in a Junior/Senior-level one-quarter inorganic course. 

Unfortunately it was waaay too long for the 1.5 h class (i gave them about 45 min). I recommend taking this and adapting it to a take-home exercise or homework set, which is probably what I will do this coming year. 

Students used Otterbein to look at various structures, starting with low symmetry, working up to very high symmetry structures. I had them go through the "challenge" so they couldn't see the keys at first, but then go back to check their answers. 

Point Group Battles Activity

Submitted by Darren Achey / Kutztown University on Thu, 10/15/2015 - 11:48
Description

In this activity, a pair of students are show an object or molecule and are asked to determine the point group before their competitor.

Ir(III) Catalyst Regeneration Using Molecular Oxygen: Addressing Key Challenges that Hinder Alkane Dehydrogenation Catalysis. A Literature Discussion

Submitted by Vanessa / Albion College on Thu, 07/02/2015 - 15:56
Description

This Learning Object involves reading a recent scientific journal article, answering questions relating to the content, and participating in a classroom discussion. The paper under review is “Regeneration of an Iridium (III) Complex Active for Alkane Dehydrogenation Using Molecular Oxygen,” Organometallics, 33, 1337-1340. DOI: /10.1021/om401241e).

How to Determine the Irreducible Representation of a MO

Submitted by Richard Lord / Grand Valley State University on Wed, 07/01/2015 - 13:42
Description

Five slides about how to systematically determine the irreducible representation if provided an unlabeled SALC. These slides focus on molecular orbitals, but this tool can be extended to any kind of SALC.

Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Course Videos

Submitted by Kathryn Haas / Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN on Wed, 07/01/2015 - 12:02
Description

At this website, you will find a link to the syllabus and all lecture videos for a "flipped" version of an Advanced Inorganic Chemistry Course taught at Saint Mary's College (Notre Dame, IN).  I used Shiver & Atkins for this course, and the format is based off of Dr. Franz's course at Duke.  If anyone is interested in the problem sets, I will be happy to share, although much of the material I used is from VIPEr.  

Vibrational Modes and IR Spectra using Character Tables

Submitted by Karen McFarlane Holman / Willamette University on Tue, 06/30/2015 - 15:35
Description

In this activity, students in my upper-level Inorganic course are given two possible structures of sulfur dioxide, and based on an assessment of given vibrational modes, they determine which of the modes are IR active by two methods: (1) the “Intro Chem” method (determing whether the dipole moment changes for a particular vibrational mode) and (2) using character tables. They compare their assessment to experimental IR absorption peaks, and the students decide which structure is valid. For those of you who teach Raman spectroscopy, it could be included in this LO as well. 

Gummies and Toothpicks Point Group Determination Activity

Submitted by Darren Achey / Kutztown University on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 15:50
Description

In this activity, students will use gummies and toothpicks to construct models of molecules that will then be analyzed for their symmetry elements, and ultimately placed into the correct point group and the models can then be consumed.

Vibrational Modes and IR Spectra for Intro Chem

Submitted by Karen McFarlane Holman / Willamette University on Mon, 06/29/2015 - 15:14
Description

In this activity, Introductory Chemistry students are given two possible structures of sulfur dioxide, and based on an assessment of given vibrational modes, they determine which of the modes are IR active (and thus, whether the molecule is a greenhouse gas).  They compare their assessment to experimental IR absorption peaks, and the students decide which structure is valid.

Web Resources from the 2013 Inorganic Curriculum Survey

Submitted by Barbara Reisner / James Madison University on Wed, 06/10/2015 - 10:49

 

In the 2013 Inorganic Curriculum Survey, respondents were asked about the resources they used when they teach inorganic chemistry. About 20% of respondents selected "other" and provided information about these resources. A number of people mentioned specific websites. This collection consists of the websites submitted in the survey.

Subscribe to Group theory & applications