Miessler and Tarr: Inorganic Chemistry, 3rd. Ed

Submitted by Nancy Williams / Scripps College, Pitzer College, Claremont McKenna College on Fri, 03/28/2008 - 16:44
Description

Miessler and Tarr is an inorganic textbook which is is best suited to an upper-division one-semester inorganic course, though there is more material than can be covered in a single semester, so some choice of topics is necessary.  It is very well suited for a course oriented around structure, bonding, and reaction chemistry of transition metal compounds, but is very limited in its treatment of solids, main-group, descriptive chemistry, and bioinorganic.  Pchem would be helpful but is not necessary.  In particular, the treatment of MO theory is very in-depth.  The quality of end-of chapter p

Housecroft and Sharpe: Inorganic Chemistry, 3ed

Submitted by Lori Watson / Earlham College on Wed, 03/26/2008 - 20:01
Description

Housecroft and Sharpe (Inorganic Chemistry, 3ed): This is a comprehensive inorganic textbook designed primarily for students at the Junior/Senior level. P-Chem would not be needed as a prerequisite for this text, but would be helpful. It includes both theoretical and descriptive material along with special topics, enough for a two semester course though it is easily adaptable to a one-semester "advanced inorganic" course by choosing only some topics. It is written in a clear and generally readable style and the full-color graphic contribute to student understanding.

Generating LGOs (SALCs)

Submitted by Adam Johnson / Harvey Mudd College on Fri, 01/04/2008 - 19:12
Description

    After several days of lecturing on the topic of polyatomic molecular orbital diagrams, students break into small groups of 3-4 and form LGO’s that can be used to interact with a central atom to form a Molecular Orbital (MO) diagram.  This assignment is part of a larger 4-5 week unit on MO theory. 

Point groups and character tables

Submitted by Joanne Stewart / Hope College on Sun, 11/18/2007 - 14:27
Description

Students practice assignment of symmetry elements and point groups, practice developing a character table, and learn about the link between orbitals and irreducible representations.

The N5+ Cation: Explosive Chemistry and Raman Analysis (Christe)

Submitted by Maggie Geselbracht / Reed College on Sat, 11/17/2007 - 13:18
Description

­This paper discusses the synthesis and characterization of a novel compound of nitrogen.  The pre-discussion assignment asks students draw a Lewis structure for the N5+ cation, and using the tools of group theory, conduct a normal mode vibrational analysis, comparing the results to the experimental Raman spectral data.­­