Atoms, molecules and solid state description Semester 1 - 1CMCHI01

Goal(s)

This course introduces tools for describing solids and molecules: atomistics, Lewis structures, molecular orbital theory and geometric crystallography.

Content(s)

• Fundamentals in atomistics
  • General presentation of atoms
  • Emission lines of hydrogen and hydrogenoids ions in emission spectra
  • Electronic structure (quantum numbers, layers and sub-layers), energy levels in hydrogen atom and hydrogenoid ions, electronic configuration

• Description of atoms in quantum mechanics : an introduction
  • Wave–particle duality, Schrödinger's equation
  • Wave functions, quantum numbers (n, l, m), atomic orbitals
  • Spatial representation of monoelectronic wave functions of the hydrogen atom

• Periodic table
  • Building principles, elements in the periodic table
  • Main elements families in the periodic table
  • Atomic properties through the table : electronic shielding/screening, electronegativity, atomic radius, ionic radius, ionisation energy, electronic affinity
  • Polarization, polarising properties and polarisability

• Molecules electronic structure and geometry
  • Lewis model, Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion, hypervalent atoms
  • Electronic delocalization (sigma and pi bonds, aromatic systems)
  • Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals method, application to diatomic homonuclear and heteronuclear molecules of first and second periods
  • Hybridization of atomic orbitals
  • molecular properties : polar and non polar molecules, magnetic properties

• Crystals structure
  • Introduction to bonding in the solide-state, crystal classification (ionic, metallic, covalent or molecular), unit cell, coordinence, compacity, volume mass calculation, interstitial sites & their geometric occupation conditions
  • Metallic crystals: fcc and cc lattice
  • Ionic crystals: CsCl, NaCl and ZnS type-structures

• Weak chemical forces
  • Van Der Waal interactions description and hydrogen bonding
  • Identification of weak chemical forces in simple pure substances
  • Application to state-transition temperatures trends
  • Molecular solvents : polar, non-polar, protic and non-protic