MOLYMOD COVALENT BONDING & CARBON BASED LIFE
Name: ________________________
Materials
13 White atoms with 12 short white connectors attached
5 Red atoms
3 Blue atoms
2 Black atoms
1 Yellow atom
9 Long gray flexible connectors
Procedure
1. First, using your knowledge of atoms from the periodic table and Lewis dot
diagrams, try to match the follow atoms with their appropriate colored atom
model (two of these will be indistinguishable but realize that life is modeled
using black).
Also, describe the logic you used in making these
determinations, in the space below.
Carbon ____________
Hydrogen ____________
Sulfur
____________
Oxygen
Nitrogen
____________
____________
2. After having your color selections checked, create the following covalently
bound atoms. When done and checked, draw a sketch for each atom and
determine how many electrons are being shared in the bonding (and that is
being represented by the short inflexible connector), and describe your logic
below.
Water (H2O)
Hydrogen Gas (H2)
Methane Gas (CH4)
Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S)
3. Next, use the flexible connector(s) to try to create the following covalently
bound atoms. When done and checked, draw a sketch for each atom and
determine how many electrons are being shared in the bonding (and that is
being represented by the flexible connector), and describe your logic below.
Oxygen Gas (O2)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
4. Finally, to try to create the following covalently bound atoms. What is different
about these finished models than the ones that you have previously
encountered?
Ammonia (NH3)
Nitrogen Gas (N2)
5. How many atoms can hydrogen bond with at a time? Explain why.
6. Can hydrogen bond with itself? What molecule results from hydrogen bonding
with itself? When two hydrogen atoms are bound, can they bond with
anything else?
7. How many atoms can oxygen bond with at a time? Explain why.
8. Can oxygen bond with itself? What molecule(s) result from oxygen bonding
with itself? When two oxygen atoms are bound, can they bond with anything
else?
9. How many atoms can nitrogen bond with at a time (based on your knowledge
of its structure from the periodic table not the model itself)? Explain why.
10. Can nitrogen bond with itself? What molecule results from nitrogen bonding
with itself? When two nitrogen atoms are bound, can they bond with anything
else?
11. How many atoms can carbon bond with at a time? Explain why.
12. Can carbon bond with itself? What molecules result from carbon bonding
with itself? When two carbon atoms are bound, can they bond with anything
else? Explain.
13. Explain how the structure of carbon is more flexible in terms of lending itself
to molecular design options while hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are
limited?