Science

In this activity, students will investigate the valence-shell electron-pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory. How molecules are arranged in different shapes and how chemists can predict the geometry of a given molecule. It will also be examined how a molecule’s shape, along with electronegativity differences for its’ atoms, determine the molecule’s polarity. This activity combines two simulations (molecular shapes and molecular polarity) to guide the students from drawing Lewis structures to VSEPR-predicted geometries to predicting a molecule’s polarity. The accompanying simulations can be found here: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/molecule-polarity and https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/molecule-shapes

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