Resumen de From the Wood-Shop to Crystal Engineering: Teaching Three-Dimensional Chemistry
Understanding structure and bonding in chemistry requires an ability to visualize in three dimensions. Proper 3-D perspective provides important insight into chemical structure and reactivity, necessary for the design of advanced materials. Working from a textbook or computer screen, however, requires that we translate 2-D images into 3-D perception. Skills traditionally taught in industrial arts for 3-D visualization from 2-D images, and the 2-D description of 3-D objects, can be readily adapted to enhance student mastery of 3-D chemistry. By teaching students to draw a series of geometric blocks, analogous to those utilized in a wood-shop class, skills are gained that significantly augment a computer-based drawing assignment used to understand complex molecular structures required for crystal engineering. Developing skills in drawing and understanding the blueprints of chemical structure prepares students to be chemical architects.
