The Molecule, The Monomer and Materials Science: A Preliminary Report
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The Molecule, The Monomer and Materials Science: A Preliminary Report P. R. Howell The Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The Pennsylvania State University. State College, PA 16802. ABSTRACT. There would appear to be a large disconnect between the content of a typical high school chemistry course, and an introductory, college materials science course. For example, A National Science Foundation report notes that, “the historic bias of chemistry curricula towards small molecule chemistry, generally in the gaseous and liquid states, is out of touch with current opportunities for chemists in research, education and technology”. In contrast, the typical introductory college materials science course concentrates almost exclusively on the solid state, and a discussion of “small molecular” materials is virtually absent. In the present contribution, it will be shown how the “molecule” forms part of a hierarchical series of structures, from the sub-atomic to the macroscopic. It will also be argued that the molecule is but a sub-set of a localized grouping of atoms, which is best described by the term “monomer”. Based on a strict definition of the molecule and monomer, a complete hierarchical scheme for the structure of materials is developed, which should be applicable to both a high school chemistry course, and an introductory materials science course. INTRODUCTION. The objectives of this paper are to provide, in outline, a hierarchical scheme for teaching the structure of solid materials; whether as part of a high school chemistry curriculum, or as part of an introductory course in materials science at college, university. A more detailed version of this paper has been submitted to J. Mat. Ed [1]. The paper also aims to provide a structural framework, which is equally applicable to all materials; atomic, molecular, ionic and macromolecular. Hence, distinctions between the various sub-classes of materials: metals, ceramics and polymers are not made. Because I am describing a hierarchical structural scheme, I will employ concept maps (e.g., see ref [2]), which are also hierarchical, to describe the linkage between the various levels of structure. Some notes on the title of the paper. One of my first tasks is to define the molecule. Somewhat remarkably, numerous “definitions” of the molecule abound and until we can reach a consensus regarding its nature, it can hardly be included in a hierarchical scheme of structure. The molecule, and molecular materials are of tremendous concern in high school chemistry texts, and indeed in college courses on chemistry: particularly organic chemistry. Yet the molecule receives
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little attention in introductory texts on materials science, because neither metals nor ceramics tend to be molecular (assuming we can agree on the definition of a molecule). Macromolecules are typically treated in chapters on polymeric materials (often towards the end of the text), but the small molecular materials, which form the bulk of high school curricula are virtua
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