Abstract

PEREZ-BENITEZ, Aarón  and  ARROYO-CARMONA, Rosa Elena. A tetrahedron in my bag!. Educ. quím [online]. 2008, vol.19, n.3, pp.210-215. ISSN 0187-893X.

The construction of a physical model of a tetrahedron starting from a plastic bag is presented. The model can be applied in the learning-teaching of symmetry and stereochemistry of simple molecules possessing atoms with a tetrahedral arrangement of their valence shell's electron pairs, such as oxygen in water, nitrogen in ammonia and carbon in methane. Enclosing balls, a tetrahedral skeletal model or simple air in the tetrahedral bag is possible to achieve different applications of the model, including the funny and harmless explosion of the bag.

Keywords : Threedimensional model; VSEPR; tetrahedral geometry; homemade model.