Lewis Acid/Base Mnemonic
Think of Lewis as ‘lectrons’ Lewis Acid A Lewis acid refers to an atom or molecule that accepts an electron pair. Think back to your ‘pushing arrows’ for orgo mechanisms.…
Arrhenius, Bronsted-Lowry Bases in Organic Chemistry
Categories of Acids and Bases Before we dive in, be sure to download my FREE acid/base cheat sheet to follow along now and take with you to study on the…
The Difference Between the Formal and Actual Charge
Now, I’ve mentioned earlier that there’s a difference between the formal and the actual charge. Formal charge is a bookkeeping tool that is important to help us keep track of the electron…
Formal Charges
Formal charges in organic chemistry is, perhaps, one of the most fundamental bookkeeping devices which is often misunderstood or neglected by students. Why Formal Charges are Important in Organic Chemistry?…
Electronegativity
Covalent bonds form when atoms share electrons. This sharing allows each atom to achieve its octet of electrons and greater stability. Methane, CH 4, the simplest organic compound, contains covalent bonds.…
Polar Covalent Bonds
Electronegativity The elements with the highest ionization energies are generally those with the most negative electron affinities, which are located toward the upper right corner of the periodic table. Conversely,…
What is the Octet Rule?
The octet rule dictates that atoms are most stable when their valence shells are filled with eight electrons. It is based on the observation that the atoms of the main…
Covalent Bond
Covalent bond is a chemical bonding process in which pairs of electrons are shared between two atoms. The force of attraction or repulsion between two atoms, when they share electron pair or bonding…
Atomic Orbitals
An orbital is the quantum mechanical refinement of Bohr’s orbit. In contrast to his concept of a simple circular orbit with a fixed radius, orbitals are mathematically derived regions of…
What is an atom?
Atoms are building blocks. If you want to create a language, you'll need an alphabet. If you want to build molecules, you will need atoms from different elements. Elements are the alphabet in…
