limitations of bonding diagrams

    Cards (7)

    • Dot and cross diagram
      Represents electrons from one atom as dots and electrons from another atom as crosses, clearly shows where electrons are coming from
    • Dot and cross diagrams do not tell us about the shape of the molecule
    • Two-dimensional stick diagram
      Represents covalent bonds as sticks, does not show which electron in the bond came from which atom, does not show electrons not in bonds, does not give accurate information on the shape of the molecule
    • Three-dimensional stick diagram
      Shows the shape of the molecule
    • Ball and stick diagram
      Clearly shows the ions in three dimensions, but the ions are shown as widely spaced when in reality they are packed together
    • Space-filling diagram
      Gives a better idea of how closely packed the ions are, but can make it difficult to see the three-dimensional packing
    • Both ball and stick diagrams and space-filling diagrams only show a tiny part of the giant crystal lattice, giving a mistaken impression about the sizes of these structures
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