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Author: Sarah Parkes

Cat Links Organic chemistry

Structural isomerism

Posted on July 6, 2022October 2, 2024 Sarah Parkes

Structural isomers are molecules with the same molecular formula but a different arrangement of atoms … you need to recognise

Continue readingStructural isomerism

Cat Links Organic chemistry

How to name an alkane

Posted on July 6, 2022October 2, 2024 Sarah Parkes

I’ve tried to simplify the rules for naming alkanes in this video – I don’t think this requires notes so

Continue readingHow to name an alkane

Cat Links Organic chemistry

Aromatic, aliphatic and alicyclic hydrocarbons

Posted on July 5, 2022October 2, 2024 Sarah Parkes

It’s always important to start at the beginning! There is so much terminology in organic chemistry, from the naming of

Continue readingAromatic, aliphatic and alicyclic hydrocarbons

Cat Links Fundamentals

Shapes of molecules and polyatomic ions

Posted on June 30, 2022January 6, 2025 Sarah Parkes

Working out the shape of a molecule or a bond angle always starts with a dot and cross diagram, even

Continue readingShapes of molecules and polyatomic ions

Cat Links Fundamentals

What is intermolecular bonding?

Posted on June 30, 2022February 10, 2025 Sarah Parkes

Understanding the different types of intermolecular bond is usually straight forward. Describing them in writing is not 😳. All intermolecular

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Cat Links Fundamentals

Electronegativity and polar bonds

Posted on June 30, 2022October 2, 2024 Sarah Parkes

Electronegativity is the power of an atom in a molecule to attract electrons toward itself – we are typically talking

Continue readingElectronegativity and polar bonds

Cat Links Fundamentals

Giant covalent (macromolecular) networks and simple molecules

Posted on June 30, 2022October 2, 2024 Sarah Parkes

More good news! The properties of diamond and graphite and silicon dioxide have’t changed! On a more serious note though,

Continue readingGiant covalent (macromolecular) networks and simple molecules

Cat Links Fundamentals, Organic chemistry

Molecular orbital theory

Posted on June 29, 2022October 2, 2024 Sarah Parkes

This is the second modern theory of bonding, the first being valence bond theory. In molecular orbital theory covalent bonds

Continue readingMolecular orbital theory

Cat Links Fundamentals, Organic chemistry

Using valence bond theory to explain sigma and pi bonds

Posted on June 29, 2022January 7, 2025 Sarah Parkes

Our familiar model of covalent bonding is largely based on the Lewis model, with atoms sharing pairs of bonding electrons

Continue readingUsing valence bond theory to explain sigma and pi bonds

Cat Links Fundamentals

Covalent bonding

Posted on June 29, 2022November 20, 2024 Sarah Parkes

Once again, showing how covalent bonds are formed using dot and cross diagrams is simpler at A level than at

Continue readingCovalent bonding

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