A molecule of methane can be represented in several different ways as shown in Figure. These representations have been labelled A–E to assist you in your answer. Describe what information can be obtained from each representation including the limitations of these representations of methane – 9005

One thought on “A molecule of methane can be represented in several different ways as shown in Figure. These representations have been labelled A–E to assist you in your answer. Describe what information can be obtained from each representation including the limitations of these representations of methane – 9005”

1. Methane contains carbon and hydrogen in a 1:4 ratio, which is shown in structure A, but this structure doesn’t give any information about the bonding or the shape of the molecule. Structure B, the dot and cross diagram, shows how the carbon and hydrogen atoms are covalently bonded, but it’s a 2D diagram and doesn’t show the 3D positions of the atoms. It also shows that the inner shell of electrons on the carbon atom isn’t involved in bonding.

   Structure C uses lines to show the single covalent bonds, but again it’s only a 2D representation. Structure D, the ball and stick model, helps to show the 3D shape of the methane molecule and the positions of atoms in space, although the atoms are not actually connected by sticks in real life. Structure E, the space-filling model, shows the relative sizes of atoms and how closely packed they are, but it doesn’t give information about the type of bonding between atoms.

   Reply