Objectives
The major objective for this unit is that students will be able to relate the structure and arrangement of the molecules to the properties of the material. Rather than looking at the actual details of each molecule, the primary focus will be on the size of the molecules, how they align, the forces holding them together, level of branching, level of cross-linking, and hydrophobic and hydrophilic centers. Another objective is that students will appreciate that the arrangement of the molecules in natural materials is more complex and has a greater hierarchy of arrangement. The production of these natural materials is also more precisely orchestrated, whereas, the production of synthetic products chemically is very difficult to control. In order to complete the final activity, students will need to be able to define the properties that might be used to describe a material and be able to describe how that property might be measured. Students will be able to describe the four different arrangements of elemental carbon and the properties associated with these forms. Size matters, so students should be able to create a relative scale to compare the size of an atom, a small molecule, a nanotube, a polymer and a protein. Finally, students should be able to analyze the material properties needed for a material to serve a specific purpose.
Comments: