Journal of Research in Science Teaching
By Erman Erman
“Factors Contributing to Students’ Misconceptions in Learning Covalent Bonds”
Publisher: Wiley online library
4/54
Pp. 520-537
2017
Factors Contributing to Students’ Misconceptions in Learning Covalent Bonds
Type: Empirical
Data collection method: Test
Number of subjects, range: Large — 31 or more
Grade and age of subjects: Adult — over 18 years
Students’ misconceptions of various topics related to covalent bonds
Covalent bonding and covalent coordination bonding concepts
- A covalent bond is established between two atoms using a pair or more free electrons.
- If a pair of free electrons are donated by only one of the atoms which are binding to each other, covalent coordination will occur.
Octet rule
- Each atom in a stable molecule must obey the octet rule, particularly for the atomic center of molecules.
Bond polarity
- A covalent bond will be polarized if the electron affinities of both atoms are different.
Molecule shape
- Molecular shape depends on the number of atoms that are bound to the central atom of the molecule
Dipole moment of a molecule
- A non-polar molecule has a moment dipole m>0, if the positive and negative specimens are separated at a particular distance, but a polar molecule has a moment dipole m.0 if the positive and negative specimens are not separated.
Molecule polarity
- All bonds in a polar molecule are polar if they occur in the same direction, and all bonds in a nonpolar molecule are nonpolar.
Bond number
- The number of bond of a molecule depends on its electronegativity. Double bonding will occur if both atoms have the same electronegativity value and single bonding will occur if both atoms have different electronegativity.
Bond length
- Bond length depends on the bonding type of molecule.
Textbooks as sources of student misconceptions regarding covalent bonding
Covalent bonding
- Covalent bonding Covalent bonding is established between two atoms that use a pair or more of free electrons.
Coordinate covalent bonding
- If a pair of free electrons is only donated by one of the atoms which are binding to each other, a covalent coordinate bond will occur.
Octet rule
Each atom in a stable molecule must obey the octet rule, particularly for the atomic center of molecules.
Bond polarity
A covalent bond will be polarized if the electron affinities of both atoms which are bonding to each other are different.
Molecule shape
Molecule shape depends on the amount of atoms that are bound to the central atom of the molecule.
Dipole moment
A nonpolar molecule has a moment dipole µ>0, because the positive and negative specimens are separated at a particular distance, but a polar molecule has moment dipole
µ=0 because the positive and negative specimens are not separated.
Molecule polarity
All bonds in a polar molecule that are in the same direction are polar, and all bonds in a nonpolar molecule are nonpolar.
Bond number
The bond number of a molecule depends on the electronegativity of the atoms. Double bonding will occur if both atoms have the same electronegativity value and single bonding will occur if both atoms have different electronegativity.
Bond length
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Bond length depends on the bonding type of molecule.