The Demonstration of Organic Chemistry Theories Essay

A Phenomenon

Life in a big city can be used in many ways to demonstrate organic chemistry theories. Many of the aspects that are witnessed in a city can be directly correlated to a number of organic chemistry theories. The comparison ranges from simple principles as those used in arranging elements in the periodic table to complex theories, which significantly define organic chemistry. In this illustration of a city, the following aspects of a city will be used to show a correlation to organic chemistry theories.

The patterns of a city, especially the zoning and residential areas and the characteristics of the people who live in those particular zones in a great way have similar characteristics and patterns as those witnessed in the periodic table. People living in the different zones can be shown to proportionally correlate with organic chemistry theories.

To use this illustration in the best manner possible, the following assumptions will be made:

1. The structure of a city will be equated to the pattern of a periodic table
2. People living in a city will be equated to the atoms of the elements of a periodic table
3. The influence that a person has will be equated to the reactivity of an atom of an element
4. The interaction between two people will be equated to chemical reaction (both reversible and irreversible)
5. A molecule will be treated as a family or a partnership

Discussing Theories

The periodic table is very significant in organic chemistry, and it is literary the fabric which holds all the chemistry theories together. The fundamental principles followed in a periodic table have a special chemical significance and displacing one element in the period table will really make the whole table odd. A very high level of correlation can be observed in the way that a city is arranged. This is discussed in the following sections:

Assumption 1

The structure of a city and its dwellers can be equated to the pattern and atoms of the elements in a periodic table respectively.

It is common in any city to have sections for particular people of different levels of influence. In most cases, how rich a person is determines where one lives in the city. People of high influence and great wealth stay together in exclusive places and as the influence and wealth of a person decrease he or she is likely to change the place of residence. This kind of a pattern is observed in a periodic table whereby going across the table from left to right the atomic number increases thus altering a number of chemical and physical properties across the table (Dingle, 2008).

Let us say the wealthy and influential people are on the right side of the periodic table; then the following true observations relate to both the periodic table as well as the city dwellers:

1. Stability increases across the table from left to the right.
2. The atoms of the elements on left rarely lose because of their strong affinity to gain.
3. The inert gases may represent those people who do not work by choice; the super millionaires who have amassed enough wealth.

Assumption 2

The reactions of the atoms in the period table are similar to the interaction of the people in real life.

The various atoms of the elements represented in the periodic table can react to produce products. Some of these reactions may not be possible while some will be highly reactive. Some of the reactions will produce very stable compounds while some will produce unstable compounds, which will immediately or sometime later revert to the original reacting elements. A reaction between atoms of elements in the group VII and group I will make a stable molecule; in real life, a less influential person stands to gain influence and stability in life by hooking up with the influential person in town (Ham, 2008). Still, atoms of group VII elements can react to form stable products, e.g. Cl + Cl = Cl_2. In the same manner, two influential partners in a city can decide to form a formidable partnership. When atoms react, they may form products which are unstable. The unstable product may disintegrate back to the original atoms. This is often seen in interactions that do not work and end up in divorces and sometimes do not last long enough to form a partnership or a marriage. Even those stable compounds which are formed when subjected to some condition may break down in the same way stable real-life partnership may break down when subjected to some conditions, for instance, unfaithfulness. Therefore, it can be argued that molecules can be equated to partnerships that people enter into, thus the stability of these partnerships will always depend on the type of interaction that leads to the formation of the molecule technically implying that it depends on the atoms (persons) consisting of that molecule.

Discussing the Theories

The Collision Theory of Reaction Rates

The illustration above can be used to understand this theory. This theory stipulates that there must be a correct orientation in order for particles to engage in a reaction. There are other factors, which determine whether a reaction does take place and these factors are discussed under the following sections (Oriakhi, 2009).

Reactions involving species

A reaction involving two species will only be possible if the species collide. Just a collision is not enough; the collision has to be in the right manner, and the species must possess enough energy to bring about a reaction. If three particles are required for a given reaction and only two are present, then the reaction cannot proceed. This implies that for a reaction to occur, a number of conditions have to be met. Activation energy is required to start off a reaction: it is the lowest level of energy required to start a reaction. Therefore, for a reaction to take place, all the factors must be met.

The Valence Theory

This theory is a simple extension of the Lewis-dot structure. It is a simple illustration of the formation of bonds in organic chemistry. A covalent bond in its simplest explanation is a bond which results when electrons are shared between or among two or more than two atoms. There are many aspects of the covalent bond that need to be studied. The study of covalent bonds has been made possible through the valence bond theory. The valence bond theory points out the electrons which are engaged in bonding and the specific orbitals which host the shared electrons.

According to the Lewis theory, a covalent bond is formed when atomic orbitals overlap and some electrons move from both atoms to the overlapping region where they are shared by both atoms. The shared electrons bind the two or more atoms thus forming the covalent bond.

Conclusion

The interaction of people in a city set up can be used to illustrate organic chemistry concepts. The structure of settlement and the interaction between the persons in a great way can be used to illustrate the properties of atoms of the elements in a periodic table. The collision theory of reaction rates also in a way can be equated to the way persons interact and form partnerships and alliances. This exercise of using real-life phenomena to illustrate organic chemistry theories requires some levels of creative thinking.

References

Dingle, A. (2008). The Periodic Table: Elements with Style. New York, NY: Paw Prints.

Ham, B. (2008). The Periodic Table. New York, NY: Infobase Publishing.

Oriakhi, C. (2009). Chemistry in quantitative language: fundamentals of general chemistry calculations. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.