Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid

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content provider: the Nuffield Curriculum Centre
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In this classroom activity, learners construct a wobbly model of a crystal array to investigate the attractive interaction between neighboring atoms in a solid. By using this less traditional model, students explore chemical bonds as analogous to a stretched or compressed spring. Gently shaking the model shows how stored energy can be communicated to the next layer of atoms. Vigorous shaking causes the model to break apart, representing the breaking of chemical bonds.

See Related Materials for a link to a Flash animation that helps learners visualize the atomic structure of metals and how the chemical bonds are impacted by bending and heating.

This item is part of a much larger collection of physics/astronomy experiments, sponsored by the UK's Institute of Physics and funded by the Nuffield Curriculum Centre.

https://spark.iop.org/collections/crystals-atoms#model-vibrating-a...

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Education Practices - Active Learning = Modeling Modern Physics - Atomic Physics = Atomic Models Other Sciences - Chemistry	- Middle School - High School	- Instructional Material = Activity = Model

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Access Rights:: Free access
Restriction:: © 2006 The Nuffield Foundation
Additional information is available.
Keywords:: atomic model, chemical bonds, crystal, ionic bonds, practical physics
Record Cloner:: Metadata instance created August 16, 2011 by Caroline Hall
Record Updated:: August 16, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: April 16, 2010
Other Collections:: The Physics Front

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AAAS Benchmark Alignments (2008 Version)

4. The Physical Setting

4D. The Structure of Matter

6-8: 4D/M1a. All matter is made up of atoms, which are far too small to see directly through a microscope.
6-8: 4D/M1cd. Atoms may link together in well-defined molecules, or may be packed together in crystal patterns. Different arrangements of atoms into groups compose all substances and determine the characteristic properties of substances.
6-8: 4D/M3ab. Atoms and molecules are perpetually in motion. Increased temperature means greater average energy of motion, so most substances expand when heated.

11. Common Themes

11B. Models

6-8: 11B/M1. Models are often used to think about processes that happen too slowly, too quickly, or on too small a scale to observe directly. They are also used for processes that are too vast, too complex, or too dangerous to study.
6-8: 11B/M5. The usefulness of a model depends on how closely its behavior matches key aspects of what is being modeled. The only way to determine the usefulness of a model is to compare its behavior to the behavior of the real-world object, event, or process being modeled.

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<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=11393">Nuffield Curriculum Centre. Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid. April 16, 2010.</a>

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Nuffield Curriculum Centre, (2006), WWW Document, (https://spark.iop.org/collections/crystals-atoms#model-vibrating-atoms-solid).

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Nuffield Curriculum Centre, Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid (2006), <https://spark.iop.org/collections/crystals-atoms#model-vibrating-atoms-solid>.

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Nuffield Curriculum Centre. (2010, April 16). Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid. Retrieved April 19, 2024, from https://spark.iop.org/collections/crystals-atoms#model-vibrating-atoms-solid

Chicago Format

Nuffield Curriculum Centre. Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid. April 16, 2010. https://spark.iop.org/collections/crystals-atoms#model-vibrating-atoms-solid (accessed 19 April 2024).

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Nuffield Curriculum Centre. Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid. 2006. 16 Apr. 2010. Nuffield Curriculum Centre. 19 Apr. 2024 <https://spark.iop.org/collections/crystals-atoms#model-vibrating-atoms-solid>.

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@misc{ Author = "Nuffield Curriculum Centre", Title = {Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {19 April 2024}, Month = {April 16, 2010}, Year = {2006} }

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%Q Nuffield Curriculum Centre %T Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid %D April 16, 2010 %U https://spark.iop.org/collections/crystals-atoms#model-vibrating-atoms-solid %O text/html

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%0 Electronic Source %A Nuffield Curriculum Centre, %D April 16, 2010 %T Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid %V 2024 %N 19 April 2024 %8 April 16, 2010 %9 text/html %U https://spark.iop.org/collections/crystals-atoms#model-vibrating-atoms-solid

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Practical Physics: A Model of Vibrating Atoms in a Solid:

Same topic as PBS LearningMedia: The Structure of Metal

This Flash animation provides further visualization of what happens at the atomic level when chemical bonds are formed and broken in a metallic structure.

relation by Caroline Hall

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