EPhantom Posted February 15, 2011 Report Share Posted February 15, 2011 So I am not much of a chemistry person, so sadly I don't know if this is a simple or super complex question. What I am wondering is how to calculate the strength between two atoms in a simple molecule, like in H2O, CO2, AlO, FeO2 ect... and I have no idea where to start at all as I have taken only one chemistry course :( I was hoping that I would be able to understand how much heat or electricity is required to break a bond in one of these through this calculation. basically electrolyzing the oxygen/other away from the molecule system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnaby Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 So I am not much of a chemistry person, so sadly I don't know if this is a simple or super complex question. What I am wondering is how to calculate the strength between two atoms in a simple molecule, like in H2O, CO2, AlO, FeO2 ect... and I have no idea where to start at all as I have taken only one chemistry course :( I was hoping that I would be able to understand how much heat or electricity is required to break a bond in one of these through this calculation. basically electrolyzing the oxygen/other away from the molecule system. The easiest way without doing any theoretical computer calculations is to use F = -kx. This is the Hooks law and the different k values can be used depending on the bond type. I don't know the k values. If you have two atoms then you will have two forces if there are three atoms then there will be three forces assuming the molecule is linear and so on so forth. The details of how to work this out can be found online on different websites but it really use the use of classical first year physics. It's a start! People set up their own force equations and develop their own constants to account for different bonds and in the end you get what people call the "force field". It's just a term to describe how atoms interact with one another. Unless you are talking about heat of formation which is just enthalpies of products minus reactants. If it is the latter then it is simple because there you just look up energy values for whatever you need. If it is calculation from first principles you are interested in then it is quit involved and requires you to invoke quantum mechanics and a lot of physics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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