Play-Doh Lab

Your Task: You will use Play-Doh to explore the shapes of common
compounds.

In the Lab:
1. Determine the Lewis structure for each of the following
compounds
OF2 CH4 N2 O2
SeCl6 AsF5 NH3 BF3
BeF2 CI4 CO2 AlH3
HF
2. Determine the shape of the molecule using VSEPR Theory.
3. Create a model of the molecule using Play-Doh and toothpicks.
Use half a toothpick for each bond to help hold them together
better and conserve toothpicks.
4. Using you knowledge of intermolecular forces and VSEPR Theory,
predict what intermolecular forces these molecules would exert
on another molecule of the same compound.
5. Create a data table including the following columns: Number of
Valence Electrons, Lewis Structure, Number of Shared Pairs on
the Central Atom, Number of Unshared Pairs on the Central
Atom, Molecular Geometry, 3D Picture of the Model, and
Intermolecular Forces for this Molecule. The columns italicized
above do not need to be completed for nitrogen, oxygen, and
hydrogen fluoride.
6. Please note that oxygen and nitrogen exist naturally as O2 and
N2. When chemists refer to oxygen or nitrogen, we are
referring to O2 and N2.

Lab Report:
A) Purpose
B) Analysis Questions
1) Of the compounds above, which ones do you expect to be
soluble in water? Justify your answers.
2) Of the compounds above, which ones do you expect to be
soluble in carbon tetrachloride? Justify your answers.
3) Oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen fluoride all have similar
geometries. Which of the three do you expect to have the
highest boiling point? Justify your answer.
4) Based on its intermolecular forces, you would not expect
carbon dioxide to be soluble in water. For example, the
solubility of oxygen in water at 25C and atmospheric
pressure is 8.3mg/L. However, carbon dioxide is fairly
soluble in water and has a solubility of 1.45g/L at
atmospheric pressure. Explain why you would not have
 predicted carbon dioxides higher solubility in water. Then
research the reason why carbon dioxide is fairly soluble in
water. Be sure to cite your sources.
C) Conclusions
D) Chart of the 13 compounds