Ruddick, Kristie R and Parrill, Abby L, An Interlocking Building Block Activity in Writing Formulas of Ionic Compounds, Journal of Chemical Education 2012, 89 (11), pp 1436-1438.
This activity is used as a reinforcement activity following my use of JCE Classroom Activity #113: An Interlocking Building Block Activity in Writing Formulas of Ionic Compounds.
It could be used as a stand alone activity to support writing ionic formulas and names.
Blue building blocks to represent cations & Red building blocks to represent anions.
For one set each of A – D as described in the table below, you will need
Blue: three 3 x 1, nine 2 x 1, nine 1 x 1
Red: six 3 x 1, eight 2 x 1, nine 1 x 1
Work with a partner. Create a table like the one below. (A sample set of data has been provided.)
Set | CATION | # of cation(s) | ANION | # of anion(s) | FORMULA | NAME |
X | Aluminum | 2 | Oxygen | 3 | Al2O3 | Aluminum Oxide |
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There are several stations set up around the room. You will have two minutes per station to find ions that work together to make compounds.
Cations = Blue Anions = Red
• Select a cation and an anion from the ions provided.
• Write the symbol for the cation in the CATION column.
• Write the symbol for the anion in the ANION column. (Remember that ions have charges…so you should show them with their symbol.)
• Put your cations and anions together so that they make a neutral compound (their charges add up to zero). Every formula unit will have a red line of blocks and a blue line of blocks.
• Record the number of cation pieces and the number of anion pieces that were required to make the compound.
• Write the formula of the compound you put together in the FORMULA column.
• Disassemble the formula unit. You may use these ions in new combinations.
• When time is up, move to the next set of ions.
Make sure that both of your names are on the table you submit for a grade.
Writing formulas and names of ionic compounds. Combining ions to form a neutral formula unit. There must be a specific cation and a specific anion for each formula unit.
Twenty minutes.
one hour of preparation to create the sets usingbuilding blocks, baggies and permanent marker.