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"Molecular Level Construction Tool"

The purpose of this tool is to assist students to construct molecular-level representations of aqueous ionic solutions with different combinations of ions.

Students are able to construct these representations by selecting, placing and rotating water molecules and ions on the screen. The program offers feedback and tips during the construction exercise to help students refine their representation. Once this exercise has focused the student's attention on the key features of ionic solutions, they should see the VisChem animations that portray 3-D representations of ionic solutions.

The tool's intended use is for students studying first year university-level chemistry.

Students of introductory chemistry often have difficulty understanding molecular-level chemistry concepts. This tool has been designed to go beyond what was done in the exemplar which prompted its creation (VisChem). Where the learning design exemplar requires the lecturer to provide the feedback, this ICT-based tool provides helpful feedback to the student during the construction process.

Tasker, R. & West, T. with Lockyer, L. & Harper, B. (2002). Chemistry Molecular Level Construction Tool. Retrieved , from Learning Designs Web site:

A guide on how to use this tool is available here in pdf format. The tool has been designed to enable learners to build representations of aqueous ionic solutions at the molecular level. By constructing, checking, and refining their construction, learners will progress through the seven key features that are important for explaining chemical processes and reactions in these solutions.

A demonstration is not available. However Illustrative animations of the scenarios in the tool are available at  'VisChem Animations' below.

Two zip file versions of the tool are available for download under the coditions outlined under Limitations.

Download Macintosh Version (SIT, 5.6 Mb)

Download PC Version (ZIP, 5.6 Mb)

Additionally, you can download a Quick Start Guide to the tool (PDF, 1.1Mb).

The Molecular Construction Tool is available in PC and Macintosh formats. It was developed by Engineering Research Group Australia.

Licence agreement:

The download and use of this software tool is conditional to educational use only and cannot be used for commercial gain or further developed for commercial gain.

Liability Disclaimer:

Limitation of Liability. The Software and any related documentation are provided "AS IS" and without warranty of any kind and The Development Team commissioned by the AUTC funded project: Information and Communication Technologies and Their Role in Flexible Learning (hereafter referred to as "The Development Team" ) expressly disclaims all other warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Under no circumstances shall The Development Team be liable for any incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use or inability to use the software or related documentation, even if The Development Team has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Use these animations with the Molecular Level Construction Tool to look for the seven key features in each animation.The animations are one representation of a mental model of the aqueous solutions and precipitations illustrated.

The animations downloaded here can also be obtained in higher quality and size either from Roy Tasker directly, or from the VisChem Resource CD available from the commercial distributor listed in the exemplar site under Designer's Voice/Implementation/Resources.

Conditions of Use of Animations

The copyright for the VisChem animations is owned by the University of Western Sydney. The download and use of these animations is conditional to educational use only and cannot be used for commercial gain or further developed for commercial gain.

Selected Frame	Reference Code & Title	Relevant Formula or Equation	Additional Notes
	D3No06.mov Liquid water	H2O(l)	Water molecules, hydrogen bonded together, some in clusters, move around.
Aqueous Solutions
	D4No01.mov Aqueous copper(II) nitrate	Cu2+(aq) + 2NO3-(aq)	Hydrated copper and nitrate ions roam amongst the water molecules, with the occasional collision of ions and formation of a transient ion pair, followed by its dissociation. The concentration is 1M, so there are about 55 water molecules for each metal ion.
	D4No02.mov Aqueous copper(II) nitrate (only ions shown)	Cu2+(aq) + 2NO3-(aq)	Hydrated copper and nitrate ions roam amongst the water molecules (not shown for simplicity), with the occasional collision of ions and formation of a transient ion pair, followed by its dissociation. The concentration is 1M, so there are about 55 water molecules for each metal ion.
	D4No03.mov Aqueous iron(III) nitrate	Fe3+(aq) + 3NO3-(aq)	Hydrated iron(III) and nitrate ions roam amongst the water molecules, with the occasional collision of ions and formation of a transient ion pair, followed by its dissociation. The concentration is 1M, so there are about 55 water molecules for each metal ion.
	D4No04.mov Aqueous iron(III) nitrate (only ions shown)	Fe3+(aq) + 3NO3-(aq)	Hydrated iron(III) and nitrate ions roam amongst the water molecules (not shown for simplicity), with the occasional collision of ions and formation of a transient ion pair, followed by its dissociation. The concentration is 1M, so there are about 55 water molecules for each metal ion.
	D4No06.mov Aqueous sodium chloride	Na+(aq) + Cl-(aq)	Hydrated sodium and chloride ions roam amongst the solvent molecules, with the occasional collision of ions and formation of a transient ion pair, followed by its rapid dissociation.
	D4No08.mov Aqueous silver nitrate	Ag+(aq) + NO3-(aq)	Hydrated silver and nitrate ions roam amongst the water molecules with the occasional collision of ions and formation of a transient ion pair, followed by its dissociation.
	D4No09.mov Aqueous sodium nitrate	Na+(aq) + NO3-(aq)	Hydrated sodium and nitrate ions roam amongst the water molecules with the occasional collision of ions and formation of a transient ion pair, followed by its dissociation.
Precipitation
	E2No02.mov Silver chloride precipitation	Ag+(aq) + Cl-(aq) --> AgCl(s)	In a solution containing silver, sodium, nitrate and chloride ions a silver ion and a chloride ion collide, and form a stable ion pair. Another ion pair joins, and the resulting cluster joins a growing crystal of silver chloride, with spectator ions in the background.

This tool has been derived from the VisChem learning design exemplar. A related guideline is also available for your review. See Observe, Represent, Refine.