The wave nature of electrons is fundamental to chemistry. Atomic orbitals and chemical bonds both correspond to standing waves formed by electrons, so it is important to have some sense of what a standing wave represents and how they behave. Here are some videos demonstrating standing waves.

There are some common threads in all standing waves.

• Nodes – points where the wave has zero amplitude – can have different geometries. They can be lines, circles, or more complicated curves.
• There are only certain energies that a standing wave can have. This depends on the mechanical properties of the system (e.g. for the drumhead, the thickness and elasticity of the material and how tightly it is drawn).
• In general, the number of nodes increases as the energy of the wave increases.

Brooklyn College Department of Chemistry, Prof. Mark Kobrak

General background in basic and more advanced concepts of chemical reactivity, molecular geometry and electronic distribution in molecules. Topics include: Atomic theory, the periodic table, periodic trends and properties (with a focus on main group elements), bonding theories, Lewis structures and formal charges, valence bond theory, polar and non-polar molecules and bonds, resonance theory, molecular orbital theory: general principles; molecular orbitals for homonuclear and heteronuclear diatomic molecules, molecular orbital theory for organic molecules focusing on functional groups, principles of symmetry in molecules, chirality, isomerism, stereoisomerism, naming chiral centers; Newman, sawhorse and fisher projections, free-energy diagrams, reaction coordinates and transition states, reaction mechanisms: curved arrow symbolism, elementary steps.
Prerequisite: Chemistry 1100 or Chemistry 2050 or Chem 1200 or Chem 2060 Prerequisite or co-requisite: Chemistry 2100 or Chem 2200

Here is an open-source textbook that will be used in Chem 2110 section MZ12 in Fall 21: