Nanotechnology

Week 2 - Nanostructure of the Universe

In this unit we will look at the nanostructure of the universe, meaning what goes on at the nanoscale dimension. We'll also discuss some 'systems thinking' around nanotechnology, and emergence into 'the big world'.

Topics for this week:

From subatomic physics to chemical systems
Atomic and electronic structure (review)
Types of chemical bonds and bonding
Periodic table / chemical properties
Solid state physics / materials properties

Presentations and Web material

The Atom - Building Block of Nanotechnology (PPT)
Emergence - From the Beginning (PPT)
Chemistry for Dummies (in progress)
Solid state physics (in progress)
Materials and Material Properties (in progress)

The main learning outcomes for this week are:

How the universe formed, and produced atoms
The structure of the atom, how an atom 'works'
The periodic table, and major groups of elements
An overview of chemistry, how atoms and molecules work together
A very brief introduction to solid state physics, and material properties

Web links:

http://www.newi.ac.uk/buckleyc/bed.htm
http://www3.baylor.edu/Physics/open_text/index.html (open source physics)
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/chom.html (educational site for physics)
http://people.depauw.edu/jhansen/Chem120S04/ (VSEPR)
http://people.depauw.edu/jhansen/Chem120S04/IFAtypes.html (intermolecular forces)
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/chemical/bondcon.html#c1 (bonds)
http://www.science.marshall.edu/castella/chm448/chap8.pdf#search='van%20der%20waal%20forces ' (chem. Forces)
http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/bonding/vdw.html (van der waal forces)
http://bioweb.wku.edu/courses/biol220CAR/2ChemBond/vanDerWaalsMLO.html (van der waal forces)
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/chemical/waal.html (van der waal forces)
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html (Pauli's Exc.)
http://www.chemistry.ohio-state.edu/~woodward/ch754/bandstr.htm (band diagrams for chemists)
http://www.orbitals.com/orb/orbtable.htm - Grand Orbital Table

Additional learning outcomes:

An understanding of which properties emerge as dominant at various scales
An understanding of Pauli's exclusions principle and the uncertainty principle and their implications to the unpredictability of electrons at the nano scale
A brief familiarity with the terms van der Waal forces, Brownian motion, and the uncertainty principle (properties that come into play at the nanoscale)
An understanding of energy models of electrons for isolated atoms versus bulk materials (singular energy states vs energy bands)
Differentiate between conductor, insulator, and semiconductor with respect to the periodic table, outer shell electrons, and band gaps

Lecture / presentation material for the above concepts are provided as links and PPT files.