The bonds that bind
Mike Sutton plots the journey of the scientists who solved the riddle of chemical bonding
Early in 1916, two scientists were independently converging on an important puzzle. Gilbert Lewis was a US chemist with wide-ranging interests who was something of a maverick. Walther Kossel was a German physicist from a more conventional academic background who focused on a narrower band of problems. They addressed two fundamental questions – what binds elements together to form compounds, and why are some eager to combine and others reluctant? Their answers differed, but were clearly pointing in the same direction.
A year later the US was at war with Germany. Kossel was already working to improve military radio equipment, and soon afterwards Lewis began training army personnel to cope with poison gas. Today the war has passed into history, but the theory that Kossel and Lewis pioneered remains central to chemistry.
This article provides a link to the article in Chemistry World
Thanks for using Education in Chemistry. You can view one Education in Chemistry article per month as a visitor.
Register for Teach Chemistry for free, unlimited access
Registration is open to all teachers and technicians at secondary schools, colleges and teacher training institutions in the UK and Ireland.
Get all this, plus much more:
- unlimited access to resources, core practical videos and Education in Chemistry articles
- teacher well-being toolkit, personal development resources and online assessments
- applications for funding to support your lessons
Already a Teach Chemistry member? Sign in now.
Not eligible for Teach Chemistry? Sign up for a personal account instead, or you can also access all our resources with Royal Society of Chemistry membership.