User:Spoon!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This user is a university student.
This user exploits the pigeonhole principle.
This user knows about ignosticism, the belief that the existence of God is not a useful topic of discussion.
Java-5 This user is a professional Java programmer.
OCaml This user is an OCaml programmer.
C++-4 This user is an expert C++ programmer.
C-3 This user is an advanced C user.
This user is an intermediate Scheme programmer.


Perl-2 This user is an intermediate Perl programmer.
bash-1 This user is a beginning Bash scripter.
php-1 This user is a beginning PHP programmer.
JS-1 This user is a beginning JavaScript user.
py-1 This user is a beginning Python programmer.
hs-1 This user is a beginning Haskell programmer.

I agree to multi-license all my contributions, with the exception of my user pages, as described below:

Multi-licensed with the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License versions 1.0 and 2.0
I agree to multi-license my text contributions, unless otherwise stated, under the GFDL and the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license version 1.0 and version 2.0. Please be aware that other contributors might not do the same, so if you want to use my contributions under the Creative Commons terms, please check the CC dual-license and Multi-licensing guides.

Contents

[edit] Central angle in simplices between radii to vertices

I know that many people have figured this out long ago, but I like to share it anyhow, because I have wondered about it for a long time when I was in high school...

You know how in high school they told you that the angle between two bonds in methane was about 109.47^\circ or something like that? Did you ever wonder what that came from? It is \cos^{-1} (-\frac{1}{3}). And I will now show you why:

[edit] Theorem

If circumradii are drawn between the center of an n-simplex and its vertices, the angle between these segments is \cos^{-1} (-\frac{1}{n}).

[edit] Proof

Some formulas from this page:

http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~erowland/polytopes.html#sectionII

  • The height of a regular n-simplex of side s is
 h_n = \sqrt{ \frac{n+1}{2n} } s
 a_n = \frac{h_n}{n+1}

The circumradius, which is the difference between the height and the apothem, is:

 R = h_n - a_n = \frac{n}{n+1} h_n = \sqrt{ \frac{n}{2(n+1)} } s

Now consider any two circumradii. They go to two different vertices, which must be joined by an edge of the n-simplex, forming a triangle. Because we know the lengths of all sides of this triangle, we can find the angle between the circumradii using the law of cosines:

 \cos{\gamma} = \frac{a^2 + b^2 - c^2}{2ab}

Here, a = b = R, and c = s.

\begin{align}
\cos{\gamma} &=& \frac{R^2 + R^2 - s^2}{2R^2} \\
&=& 1 - \frac{1}{2} \left(\frac{s}{R}\right)^2 \\
&=& 1 - \frac{1}{2} \cdot \frac{2(n+1)}{n} \\
&=& 1 - \frac{n+1}{n} \\
&=& -\frac{1}{n} \\
\gamma &=& \cos^{-1} (-\frac{1}{n}) \\
\end{align}

The angle we want is between 0 and 180^\circ. Since cosine is one-to-one in that range, the angle is uniquely determined.

Q.E.D.

[edit] Conclusion

This explains, among other things, the angles between hybridized orbitals:

hybridization dimensions angle between orbitals
sp n = 1 \cos^{-1} (-\frac{1}{1}) = 180^\circ
sp2 n = 2 \cos^{-1} (-\frac{1}{2}) = 120^\circ
sp3 n = 3 \cos^{-1} (-\frac{1}{3}) \approx 109.47^\circ

That's all the simplices that can fit in 3 dimensions, folks; but you see the pattern...


[edit] Oxyanion chart

Hybridization

Orbital configuration

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

sp (double)

AX1.5E0 B2O3 M2O3

sp

AX2E0 linear AlO2- BO2- CO2 SiO2 MO2 NO2+
AX1E1 CO NO+

sp2 (double)

AX2.5E0 Si2O52- N2O5 P2O5 As2O5 M2O5
AX1.5E1 N2O3 As2O3
AX0.5E2 N2O

sp2

AX3E0 trigonal planar BO33- CO32- SiO32- SnO32- PbO32- NO3- VO3- SO3 O4 SeO3 MO3
AX2E1 bent <120 SnO22- PbO22- NO2- SO2 O3 SeO2
AX1E2 SO O2

sp3 (double)

AX3.5E0 Si2O76- P2O74- Cr2O72- Cl2O7 M2O7
AX2.5E1
AX1.5E2 S2O32-
AX0.5E3 Cl2O

sp3

AX4E0 tetrahedral SiO44- PO43- AsO43- SO42- SeO42- TeO42- CrO42- MoO42- WO42- ClO4- BrO4- IO4- MnO4- TcO4- ReO4- XeO4 RuO4 OsO4
AX3E1 trigonal pyramidal PO33- AsO33- SO32- SeO32- TeO32- ClO3- BrO3- IO3- XeO3
AX2E2 bent <109.5 PO23- SO22- ClO2- BrO2- IO2-
AX1E3 O22- ClO- BrO- IO-