Chemistry is a lot of simple ideas combined together to create an explanation of certain phenomena. People apply chemistry every day without knowing because that is how we grew up. Most people know that without plants and trees we would not have clean air to breath and the reaction plants undergo is photosynthesis which is part of chemistry. It is so simple that we do not even realize it is happening. The simplicity of chemistry is what I tried to convey in my artwork. By showing the main concepts of chemistry, using Atkins's Big Ideas, in abstract ways, it defines the lack of difficulty in the subject.

My artwork is several scientific elements arranged to portray the reality of chemistry versus everything that is impossible. In my design I tried to show as many big ideas as possible and succeeded at displaying six of Peter Atkins's nine big ideas of chemistry. The first idea touched upon is Atkins’s first: Matter is made of atoms (1). One of the first things a student learns when taking any chemistry course is that everything is made of atoms. This concept is the most basic but is also the most fundamental rule. In my painting, I created this idea very simply: I added an atom with its electron rings to the reality side of the canvas; this portrayal is the most straight-forward display but since everything is made of atoms, the whole painting is one big symbol of this idea. Similarly, the second concept displayed is Atkins’s second idea as well: Elements display periodicity and again, this concept was simply shown by imputing the outline of the periodic table and labelling a few elements according to period and group.

For the next idea: Chemical bonds form when electrons pair (1), the idea was more abstract. I have drawn a benzene ring at the bottom of the canvas which highlights this third idea. The benzene is waving one of his pi bonds to attract attention. In the diagram, the Chlorine atom notices and is going to form a chemical bond with the benzene ring. The importance of how a chemical bonds form is given in the picture because the benzene is using its electrons to grab the chlorine. A bond is an electron pairing, it is not done by any other part of the atom.

One major aspect of chemistry is the molecular shape of compounds (1). In the project, I tried to show this by contrasting two designs. An atom can only have as many bonds as its electron number can sustain and since carbon has four electrons it can only form four bonds, and no more. Using this fact, I created two different shapes for carbon. One carbon, on the left side, has five bonds while on the other side carbon forms its tetrahedral shape with four bonds. Molecules form in 3-D structures hence the tetrahedral but if it were to form five bonds, a 3-D shape would not take place. My model emphasizes the importance of shapes and geometry in chemistry.

The final two ideas represented are Atkins’s eighth and ninth: there are barriers to reactions and there are only four types of reactions (1). The barriers to the reactions are presented in graphs. They are showing the reaction diagram of energy within a chemical reaction. Again, the graphs are opposites of the other, the one on the right display the truth of how a reaction occurs while the impossible graph uses negative energy to react which is impossible. On the other hand, the four types of reactions are described with emotions commonly found within the young community. The four faces each represent one of the reactions.

All together the painting forms into a simple map to chemistry. At first everything is possible but as one becomes more knowledgeable and understands the big ideas of chemistry one starts to push out all the impossible for example superman, the flash, and unicorns to replace it with the reality of the world.

Bibliography

1. Lima, Jailson. “Creativity as a Tool” The Art &Science Project. N.p, 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2014

2. “The Ten Commandements for Organic Chemistry Students.” N.p, 20 Sept. 2004. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. link