Water! Water isn’t just something that we can drink. Our whole body is composed of water and even the smallest parts such as our eyes has a big amount of water to lubricate it. However, when our eyes get dry we need a clinical substance to lubricate it. Teardrops are the solutions for that problem. However, what are teardrops made of ?
Everything that surrounds us is made of atom, or else this world wouldn’t exist.
In my art project I portrayed that the eye is a matter made of atoms. Not only the eye is made of atoms, but also the teardrops that are useful to lubricate the eye. These teardrops are composed of different molecules that are made out of atoms. The molecules are mostly composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Thus, my art project also portrays that elements displays periodicity, since there’re different elements of the Periodic Table in the top right corner of my art work.
The Periodic table gives us the atomic number and the atomic mass of the different elements. Also, the elements are placed in terms of atomic size, electronegativity, ionization energy, etc. The periodic table also separates the elements into metals, non-metals and metalloids. As we can see, the elements that are displayed in my art work are all non-metals.
Moreover, the molecules that are portrayed all over my art work represents chemical bonding. When there are atoms dispersed, they bond together to create a chemical bonding. Thus, electrons are being paired up. However, there’re two different types of bonding: ionic bonding and covalent bonding. Ionic bonding occurs between a metal and a non-metal and a covalent bonding occurs between two non-metals. Since most of the elements in my art project are non-metals, they represent a covalent bonding.
Futhermore, the molecule of the teardrop isn’t mostly and only composed of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen. This teardrop essentially contains water. As I said before, water is an important component in a person’s life. Its molecular shape is represented in the middle of my art work to show that the drops are mostly composed of water. Its shape is bent and the angle that is formed is 105°. The molecular shape is imperative in chemistry, because it allows chemists to visualize the shape of a molecule, how many lone pairs there are, the angle(s), etc. Molecular shape is used to maximize the distance between the electrons, so it could minimize the repulsion in between them.
On the other hand, since water is the central attraction, it is also the subject of intermolecular forces. There is three types of intermolecular forces such as hydrogen bonding, dipole-dipole and dispersion of forces. In my art of work I represented the molecule of water which is connected to the hydrogen bonding. There are two conditions to have a hydrogen bonding. The first one is when an atom of hydrogen is directly attached to one of the most electronegative elements that are fluorine, the Godfather of electro-negativity, oxygen or nitrogen. Then, the hydrogen atom will gain an amount of positive charges. The second condition is that the elements that are connected to the hydrogen atom should have at least one lone pair. Thus, a hydrogen bonding will occur.
In conclusion, art is a way to express ourselves. However, chemistry is also a manner to express ourselves through art. I’m happy of what I’ve done, because I did an art work of what I like, since I want to become an optometrist. This art project made me realize how much chemistry is not only words on papers, or words in the air, but a big painting of life.