AMC's television series Breaking Bad, directed by Vince Gilligan, was first aired in 2008 and has since won an impressive 108 industry awards, and has been nominated for over 250. The show features a brilliant high-school chemistry teacher, Walter White, who turns to the life of a drug dealer after being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. This series is very much an epic tribute to the sometimes terrifying, but always incredible, power of chemistry. The goal of this project was to create a structure that mirrors Breaking Bad's portrayal of the world of chemistry, while also necessarily incorporating Atkins' Big Ideas in Chemistry, which form the very framework of the concepts one learns in this scientific field. What is also important in this work is that no single idea is intentionally the center; like chemistry itself, all the different aspects intertwine with and complement one another while providing support to the overall piece. Finally, an extremely important concept when creating this project was that of dynamicism. Something Breaking Bad does remarkably well is not only show chemistry's utility, but also its chaotic, exciting, ever-changing nature. With that in mind, this work is meant to not only be "fun", but also inspire some awe, interest and perhaps even some confusion so that one fully understands the feelings of being introduced to the chemical world for the first time.
As a tribute to both Breaking Bad and Atkins' Big Ideas in Chemistry, all the objects in this work somehow relate to one, the other, or both (hence the title of the project, Breaking Bond). One of the centerpieces of the board is a large recreation of the molecule N-methyl-alpha-methylphenethylamine (methamphetamine), which, while referencing the drug created in the television series, primarily portrays the Big Idea of atoms being made of molecules. It also is meant to induce thought regarding how such a simple molecule can cause such terrible, detrimental effects to one's nervous system and health. The next Big Idea is seen around the board itself; the triplets of elements each have a colored bar above them, portraying their periodic change of electronegativity in reference to the Pauling Electronegativity Scale. Most sides of the board have six elements, with each triplet belonging to a Periodic Table column, and this grouping shows the periodicity of the electronegative trend, which generally increases (portrayed as blue to red) as one goes 'up' a column and 'across' a row. Both the third and fourth Big Idea are once again seen in the large molecule on the board; the grey tubes connected each atom are consequently covalent electron bonds, with the attached phenethyl group having both sigma and pi bonds due to the C-C double bonds. Four important reactions in the Breaking Bad universe, all involving the pairing of electrons and a characteristic molecular shape, also occupy the corners of this piece. The importance of molecular shape is also evinced by how the molecule is positioned on the board; the phenethyl group, due to its double bonds, is highly stable and planar in itself and therefore supports the rest of the molecule, which is in the air. Additionally, this molecule is the 3-D S-enantiomer of methamphetamine, and the one normally used to create the recreational drug, once again demonstrating the importance of shape (the R-enantiomer is, in fact, used in various nasal decongestants).
Importantly, these functional groups all come together to create what is known colloquially as the drug crystal meth; the presence of this substance on the board (in the form of blue crystals) addresses the Big Idea of residual forces between molecules. The methamphetamine molecules must come together in a specific, ordered structure in order to produce what is known as a 'crystal'. Perhaps the most exciting object on the board, however, is the explosion of cards emanating from it. This structure is meant to demonstrate the concept of increasing Entropy; the cards, rather than staying in their stacks, are exploding chaotically into a disorder, playing into the idea that the universe tends towards a more entropic state. This idea of chaos also plays into the tone of Breaking Bad; life, along with chemical reactions, often does not act exactly as you expect it to, and tends to get out of hand quickly. Ultimately, also like life, in order to fully understand what occurs in this fascinating scientific field, one must truly be involved, and, to quote Walter White, "Respect the Chemistry."
References
For Photos used on the work:
Electron pairing: Anonymous, 2012. Online.
Barriers to reactions: Anonymous. Online. < http://chemistry.tutorvista.com/physical- chemistry/reaction-rates.html>
Four Reactions: Whitley, Kelley. 2009. Online. < http://www.chemprofessor.com/rxn.htm>
For Card outside: Anonymous. 2014. Online.
< http://www.clipartpanda.com/categories/molecule-20clipart>
For Better Call Saul: Anonymous. 2014. Online.