Applying Hand-Held 3D Printing Technology to the Teaching of VSEPR Theory

Abstract

The use of hand-held 3D printing technology provides a unique and engaging approach to learning VSEPR theory by enabling students to draw three-dimensional depictions of different molecular geometries, giving them an appreciation of the shapes of the building blocks of complex molecular structures. Students are provided with 3D printing pens and two-dimensional templates which allows them to construct three-dimensional ABS models of the basic VSEPR shapes. We found that the learning curve associated with manipulating the pen accurately and the time required to draw a structure is sufficiently high that this exercise would need to be limited in a laboratory setting to students each being tasked with drawing a different molecule; however, in the correct setting, hand-held 3D printing pens are a potentially powerful tool for the teaching of VSEPR theory.