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Analogical Chemistry – Learning Can be Made Fun

Chemistry can be boring, if one’s chemistry with it is poor. The option then is to

accept without understanding what is written, memorize & score marks to have

better career prospects. . After all atomic theory was not invented by us.

We merely accepted it.

I was teaching my daughter a lesson in Chemistry and the topic was “Chemical

BONDS”. Since I left school, the only BOND I thought I knew was James Bond; I

was a Chemistry Scholar then and had scored good marks in my 12th & in preschool.

(Now a days the highest level of education is taken at a place called

SCHOOL, therefore the term pre-school is for all the other schools starting with

Play School)

Level of understanding many times is inversely proportional to the marks scored.

. Therefore, those who do poorly in these subjects are in fact often more

intelligent, only problem with them is that they are trying to comprehend

“Chemistry” or for that matter any subject , in a manner, which would let them

keep its learning for the life time.

But unfortunately these days the rate at which one needs to appear for the exam

is far greater than the time available to study & comprehend the subject, so many

times children are forced to memorize and score good marks. After all, tangible is

what is liked. These children grow up as professionals & chase targets; habit of

chasing begin in childhood & continues entire professional life (post retirement,

they become a consultant, hate chasing targets and also advice people not to

indulge in such a bad habit.)

Habit of enquiry, playfulness soon dies in this mad race and those who score

maximum marks are admitted to the best schools and are termed as

SCHOLARS, who after many years write their memoirs which read something

like this “I was born intelligent, expectation to be right in quick time ruined my

intelligence”, These scholars are then employed by school drop outs like Bill

Gates & Steve Jobs 

Oh!!! enough of preamble I will come to the point now … I have decided to use

my taste for Systematic Innovation to change all this, staring with self first

It was a challenge to explain my daughter the concepts of chemical bonds. The

only choice for me to add value was to be different, my customer had an unmet

need therefore I started thinking in terms of analogies to be able to contribute

meaningfully.

We started with IONIC BONDS. The bond is formed between metal and non

metal when metal atoms donate electrons to complete the octet of the non metal.

Example is NACL where Sodium atom donate electron to complete Chlorine

octate. Thus the metals are like “resource-rich, wealthy, blessed and ever willing

to help” population and the receiver (non metals) represents downtrodden,

opportunity deprived, needy population who falls short of resources and are thus

unstable. Once the donation is received the state of instability ceases. The bond

between the donor and the receiver thus is very strong, solid like IONIC BOND

developed by the force of gratitude & love.

Some of the real life examples are people donating huge sum of their earnings or

property to a social cause, their personal time in educating, serving others ( even

when their per day earning rate is lofty), few donate their body organs ( after

death or while they are alive) like Kidney, eyes, blood to the needy. Imagine the

strength of the bond thus created. Bond thus formed cannot be easily broken

much the same way Ionic bonds cannot be broken due to its higher melting and

boiling points.

Now let us turn to the COVALENT BONDS. The bond is formed between non

metals (equal level people like you & me). Here the electrons are not donated but

shared between equal atoms e.g. H2, Cl 2, O2 and Duplet or Octets are formed.

These atoms are like self help groups. Real life Example of such bonds are

· Group of people sharing their lunch ( they are equal, do you ( non metal)

share lunch with your BOSS ( metal), if you do then your boss is lucky)

· Pool Cars ( Maintaining own car is expensive, this year’s raise is not

sufficient, may also get pink slip, therefore pooling is a better option)

· Shared Cabins ( I want a cabin but there are not many, so let us share

and be happy)

· Common Balcony, Common Toilets, in Mumbai’s famous chawls etc

· Share a Cigarette, drink etc

· Exchange Notes if you are student ( & then fall in love in filmy style)

As they are circumstances based, these bonds can be easily broken taking few

cases from above it means if you leave the company you no more share lunch

with your friends, you are promoted and therefore you want to show status to

your poor partners so you break the pool & join your equals, you migrate to a

“tower” or “new housing complex” so no sharing of toilets, balcony with

neighbors. We continued till my daughter said she is bonded with bonds and that

she never imagined that bond theory was that interesting. I think I had disruption

creating a market for chemistry for a non consumer. 

Bond with the best, bond with Analogical Chemistry. 

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