ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses one of the key topics in the chemistry curriculum, chemical bonding. It explores the role of the energy concept in understanding school chemistry before specifically addressing chemical bonding concepts. Energy is one of the most fundamental and ubiquitous concepts in science. It is also one of the most abstract. Students tend to think of energy as if it is a kind of substance because they make sense of abstract ideas in terms of more familiar experiences. The physics department might employ specific representations and teaching models, and if so, it will be helpful to adopt these where possible. A key area where energy is important in teaching chemistry is in teaching about chemical structures. In chemistry, the most interesting collisions are those which initiate chemical change in reaction mixtures, but more commonly, most such collisions are completely elastic. The members of the physics department probably take care over how they use the word heat.
