By Brandon Wu & EJ Brannan
The Sound of Chemistry
Brandon Wu & EJ Brannan
Introduction
We all love a good study jam while we’re working on our chemistry homework, but have you ever considered that at a deeper level, chemistry and music may be related? As it turns out, the connection between these subjects follows all the way to their roots. From essential topics of wavelength and frequency, to the translation of scientific data into DAW softwares to produce music, the topic of auditory interpretation of chemical data is becoming an increasingly popular and well-studied topic amongst the scientific community.
This project will begin with a broad introduction of the ongoing academic discussion as to how chemistry and music are related. We then explore and analyze some specific scientific literature pertaining to the subject. Finally, we showcase our own creative contribution to the subject of music in chemistry, incorporating course curriculum of Chem 165 by creating a formula that converts the ligands and metal centers of coordinate metal complexes into musical chords, providing information about the Δo of the complex through the tonality of the chord.
What's the Point of Musical Chemistry?
As you will see throughout our project, there are a multitude of ways that music and chemistry can be related. But what's the point? Here's a few reasons why we should care:
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Music is well known to benefit students academic ability. Research has shown that music can reduce stress and have a significant effect on a student's GPA and concentration.
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Providing a new way for chemistry students to visualize. We all process information differently and have preferences for how we learn. Making another pathway available can only help add another method for chemistry to appeal to more students.
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Foundational skills, such as patterns and timing, are crucial to both fields. As such, learning one means indirectly learning the other.
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It's fascinating! The world is full of random connections that make a life of discovery so rewarding. Plus, who knows what else we might find in the process?
