Self-Assembly: Templates, Reversibility and Error Correction · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Structures that build and correct themselves

Science · Chemistry · ages 23-24
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Why must bonding stay reversible for a defined cage?

    • Wrong links come apart again instead of trapping
    • Reversible bonds are stronger
    • Reversible glue is cheaper

  2. What decides the product when blocks join reversibly?

    • The order you add the parts
    • The layout with the lowest free energy
    • The fastest single connection

  3. Every spontaneous process lowers Gibbs free energy.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Two metals prefer different geometries with the same ligand. What do you expect?

    • Different assemblies, since geometry dictates the closed form
    • No assembly at all
    • Identical assemblies

  5. What does a template change about an assembly?

    • It removes the need for reversible bonds
    • It speeds every connection equally
    • It makes one layout the favoured minimum

  6. How do block copolymer phases mirror small-molecule assembly?

    • Both avoid entropy entirely
    • Both chase the lowest free energy under reversible contacts
    • Both need a metal template

  7. Locking parts with irreversible bonds still allows full error correction.

    Circle one:   True   False

  8. After template removal your cage falls apart. What does that reveal?

    • The bonds were too reversible
    • Entropy played no role
    • The template was part of the minimum, not just a guide
LightMySky · lightmysky.comW1-mt_6y_SNmqwYX-s1

Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Structures that build and correct themselves W1-mt_6y_SNmqwYX-s1

  1. Wrong links come apart again instead of trapping · Error correction needs links that can undo themselves.
  2. The layout with the lowest free energy · Sampling layouts ends at the free-energy minimum.
  3. True · Falling free energy is what spontaneous means here.
  4. Different assemblies, since geometry dictates the closed form · Metal angles plus ligand denticity decide which ring can close.
  5. It makes one layout the favoured minimum · Biasing the minimum steers parts into the chosen form.
  6. Both chase the lowest free energy under reversible contacts · Dislike segregates blocks while the chain link restrains parting: patterned minima.
  7. False · Permanent links trap first-formed mistakes as an amorphous mix.
  8. The template was part of the minimum, not just a guide · A product that needs its template was never the free minimum alone.
Worksheet · LightMySky