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Why alkanes containing even number of carbons can be packed more efficiently than alkanes with odd number of carbon atoms?
Variation of boiling and melting points of alkanes with increase in the number of carbons
The odd-numbered alkanes have a lower trend in melting points than
even numbered alkanes. This is because even numbered alkanes pack well
in the solid…
Yashas
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2 answers
Does water have a chemical name?
Does water have a chemical name?
If so, what is it?
P.S. I checked up the web and got all sorts of crazy answers like dihydrogenmonoxide, oxidane, hydrogendihydride etc. Please validate.
SubZero
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16
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4 answers
Why is fluorine more reactive than chlorine?
Why is fluorine more reactive than chlorine despite chlorine having a higher electron affinity?
Luckylak
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Alphabetization rule in case of consecutively placed substituents
This is the compound:
I am stuck on assigning the locants to the given halo substituents. We know that all halogens are of equal priority. So, using first point of difference, we get either an $\ce{I \rightarrow Br \rightarrow Cl}$ path or a…
Gaurang Tandon
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2 answers
Do MO's span a bond or the whole molecule?
I'm reading Organic Chemistry by David Klein (2nd Ed), and when discussing the causes of torsional strain, he writes this
Based on recent quantum mechanical calculations, it is now believed that the staggered conformation possesses a favorable…
lightweaver
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16
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5 answers
Can two electron occupy the same spatial spot in a statistical way?
My friend claimed that if we have a two-electron atom in the ground state, and somehow we get the "real" electronic wavefunction $\psi(\mathbf{x_1},\mathbf{x_2})$ of the system, the statistical probability of finding two electrons (spin-up and…
James LT
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Why is the dipole moment of chloromethane larger than the dipole moment of fluoromethane?
On the Pauling electronegativity scale, fluorine and chlorine are 3.98 and 3.16, respectively.
Since the dipole moment is dependent on electronegativity, why is the dipole moment of chloromethane larger than the dipole moment of fluoromethane?
I…
user16347
16
votes
4 answers
Can ATP be synthesized and consumed?
I do not understand why you could not fill a bowl full of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and eat it. Is there a way to make ATP other than inside a cell and apply it to your body by injection, ingestion, topical absorption, inhalation, or another…
Muze
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Do non-English speaking countries use the same element symbols?
The question does sound pretty absurd, but hear me out first. The Periodic Table of the Elements, as I know it, is supposed to be a common standard adopted by the global scientific community.
However, I see a hitch when it comes to a total…
paracetamol
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Liquid which neither dissolves in water nor oil
I am looking for a liquid which is not miscible (or very close) with water or vegetable oil. Ideally, I want to have a container which shows three layers (the three liquids) with clear boundary layers.
I was thinking that I should find a non-polar…
Greg Austic
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16
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6 answers
Will bridged compounds the undergo SN1 reaction?
$\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{N}}1$ reaction involves only one molecule in the rate determining step. So, the molecule which undergoes $\mathrm{S}_{\mathrm{N}}1$ reaction should be stable when it forms a positive ion. $\ce{(CH3)3C^+}$ is considered stable…
Rajath Radhakrishnan
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16
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2 answers
Does fluorine in FNO3 have +1 oxidation number?
According to my textbook and also Wikipedia, fluorine nitrate is a compound which can be created (though it is unstable). Also my textbook says that fluorine has a $+1$ oxidation state. But how is $+1$ state of fluorine possible?
I read in another…
Learm
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2 answers
Why is sugar syrup so sticky?
On the festival of Diwali, Indians exchange sweets and share their love. I did just that this very morning, but things don't always go the right way. I dropped a box of sweets and the sugary syrup spread all over the floor. Now while cleaning up the…
Vidyanshu Mishra
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16
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Classifying some molecular orbitals after Hartree-Fock calculation
I have done a Hartree-Fock (HF) calculation on a dioxetane molecule with one methyl group on one of the C-atoms (Fig 1), with minimal basis (using Molcas). I want to identify the active space that will be used in later CASSCF calculations on the…
Yoda
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3 answers
Mercury metal: Not toxic?
Now I (and most of us here, I guess) have grown up around "Mercury's toxic! Avoid handling it! Do NOT screw around with this thing, if you value your life" and other equally heartening pieces of advice regarding mercury. Apparently mercury poisoning…
paracetamol
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