Most Popular
1500 questions
83
votes
7 answers
Do all salts taste salty?
Recently, I am learning the production of soluble and insoluble salts. My friend and I have done this experiment at the school lab.
We wanted to taste them to see whether they are salty are not. The teacher luckily stopped us from doing that.
So…
Simon-Nail-It
- 4,693
- 18
- 48
- 74
81
votes
1 answer
What causes the old book smell?
I have a collection of old books (all 80+ years old), recently, I received a British Chemistry text from 1903 (intro page below) - this being the oldest book of my collection (112 years old at the time of writing this question):
One thing I notice…
user15489
80
votes
4 answers
Bonding in diatomic C2, a carbon-carbon quadruple bond?
Carbon is well known to form single, double, and triple $\ce{C-C}$ bonds in compounds. There is a recent report (2012) that carbon forms a quadruple bond in diatomic carbon, $\ce{C2}$. The excerpt below is taken from that report. The fourth bond…
Janice DelMar
- 6,106
- 1
- 35
- 36
79
votes
7 answers
Ortho-effect in substituted aromatic acids and bases
When comparing o,m,p-toluidine basicities, the ortho effect is believed to explain why o-toluidine is weaker. But when comparing o,m,p-toluic acid basicities, the ortho effect is stated as a reason why o-toluic acid is stronger acid. I was told…
user4114
- 949
- 1
- 8
- 5
77
votes
3 answers
Why is it wrong to use the concept of hybridization for transition metal complexes?
I have asked a lot of questions on coordination chemistry here before and I have gone through a lot others here as well. Students, including me, attempt to answer those questions using the concept of hybridization because that's what we are taught…
Arishta
- 4,157
- 9
- 40
- 58
77
votes
6 answers
Why would breathing pure oxygen be a bad idea?
My textbook mentions that SCUBA tanks often contain a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen along with a little helium which serves as a diluent.
Now as I remember it, divers take care not to surface too quickly because it results in 'the Bends', which…
paracetamol
- 18,649
- 29
- 106
- 169
75
votes
5 answers
How do people know HCN smells like almonds?
I was told by my chemistry teacher that $\ce{HCN}$ smells like almonds. She then went on to tell a story about how some of her students tried to play a prank on her by pouring almond extract down the drain to make her think that they had…
vandal11
- 847
- 1
- 7
- 10
74
votes
3 answers
Could a magnet pull oxygen out of the air?
I read that the $\ce{O2}$ molecule is paramagnetic, so I'm wondering: could a strong magnet pull the $\ce{O2}$ to one part of a room – enough to cause breathing problems for the organisms in the room?
(I'm not a professional chemist, though I took…
Rob N
- 1,613
- 2
- 15
- 15
73
votes
3 answers
How do organic chemistry mechanisms become accepted?
Now I have been learning chemistry for five years. I remember when I started organic chemistry, it was fun to draw arrows between molecules to show, as if in a mathematical demonstration, how the reactions occurred. In every lesson I had, teachers…
ParaH2
- 4,177
- 4
- 26
- 42
72
votes
4 answers
Why do elements in columns 6 and 11 assume 'abnormal' electron configurations?
When I look around for why copper and chromium only have one electron in their outermost s orbital and 5/10 in their outermost d orbital, I'm bombarded with the fact that they are more stable with a half or completely filled d orbital, so the final…
Gordon Gustafson
- 1,807
- 2
- 15
- 10
70
votes
1 answer
Why does F replace the axial bond in PCl5?
Why does $\ce{F}$ replace an axial bond in $\ce{PCl5}$? I realize that it would be more stable there than at equatorial bond, but what is the reason of its stability? Similarly in $\ce{AB4}$ type of molecules with $\ce{sp^3d}$ hybridization (4 bond…
Shubham
- 1,545
- 3
- 13
- 12
69
votes
4 answers
How does Walter White make pure crystal meth using a non-stereospecific reaction?
In the highly-rated TV series, Breaking Bad, Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher recently diagnosed with cancer, takes to making the illicit drug, crystal meth (methamphetamine), by two main routes.
First, along with his RV-driving…
matt_black
- 35,967
- 4
- 86
- 173
68
votes
8 answers
Is iron in the brown ring compound in a +1 oxidation state?
In the standard brown ring test for the nitrate ion, the brown ring complex is:
$$\ce{[Fe(H2O)5(NO)]^{2+}}$$
In this compound, the nitrosyl ligand is positively charged, and iron is in a $+1$ oxidation state.
Now, iron has stable oxidation states +2…
ManishEarth
- 15,177
- 14
- 76
- 114
67
votes
3 answers
Why doesn't H₄O²⁺ exist?
I know this question has been asked previously but I cannot find a satisfactory explanation as to why is it so difficult for $\ce{H4O^2+}$ to exist. There are explanations that it is so because of $+2$ charge, but if only that was the reason then…
Sanom Dane
- 844
- 1
- 7
- 12
65
votes
8 answers
Why do compounds like SF6 and SF4 exist but SH6 and SH4 don't?
Both $\ce{SF6}$ and $\ce{SH6}$ and $\ce{SF4}$ and $\ce{SH4}$ have the same central atom and the same hybridization, but my teacher specifically mentioned that $\ce{SH6}$ and $\ce{SH4}$ don't exist. I've looked everywhere but I can't figure out why?…
sayantankhan
- 759
- 1
- 6
- 7