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Are the lone pairs in water equivalent?
I've read that the oxygen atom in water is $\mathrm{sp^2}$ hybridized, such that one of the oxygen lone pairs should be in an $\mathrm{sp^2}$ orbital and the other should be in a pure p atomic orbital.
First, am I correct about the lone pairs being…
jheindel
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Why does cyclopropane react with bromine?
In my exam, I was asked why cyclopropane could decolourise bromine water (indicating that it reacted with the bromine).
All I could guess was that it is related to the high angle strain in cyclopropane, as the C–C–C bond angle is $60^\circ$ instead…
evil999man
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46
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Why does whipped cream use nitrous oxide instead of nitrogen gas?
It seems that nitrous oxide $(\ce{N2O})$ is frequently used to create whipped cream. But why can't just regular nitrogen gas $(\ce{N2})$ be used instead?
ManRow
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Why does sulfur, but not oxygen, catenate?
Oxygen is a rather boring element. It has only two allotropes, dioxygen and ozone. Dioxygen has a double bond, and ozone has a delocalised cloud, giving rise to two "1.5 bonds".
On the other hand, sulfur has many stable allotropes, and a bunch of…
ManishEarth
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Inductive effect of hydrogen isotopes
Why does the electron-donating inductive effect (+I) of the isotopes of hydrogen decrease in the order $\ce{T} > \ce{D} > \ce{H}$?
(where T is Tritium and D is Deuterium)
Google has nothing to offer. Does it have to do anything with mass, as the…
Karan Singh
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What's the biggest organic molecule that could have a smell?
For a molecule to have a smell it's necessary that the molecule be volatile enough to be in the air. So I think that excludes molecules which are solid at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Maybe the question then is equivalent to: what is…
pentane
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45
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The reason behind the steep rise in pH in the acid base titration curve
Most books refer to a steep rise in pH when a titration reaches the equivalence point. However, I do not understand why … I mean I am adding the same drops of acid to the alkali but just as I near the correct volume (i.e. the volume required to…
Eliza
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45
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Why does alcoholic KOH prefer elimination whereas aqueous KOH prefers substitution?
What is the basic difference between aqueous and alcoholic $\ce{KOH}$? Why does alcoholic $\ce{KOH}$ prefer elimination whereas aqueous $\ce{KOH}$ prefers substitution?
humble
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Do molecules with bridges through rings exist?
Do molecules with bridges through rings (in a manner illustrated by this) exist?
I sometimes get results like this when doing Energy Minimization on molview.org. For example:
Is this actually a thing?
EDIT: As a slightly more realistic example,…
schuelermine
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Why can we still breathe in valleys?
Air is 1% argon. Argon is heavier than air.
Why doesn't the argon concentrate in low-lying areas, choking out life there?
Stack Tracer
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Why is methane's molecular formula conventionally "CH₄", while water is "H₂O" (among others)?
While revisiting some of my old notes about the Miller-Urey experiment, I stumbled across the "equation"...
Electricity + $\ce{CH4~/~ NH3~/~H2O~/~CO}$ = Amino Acids
This got me thinking.
Conventionally, why are molecules like $\ce{CH4}$ and…
LanceLafontaine
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44
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3 answers
What is the inert pair effect?
I was reading about the p-block elements and found that the inert pair effect is mentioned everywhere in this topic. However, the book does not explain it very well. So, what is the inert pair effect? Please give a full explanation (and an example…
radiantshaw
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Differences between phenols and alcohols
I know phenols are more acidic as compared to alcohols, but are they considered different from alcohols?
Sure, you can study something as a subset, but are phenols considered a subset of alcohols, or are they considered as completely different from…
Kartik Anand
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Does heavy water taste sweet?
In this YouTube video from Cody's Lab, Cody claims that heavy water tastes sweet.
He does some fairly convincing comparisons but still expresses a little doubt that the effect is real.
Has this been studied by others? Is the effect verified and if…
matt_black
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How to derive these general formulae for number of stereoisomers of a compound with a possible plane of symmetry?
These formulae are used if the molecule has a possible plane of symmetry. One such example would be:
Here the carbons marked with an asterisk are stereogenic centres (the asterisk is not used to mark isotopes). We can clearly see that if carbon…
FreezingFire
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