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1500 questions
15
votes
1 answer
Difference between radial, planar, angular and spherical nodes
What is the difference between them?
I think radial nodes and spherical nodes are the same, and angular and planar nodes are the same.
Reference
Finally, how many spherical nodes are there in a $2p$ orbital?
pikachu
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3 answers
How to make diamonds out of ashes?
Several companies are offering a service to turn ashes of human remains into diamonds.
Does anyone know any details about the chemical aspects of the process?
I have no idea, but suspect that the ashes are composed mostly of phosphates and oxides.…
guest
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15
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What's that tangy smell on cheap plastic?
Most cheap items (from China mostly) have a strong tangy odor to the plastics (or some resin, but I can mostly smell it on plastics). The smell is always consistent over a broad range or products and I get it for at least a decade. So I do not…
gcb
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4 answers
How fast do electrons move around the nucleus?
Electrons, as we all know, are incredibly small. Smaller things do tend to move faster, right? So exactly how fast considering how small they are? Also, does the electonegativity difference between two atoms alter the speed of the electron?
David Johnson
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Is s-p mixing referring to hybridization or is it the mixing of one atoms s orbital with the other's p orbital?
According to molecular orbital theory s and p orbitals can mix if they are close enough in energy to each other. For period 2 diatomics, this occurs for $\ce{Li}$, $\ce{Be}$, $\ce{B}$, $\ce{C}$ and $\ce{N}$ - in the case of oxygen and fluorine the s…
RobChem
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15
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1 answer
What is the mechanism of APTES mono-layer formation on glass substrates?
The reagent APTES is a fairly common "ink" for microcontact printing, a technique that forms covalent bonds between the silanols found on the surface of the glass and the silane in the the APTES. It's also been demonstrated that the mono-layer then…
Emmie MC
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4 answers
How accurate is this polar mechanism for the Diels-Alder reaction?
So the prof got to Diels-Alder without discussing it in the context of molecular orbital theory. Instead we got a resonance picture of what happens... this is what he told us:
1) 1,3-butadiene has both an electrophilic and a nucleophilic terminal…
Dissenter
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15
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1 answer
Naming of quantum chemistry basis sets
For some DFT calculations I performed with localized (Gaussian) basis sets, I wonder how the basis sets I used are properly named. The names I could gather are:
H, C and O: 6-311G(d,p)
Al: 8-511G*
Ga: 86-4111d41G
(They all come from this…
F'x
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15
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1 answer
What happens during cleaning silverware?
I know two distinct recipes for cleaning silver:
Put them into a pot with some club soda and a piece of aluminium foil and pour over a hot water.
Gently clean silverware with a fine chalk powder (obtained from a pharmacy).
I'd be happy to…
Petr
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What is deuterium-depleted water actually used for?
I noted, flipping through the paperback Alfa Aesar catalogue today, that they sell deuterium-depleted water. Under the usage category, they list 'NMR'. I'm trying to work out what specific use this water has. Unfortunately, on the basis of very…
Richard Terrett
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15
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2 answers
What is the Ka of OH- and Kb of H3O+?
What is the $K_\mathrm{a}$ of $\ce{OH^-}$ and $K_\mathrm{b}$ of $\ce{H_3O^+}$? Have these constants been determined?
EJC
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15
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5 answers
Is it still possible for an amateur, a hobbyist, or a science buff to make relevant discoveries in chemistry today?
Consider astronomy. Hobbyists and amateurs are today still able to make small to moderate scientific contributions to their field. Is the same true in chemistry?
I think there might be at least two restricting factors:
The equipment needed to make…
user12794
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15
votes
3 answers
Practical safety of storing potassium
Potassium ($\ce{K}$) seems to be the transitional alkali metal in terms of safety. Lighter than $\ce{K}$ and we can store under oil with no worries. Heavier than $\ce{K}$ and only ampules will work. $\ce{K}$ is such that even under oil it can absorb…
user467
15
votes
4 answers
Public API for physical properties
Is there a publicly available API that serves physical property data for organic molecules?
Pubchem does not serve properties, ChemSpider closes property access to API calls, and Toxnet only serves html. Im basically looking for a free programmatic…
pkmeh
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15
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1 answer
Mechanism of dehydrogenation with nosylate
What is the mechanism of the attached reaction? How could nosylate do the dehydrogenate the species?
The reaction is from this synthesis (46th IChO preparatory problem 26):
EJC
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