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1500 questions
19
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3 answers
Are salts (e.g. NaCl) soluble in liquid metals?
I'm curious whether any salt would at all dissolve in a liquid metal, such as gallium, mercury, or some other metal in the liquid phase?
A Google search of "solubility of NaCl in Mercury" results in papers on Mercury's solubility in molten salt. I…
Tom P
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19
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Why does zinc react with sodium hydroxide?
If zinc is less reactive than sodium, then why does it still react with sodium hydroxide?
Daksh Shah
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19
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3 answers
Why is one lobe of an sp3 hybridized orbital smaller than its other half?
A hybrid sp3 orbital is drawn with one lobe smaller than its other half, the latter which is of equal size when drawing the p orbital. Why is it so?
Apoorv
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19
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2 answers
Designing a theoretical synthesis of methamphetamine from phenylpropyne
I am asked to synthesize "methamphetamine." Note that there is no configuration designated for this molecule, and methamphetamine refers to a very specific configuration. In any case, here are the steps I took:
Reduction with hydrogen gas and…
Dissenter
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19
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1 answer
Why does the graph of the electrical conductivity of sulfuric acid/water solutions have this knee in the ~85%-~92% range?
This answer to an earlier question regarding the electrical conductivity of sulfuric acid provides a graph showing the conductivity of sulfuric acid/water mixtures ranging from 0% to 100% sulfuric acid:
(Image by Horace E. Darling in "Conductivity…
Vikki
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19
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5 answers
Uses of Fourier / Laplace transforms in chemistry (apart from spectroscopy)
I'm just now learning about the Fourier transform, which seems like a pretty useful tool, and I know it has uses in spectroscopy (e.g. FTIR) since that is what Google shows when searching for applications of the Fourier transform in chemistry.…
Dragonoverlord3000
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19
votes
1 answer
What is a Herzberg?
Whatman lists the flow rates for their filters in a unit called a 'Herzberg':
What is this?
I've been searching around and I did find information about Herzberg flow rate testers, for example this old paper on filtration flow rate measurement and…
Jason C
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19
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2 answers
Why does the solubility of group II hydroxides increase and the solubility of sulfates decrease down the group?
I know that solubility of alkaline earth metal hydroxides increases down the group and solubility of alkaline earth metal sulfates decreases down the group. What is the reason for these trends?
Yomal Amarathunge
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19
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3 answers
Can geometrical isomers be enantiomers?
I have just been pondering upon the question above. I have found this example and I am sure they are enantiomers, but do they also count as geometrical isomers?
Harsh Katara
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19
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Bond order for carbonate ion for resonance
I saw in a textbook that for carbonate ion, there are 3 resonance forms and the bond order is 1 and 1/3. So in general, how should we calculate the bond order for resonance structures?
Is there any definite way to do this?
user646
19
votes
2 answers
Why does the weaker C–H bond have a higher wavenumber than the C=O bond?
My understanding is that a stronger bond has a higher wavenumber in IR spectrum. But why does the C–H vibration have a higher wavenumber than the C=O vibration? The latter is a double bond, so I think it should be a stronger bond than the C–H single…
michael morgan
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19
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2 answers
Does ultrasonic bath cleaning damage laboratory volumetric glassware calibration?
As an analytical chemist, I'm always ensuring my glassware is thoroughly clean before I start an analysis. However, my supervisor always states that using ultrasonic bath to clean volumetric glassware damages its calibration, rendering it imprecise…
Roman
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19
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2 answers
What is kekulization (in RDKit)?
It's been a while since I've studied chemistry. Now, I am reading the documentation of RDKit. At a certain point, the term "kekulization" is mentioned. What is kekulization (in RDKit, if this is not a standard chemical term)?
user79033
19
votes
1 answer
Contribution of Tetrahedral and Octahedral voids in HCP
I cannot find anywhere what the contribution of atoms situated at octahedral or tetrahedral voids in a HCP unit cell would be. I need to know this to be able to calculate the formula of a compound with HCP unit cell, when the positions of the atoms…
karun mathews
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Why can Cu have an oxidation number of +2?
The electronic configuration for $\ce{Cu}$, adjusted for Hund's rule, is:
$[\ce{Ar}] 3d^{10} 4s^1$
So, shouldn't $\ce{Cu}$ have an oxidation number of $+1$? whereby it gives off its outermost 4s electron? Why can it also have a $+2$ charge?
1110101001
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