http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/11/27/a_thanksgiving_morning_brain_t Comments On: A Thanksgiving Morning Brain Teaser by Dan Savage en-us Copyright 2009 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:01 -0800 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0800 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by hint?]]> Tue, 13 Jan 2009 10:59:12 -0800 The Stranger
Washington University is not called UDub. It's Wash U, Washington University, or Washington University in St. Louis if you want to be formal.
Posted by Richard Nixon's Ghost]]> Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:17:41 -0800 The Stranger
As other commenters have pointed out, it's about hybrid bonding. On the left, the Px+Px shows that the second CC double bond is oriented up and down on the board, while the Py+Py shows the second double bond oriented out of the board - that's why the hydrogens are oriented the way they are (i.e. in a plane perpendicular to the orientation of the double bonds). The CH bonds in the allene are indeed sp2 hybridized, meaning a combination of a spherical s orbital and two oriented p (peanut-shaped) orbitals.

The sp2 on the diagram on the right shows that the 3 hydrogens in the plane coming out of the board are s hybridized with px and py, while the axial hydrogen forms a single bond with the vertical pz orbital. Add the hydride (H-) and you get a hypervalent compound where one bond is shared between two PH "bonds."

Summary: it's an attempt to explain to freshmen why molecules are shaped the way they are.
Posted by Helena]]> Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:24:36 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Nietzsche is Pietzsche]]> Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:10:48 -0800 The Stranger Posted by geoffreyyyyy]]> Sat, 29 Nov 2008 08:38:00 -0800 The Stranger
[/snarkasm]

Posted by Cookie W. Monster]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:54:24 -0800 The Stranger Posted by spoo]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:53:55 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Eric from Boulder]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 08:49:47 -0800 The Stranger
And the lines are bonds in the plane of the chalkboard. The squiggles go backward, the triangles come forward. It's all very 3D, because we are 3D, and these molecules make us up.

This only really matters if you're into chemistry or wondering why we all don't just fall apart into the basic units of the universe.
Posted by idaho]]> Fri, 28 Nov 2008 00:34:37 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Yawn.]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:35:48 -0800 The Stranger
And, she would make it clear that she knows ...

Change in the air
Posted by Adam]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:15:24 -0800 The Stranger Posted by LT]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:06:13 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Scotto]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 18:47:00 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Jaya]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:53:30 -0800 The Stranger Posted by hooey]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:28:27 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Almost a MS Chem]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:02:39 -0800 The Stranger Posted by Margie]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:41:33 -0800 The Stranger Posted by jens]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 16:02:02 -0800 The Stranger Posted by lsk3]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:13:04 -0800 The Stranger Posted by WASL]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:43:21 -0800 The Stranger
Posted by University Science Student]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:27:53 -0800 The Stranger
=)
Posted by justin]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:06:40 -0800 The Stranger
It's too late in the semester for the material to be covered by organic chemistry or physical chemistry
Posted by John]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:09:22 -0800 The Stranger
I was watching a documentary on Fermilab the other day and they through up a huge list of electron orbits on a chalkboard and I had some major flashbacks. Somewhere in my brain, all of that knowledge still exists (little-known fact, I was a chemistry major in college).
Posted by Julie in Chicago]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:03:07 -0800 The Stranger
The three P orbitals are generally labeled x, y, and z. SP2 hybridization will only utilize two of the three (x and y).

And yeah, this is mid-quarter majors-level intro to general chemistry. :)
Posted by violet_dagrinder]]> Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:31:32 -0800 The Stranger