Chemistry can bite me. Stupid bonds.

[super_elmo]

So it seems a whole lot of you on my flist are sick. Yesterday I was going to write a bunch of get-well fic for you, but you all screwed me up by infecting me as well, so I had to slack off and read Terry Pratchett instead. But I'm better now and I'll probably write y'all some drabbles when I get home, if I get the chance (I'm at the library now).

Comments

[super_elmo]

Yes, yes, very sophisticated, I'm quite proud.

(I only know two constellations, and I can hardly ever see them. And astronomer Elmo is not.)

[anjenue]

Okay, this is from what I remember of chem from a couple years ago, but um...when hydrogen bonds are formed in water, it's the negative of oxygen's lone pairs to a hydrogen. A water molecule is a dipole, with the oxygen monopolising the negative charge and the hydrogens therefore becoming positive in charge. so one hydrogen basically has no electrons (since the oxygen has stolen them so it can have the full complement of 8 around it) and the oxygen has 2 to offer. But it has to offer both in order to form a bond. So basically, it donates one of the pair to the hydrogen so the hydrogen can bond with it, though not an actual chemical bond since hydrogen only has an s orbital (and capacity for two electrons). Hence, hydrogen bonding. Does that make sense? (If you need me to clarify I'm happy to try.)

I'm getting there...

[super_elmo]

That's the stuff I understand. But I don't get weak bonds, where the molecules aren't actually attached, only sort of attracted to each other. My problem is that when you count up the electrons in one oxygen atom, they don't come out even. Oxygen starts with six valence electrons. It then forms two covalent bonds with hydrogen, so that two of its electrons are being used by the hydrogen. Oxygen has four electrons left. Then two other water molecules come along, and one sigma-plus hydrogen from each forms a weak bond with the electrons around the oxygen. But oxygen had four electrons that weren't in use, so why do only two of them form weak bonds with other water molecules? What happens to the two that don't form bonds?

Re: I'm getting there...

[anjenue]

That's what I'm saying though. Hydrogen bonds work because...okay. Resting state for a negative ion, i.e. oxygen, whose natural charge is -2, is to have a full complement of electrons and have all its orbitals filled, yes? So when it's covalently bonded with hydrogen, which forms a positive ion, oxygen in effect has 8 electrons in its orbitals, and hydrogen has none. It donates its electrons to oxygen. Therefore, in order for it to form a hydrogen bond with oxygen, it needs to share the oxygen's electrons. And as you know, a bond is made up of two electrons -- in hydrogen, both electrons go in the s orbital. So if you think of the hydrogen's s orbital as being empty of electrons, it needs to share BOTH of oxygen's electrons to fill that orbital. It's not one electron in oxygen bonding with one in hydrogen. It's oxygen being generous and sharing its electron pair with poor electron-deficient hydrogen.

That better?

Re: I'm getting there...

[super_elmo]

Yes yes, much. *understands evil molecules now*

I wasn't thinking about it in those terms, but ha! It makes sense this way!

Thank you so much :)

[metal_sheep]

Hey, no worrying about science-y stuff! This is GOD'S COUNTRY!

[super_elmo]

Not if the GAY, TOLERANT, ABORTION-HAVING, FEMINIST COMMUNISTS keep living here.

[jennuine]

...Am I a heathen? Wait, okay, I am. Your teacher is right. And over here, we do eat lots of bananas. (The fruit, not so much the euphemistic, although that happens too, more than the government likes to admit.)

You really are learning things in school. Forget about electrons. And I used to be good in chemistry (plus my Dad actually majored in Chem), except that (i) its been 3 years since I was in high school, (ii) I became an art student, and (iii) I studied it in a foreign language, so my terminology is kind of different.

p/S - am I the only one wondering why astronomy is in your biology book? or is that how its done in God's country?

[super_elmo]

Yes, I AM SO SMART. It is crazy. My head is so full of stuff it is starting to swell up. And then I'll graduate and it'll be, "What? Education? We had a tarantula in my science class."

*eats bananas with you, you utter heathen*

I don't get it. Did you always live in Malaysia? What other languages do you know, besides French and English?

Our biology book had a tiny little section on the starts because it was talking about how the earth formed and why there couldn't be life on it at first. And then it got confused and started telling us about other a-long-time-ago stuff. I had to hit it against the table a couple of times, and then it went back to normal.

[cherrigeek]

Yea it totally does suck that we dont have any classes together...but no Im not gonna be in Stage Crew...no time as usual sorry!

[super_elmo]

Aww :(