Recent content by DDTea

Does the same reasoning apply to bacteria, which are extremely adaptable to their environments? Suppose that a culture of E. Coli were exposed to some ionizing radiation that damaged their DNA in such a way as to cause unpredictable mutations. Could some of the mutated E. Coli prove to be...

I hope this isn't a half-baked question but it's in regard to recent news stories about massive rises in birth defects in the Iraqi city of Fallujah since the US assault in 2004, for example http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/13/falluja-cancer-children-birth-defects and the possibility of...

What did hydriodic acid have to do with the discussion? I can think of plenty of good uses for it. Anyhow, I agree with Borek, the answer is, "Yes."

That's difficult to say because you're comparing atoms in different periodic families, specifically oxygen (the "business end" of the OH(-) group) and Br-. You'd have to evaluate them on the basis of their polarizability (Br- is more polarizable) as well as their size (OH(-) is a lot smaller)...

The main reason is that there is much more water than there is Br-, so a reaction between the bromonium ion and water is more likely than Br- attacking the bromonium ring. More than that, though: the Br- is solvated and surrounded by water molecules, which both distributes its charge density...

The proper saying is, "In space, no one can hear you scream unless it is the battle cry of a United States Marine Corps Space Aviator!" - R. Lee Ermey, from Space: Above and Beyond.

I don't even know if this question can be salvaged into a reasonable topic, but I'll try (although I suspect that this topic is not allowed on these forums. I'll do my best to keep it professional): Many natural products, such as cannabinoids and opioids, do have synthetic derivatives. In...

Reactions don't ever "stop" at equilibrium; products and reactants are just forming at a rate exactly equal to each other. You could show that the reaction is still ongoing by LeChatelier's principle. If you remove one of the product, more will form.

There's probably some reaction that can convert ethanol to vinyl alcohol (ethenol), which would subsequently tautomerize to acetaldehyde... BUT that's not what is happening here. The answer lies in the mechanism. This is an E1 elimination. First step is the hydroxyl oxygen gets protonated by...

Base "strength" should be based on Kb. In any O. Chem class you take, you'll have to memorize a table of pKa values, not pH or pOH values. The latter are based on concentration instead of tendency to dissociate and aren't as useful. The reason for this is that it let's you predict whether...

You did this right. Here's a cool trick; it may be useful in the future. It's called the "nitrogen rule" (or at least that's what we called it): if the molecule has a and odd molar mass, there is an odd number of nitrogen atoms in the structure (usually 1, but sometimes 3, 5, etc.). If it is...

At the very least, I would say Multivariable Calculus and an introductory Linear Algebra course. You can *almost* wing the rest. An introductory course on differential equations would also be good (although according to a theoretical chem professor I know, "I've never had to use diff eq since...

If you're considering a second degree, don't consider Chemistry for plasma propulsion. It's tangentially related but not so much that you should go out of your way for it. You'd probably gain a lot more from electrical engineering or upper level coursework in chemical physics.

Look into a book called "The Art of Writing Reasonable Organic Reaction Mechanisms" by Robert Grossman. It's pretty much the standard text for tackling organic reaction mechanism problems. If anything, read the first two chapters. It will help. It's probably in your university library. Of...

So is this just a rant? It's so inane I barely know how to address it. Complaining that science is a lot of work or that problem sets are hard is a lot like going to the gym and complaining that the weights are heavy. Organic chemistry is just so fundamental that it's hard to imagine a...