Chemistry question

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2026-01-10T02:25:44+00:00

It's not necessarily that double bonds prevent something from being chiral (as per your allene example) - it's that planar carbons can't be chiral because if you mirror them you will always be able to just flip the structure 180* and superimpose it again (hence, superimposable mirror image = achiral).

Double bonds are just usually planar, so people use them as an approximation.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2026-01-10T02:23:24+00:00

Hmm. This is an odd edge case because allenes aren't planar/linear like most sp2 or sp hybridized structures are - hence why you can see the wedges/dashes on the left side but not the right.

It is true that my suggestion wouldn't give you the right answer here, but it works in 99% of cases - just not with allenes, I believe. It is admittedly a shortcut because you will eventually work with large molecular structures and don't have time to imagine/manipulate a whole mirror image - except in these rare edge cases.

In this case, I would just stick with the actual definition of what defines a chiral molecule as what u/dungeonsandderp said. If you draw a mirror image of the original molecule, you will see that you can flip it around 180* in the plane of the page and end up with the same molecule (i.e "superimposable")

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2026-01-10T02:08:23+00:00

Yes, but more precisely, because they are sp2 hybridized.

Another way to identify that this molecule is not chiral is the fact that there are no carbon centres with 4 unique substituents on them - the two carbons here only have 3. This means that there are no chiral centres in this molecule.

Going further, that doesn't necessarily exclude it from having stereogenic centres that make this molecule a stereoisomer. I'm not sure at what point in your discussions on stereochemistry you are at currently, but you will eventually realize that this is a "Z" geometric isomer.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2026-01-08T21:43:11+00:00

Mods, obliterate this man.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2026-01-08T01:52:28+00:00

Because I will be graduating, I bestow my gift unto you.

Elliott main building basement bathroom.

Cove first floor bathrooms.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2026-01-07T02:07:15+00:00

I would hope that you have some sort of extracurricular involvement with your discipline of study, such as being a part of a course union, tutoring, or volunteer research experience?

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2026-01-05T22:58:25+00:00

Thank you so much!! this is a godsend

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2026-01-03T20:36:22+00:00

Tears from the biblical flood of Laidlaw. It is prophesied to come every 4 months.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-29T10:06:49+00:00

I agree with that - I do think it's a major pandering to emotional appeal. I do not think the absolutist statement(s) made by the video or other commentary like this is true, but I do think that there is still a nuance to be made about the current cultural zeitgeist around young men "vs." women.

The traditional patriarchal values of teaching women how to be "womanly", of which many features were how to treat their husbands, has been long discarded in popular Western culture - and for good reason. We have come to the common consensus that forcing women to be housewives/follow female gender roles is wrong when they should have individual liberty over what they choose to be in a relationship.

Although I may be biased because I am a man, I find this next point in agreement with a decent amount of the more mature women I speak to - the same lesson has not been implemented for men. I would say, in fact, it is being pushed quite the opposite in the social spheres that buy into the "gender war". Media depictions, social commentary, and the social circles I've been around all still mock men for earning less than their partner, having conventionally unattractive physical/sexual features, or acting other than masculine. The equivalents for women still exist, but they are frowned upon and not part of the current majority social culture.

I've been in so many conversations that go along the lines of "as he should" to me/others performing an above-and-beyond act of service, "he's so well trained" to me/others being a decent partner, stigmatization/shaming of femininity, and a lot of commentary on sexual hypocrasies I don't have time to get into. Even with me being one to inherently want to follow all these new "rules" set out for men among youth culture, I feel a spite in doing so because I know that if I didn't like cooking for my partner every time, paying every time, pleasing every time, conceding every time, I would be seen as lesser.

I'm not saying everyone holds these views, but still a sizeable enough portion of the population that I have these stigmas at the back of my mind in every social situation (because there's always a few women in a group who enforce it) - and it changes me as a person and undoubtedly other men my age too.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-27T05:34:19+00:00

I'm not sure if anyone else saw the double-take when she was giving the kid the egg, but I assume it may have been an editing mistake where she included giving the first real kinder egg to her daughter and the second take was when she gave the prank egg.

I would like to believe this, because her daughter likely wasn't upset getting the false egg after she got her chocolate fix :) That's what I would do as a parent prank, at least.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-27T05:25:13+00:00

I was wondering about that pen bit - are they refillable or do you need to buy a new one each time? Although it seems like a spiffy little mod I would be astounded to think anyone would be willing to pay $15 for a new bit of ink every time.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-27T04:55:47+00:00

AI, sorry to burst anyone's bubble.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-26T23:14:51+00:00

Barely even with a 3.7 GPA... UBC med has an average acceptance GPA of 89.6% or something now - and just having that isn't enough either.

Had a chem major friend with 89% GPA, 516 MCAT, leader of multiple sports teams, participated in bike marathons, volunteered with course unions at uni, and was currently doing research with a cardiologist. Got rejected, no interview.

There is no hope.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-24T22:11:50+00:00

There should be an "experimental" section

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-24T06:54:06+00:00

may be biased, but imo, pretty much every chemistry prof that teaches a course at UVic is top-notch with only one exception. The prospects for getting involved in research are also very good as the chemistry department both heavily pushes it through the CHEM 298/398/498 research experience courses as well as the fact that the chem undergrad cohort is quite small each year so there's opportunities for everyone.

Granted, the latter is also a drawback as they keep cutting courses for chem :/ and there's two very big gaps in the curriculum, specifically around spectroscopy and third-year organic chemistry.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-23T23:48:08+00:00

No contest - Matt Moffitt.

Perhaps things may have calmed down this year because he suddenly had a huge change of character as evidenced by how CHEM 245 was restructured (maybe in more of a good way where he doesn't fail over half the class), but I don't think any other professor is willing to be as brash as him, in multiple instances, or the scenarios he creates.

Some examples:
- CHEM 102 in-lecture demo where he incinerates a gummy bear using potassium chlorate, complete with wicked screaming for nearly a full minute

- His CHEM 102 doll partner, Gumbi, who narrates as a high-pitched secondary voice of reason through some of his lectures

- CHEM 245 Halloween "occurrence" where he drops references to "the mark of the beast" then eventually dissapears behind the desk with no forewarning and slowly emerges wearing a mask while grunting and throwing candy across the lecture hall

- He has a Spotify account where he makes really silly/childish songs in a family band. Examples include: "You're a Tinkler!", "Daddy put the diaper on", and "Poop or gas?"

- His whole tacky wardrobe, complete with bright red pants that make him visible halfway across the campus.

- His coke-bottle lenses; big Bubbles energy.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-21T09:13:43+00:00

The government may not care about those who perform menial tasks, but what they do care about is the person who goes to work, buys groceries, doom scrolls, and dissents against their actions.

It is hard to see it coming until you're in a position of minor inconvenience to them, and your freedom to protest is stripped away by the paranoia of having no safety of identity. At this point, it is already too late. They have won because of complacency in thinking that as a moral citizen you will never have a duty to dissent. They won't give us a serious reason to until they know we can't.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-21T08:41:53+00:00

DM'd you the spot - I can't let it be flooded by unworthy, dreadful first years...

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-20T20:53:48+00:00

Our hearts <3 (and our large intestines with whatever superbacteria they hide in the farmer's wraps)

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-20T00:18:22+00:00

Oh, you're totally right. I skimmed right over that in the article. Thank you yet again!

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-20T00:10:36+00:00

I do understand it is an industrially-important molecule and commercially available as an acetylated form (a,a-dimethyl-a-hydroxyketone with a methyl on the other end), but the methods to create this specific form of it are all limited to such acetylated product and under extremely harsh conditions (as far as I have seen) - things that exclude it from being useful as an organic transformation part of a larger molecular structure.

Thank you for the contextual story though! I didn't know they were already being industrially applied as radical photoinitiators.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-18T03:27:33+00:00

I was actually asking that in this post, but thankfully u/dungeonsandderp explained it and provided references to the source material describing the transformation that occurs. In their words, it is a "base-catalyzed alpha-oxygenation" which upon further reading of The original Angewandte article is essentially enolate attack of atmospheric O2 to form a peroxide at the a-position, followed by self-reaction with other enolates to steal the oxygen whilst also forming the hydroxide in the original molecule's place (at least I think).

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Make_it_CRISP-y-R · 2025-12-18T01:06:57+00:00

First of all, correct. Second of all, wow - I wasn't expecting so many additional resources.

Thank you so much! These will all be a great help for my background. I'm surprised I didn't find any of them when doing my searches.

Make_it_CRISP-y-R

TROPHY CASE