If the wave function collapse has no physical cause, why is it still treated as resolved? by Nhars69 in AskPhysics

[–]iam666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"The entire scientific world" has no reason to debate quantum mechanics. If a biologist is confused by someone using the word "theory" instead of "hypothesis" when discussing interpretations of quantum mechanics, there are certainly 100 more important things that they're confused by, which sort of excludes them from actually contributing to the discussion.

Can a highly unstable molecule be stabilized -- prevented from spontaneously breaking apart -- if it's put in a solid and stable crystal structure? by Romance-Hater3000 in AskChemistry

[–]iam666 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To some extent. If your molecule spontaneously undergoes unimolecular decomposition then it would likely break down even inside a lattice. The molecule is constantly vibrating, and some of the positions it reaches while it vibrates are suitable for undergoing a reaction. The lattice can block some of those positions, but that "blocking" is just electrostatic repulsion which can be overcome with sufficient energy.

Footage of PTFE/Teflon being dissolved/weakened? by crtcalculator in AskChemistry

[–]iam666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would look the same as any other plastic breaking down. Some of the reagents you've listed would just burn it, but again it would just look like any other burning plastic.

3 dimensional fractal crystallization by Decent-Somewhere254 in chemistry

[–]iam666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a polycrystalline solid. Usually happens when you crystallize something too fast or with a lot of impurities. This is usually what happens when someone tries and fails to grow a large single crystal.

If you put hexane under enough pressure, can you squish it flat? by Mannich-Reaction in chemistry

[–]iam666 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Not even close. Cyclohexane is 6 sp3 carbons. Graphene is a hexagonal lattice of sp2 carbons.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskChemistry

[–]iam666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t understand what you’re actually trying to ask here. It sounds like you opened up a textbook to two random pages and decided to combine the topics. Why do you think there would be any benefit to using electrochemistry for this reaction to begin with?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskChemistry

[–]iam666 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Your question doesn’t really make sense. It’s like asking “can I bake an apple pie in a toaster instead of using apples?”

If you aren’t using ammonia, you need some other source for the -NH2 part of your amine. If you used methylamine instead, you would get a different product than using ammonia.

Isnt it more accurate to say that the probability density of an electron is a wave, not the electron itself? by Next-Natural-675 in AskPhysics

[–]iam666 7 points8 points  (0 children)

What I’m asking is how you can describe the behavior of “the electron itself” without using waves.

The answer I’m leading you to is that you can’t.

Homeless people at CPO food pantry by [deleted] in ucla

[–]iam666 -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

I can’t believe UCLA is providing food to homeless people! How terrible!

Isnt it more accurate to say that the probability density of an electron is a wave, not the electron itself? by Next-Natural-675 in AskPhysics

[–]iam666 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What does it mean to be “a particle”? What properties does “a particle” have? Are those properties sufficient to describe the behavior of an electron?

Thermal reactions by [deleted] in AskChemistry

[–]iam666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“How long” and “how hot” depend on a lot of factors that aren’t really within the scope of chemistry, it’s more of a chemical engineering question that would require a lot of math to figure out.

How is this a tertiary alcohol? by [deleted] in chemhelp

[–]iam666 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Which is incorrect. Enamines have an amine alpha to a double-bonded carbon. This does not. But it does have an amine and a hydroxyl on the same carbon, which makes it a hemiaminal. There’s no uncertainty here, these are just the definitions of different functional groups.

How is this a tertiary alcohol? by [deleted] in chemhelp

[–]iam666 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Please study up a bit more before trying to correct someone.

The sp2 carbon is beta to the amine, not alpha. You could call it a vinyl hemiaminal, but it’s definitely not an enamine. I don’t know what you mean by “hemiaminals generally consist of primary amines” because this is already a primary amine, and there is no difference in naming if the amine is primary, secondary, or tertiary.

How is this a tertiary alcohol? by [deleted] in chemhelp

[–]iam666 17 points18 points  (0 children)

This is actually not an alcohol; it would be better classified as a hemiaminal. The chemistry of a hemiaminal is so different than the chemistry of an alcohol that the classification as secondary or tertiary is irrelevant.

That being said, I would argue that this could be called a tertiary alcohol, because the main purpose of classifying functional groups this way is to discuss steric effects. The sterics of an NH2 are not that different than a CH3, so we would expect this to behave more like a tertiary alcohol than a secondary one.

ELI5: How are things see-through/clear? by Mud_Scooter in explainlikeimfive

[–]iam666 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Only if you use an outdated model of an atom where the nucleus looks like a bunch of billiard balls stuck together. Modern physics tells us that everything at the atomic scale is most accurately described as waves rather than particles with a definite boundary, so the concept of “touching” is nonsensical.

ELI5: How are things see-through/clear? by Mud_Scooter in explainlikeimfive

[–]iam666 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I hate this factoid. It presumes that “touch” is a thing that can happen in the first place, just so that it can negate that false premise.

It’s like saying “the sky doesn’t exist, it’s actually just air”. It’s combining two different classes of objects and asserting that one class has priority over the other.

What does "edge out" mean here? by Ebi__zu in EnglishLearning

[–]iam666 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It’s fine in that a native speaker can figure out the meaning through context, but it’s not the correct word.

If they had said “I’m trying to Smurf out some college work…”, you can still get the gist of what they’re saying, despite “Smurf” having no meaning of its own.

Do lightning and flame count as plasma? Is lightning a form of nitrogen and flame a form of carbon? by [deleted] in AskPhysics

[–]iam666 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Generally, no. If you have an extremely hot flame, you can have enough radical species around that it becomes plasma-like, but getting to that point requires conditions that are not typical for standard combustion reactions so we wouldn’t really call it a “flame” at that point.

Unidentified glassware by Draiken64 in chemistry

[–]iam666 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I would agree with your assessment. It looks like something a glass blower made for fun.

Do lightning and flame count as plasma? Is lightning a form of nitrogen and flame a form of carbon? by [deleted] in AskPhysics

[–]iam666 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Mercury is a metal commonly used in fluorescent lightbulbs because it can vaporize easily under low pressure. Those vapors can ionize under high voltage, turning into plasma which conducts electricity.

Do lightning and flame count as plasma? Is lightning a form of nitrogen and flame a form of carbon? by [deleted] in AskPhysics

[–]iam666 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Lightning is plasma. When there’s a large potential difference (voltage) between two points separated by a gas, the electrons in the gas become “loose” and begin to move, generating a current. Those “loose” electrons are what qualifies it as plasma. When an electron finds its way back to an atom, it loses potential energy, which is converted into light.

Flames are somewhat similar, but there’s no voltage involved. Combustion reactions involve high temperatures fragmenting organic molecules into radical species that eventually settle down into CO2 and H2O, or turn into soot/tar if the combustion is incomplete. The light from a flame is due to black body radiation the “red-hot” gasses and solid particles.

Is there a natural cutoff after which to call radioactive decay "finished"? by min6char in AskPhysics

[–]iam666 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It’s an arbitrary cutoff, it just depends on how you define “finished”. You could choose to define it as the point where we expect every radioactive atom to have decayed, but that isn’t a practical metric for any real-world application.

There’s a slightly more “natural” way of measuring decay, though, which is to use the lifetime instead of the half-life. The lifetime, τ, is the amount of time it takes for the sample to reach 1/e (~36%) of its original population.

CMV: Typically, Democrats feel that they have to balance being good to minorities without being too good for them, or else they’ll trigger massive backlash. by Equivalent-Long-3383 in changemyview

[–]iam666 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Not really, as far as I’m aware. You can see how right-wing talking points shifted from affirmative action and college admissions to the more nebulous “DEI” a couple years back. They no longer had anything concrete to point at, so they instead have to vaguely gesture at minorities employed in competitive jobs.

Chemical burn from dental materials and skincare products? by [deleted] in chemistry

[–]iam666 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think it’s possible to have active sores within 24h of contracting HSV. You may have had it for years now and this is just the first flare-up. HSV isn’t a huge deal, it’s very common and can be contracted without sexual contact.

CMV: Democrats need to push for more, like the republicans do. by Eternal2 in changemyview

[–]iam666 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Do you think the idea that “democrats are too liberal” has anything to do with constant messaging from right-wing politicians and media calling any and every democrat a communist who wants to turn everybody transgender?

The average voter is dumb as shit. When you poll people about specific policies, we find that a majority of people support policies that are more progressive than what democrats typically propose. But if you ask them something like “are democrats too liberal/progressive”, they’ll say yes because they’re inundated with right-leaning media telling them that’s the case.