Teaandtoday5

Chemistry is all very well but it turns out the most important thing about water is to talk nicely to it. I know this because Gwyneth says so.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...ater-bad-vibes

MikeUK

Number of pairs of electrons available to form "hydrogen bonds” just aren’t there..

Li only one electron in the p orbits hence LiH
Heavily dissociated outer electron gives preference to ionic bonds

Na has two electrons in the p orbits Na
Again dissociated outer electrons preference to ionic bonds

Remember its this 'lose' electron behavior that makes metals

As we move across the table to Boron, Carbon and Nitrogen where the electron in the orbits and nucleus structure shift the tendency to electron sharing rather than donation and we get the covalent bonding, as we move out to oxygen we get a shift toward polarization that gives rise to hydrogen bonds which is electron sharing with a bias, once we move to fluorine then we get back to an extreme where the electrons are pulled in to complete orbitals rather than donated as per the metals (oxegen will pull in electrons too)

As we get to the next layer on the periodic table we’re moved out an electron shell and bond behavior has shifted…

So you slept through, electrons bonding and the relationship of the periodic table…
I’m guessing you failed chemistry… or you’ve forgotten a lot……

Novocastrian

Oh, FFS. If you're going to rabbit on and on about the mystical, god inspired properties of water, do yourself a favour and read this first.

http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical...drogen_Bonding

or any other chemistry textbook.

MikeUK

Novo... you know that stuff's way to complex for engineers....

I think he would have been better off if he'd tried to tout carbon's abilty to form long chains and polymers as mystical life forming chemistry...

iaink

I think "FFS" that you will find I never mentioned God as the inspiration for any of this. I was pointing out that the set of circumstances that leads to our existence has a vanishingly small probability, and that its far more wondrous (to me) that these came about via a set of rules we are figuring out. All of which if far more amazing (again, to me) than the idea that a supernatural being created us out of playdough and breathed life into, or whatever.

Given that we are all extraordinarily lucky to have made it, we should all be nice to each other. Some people seem to have a hard time with that last part around here.

Sally Redux

My husband once got hoodwinked into going to a 'scientific' talk which turned out to be 'intelligent design'. These guys try to blind laymen with their great scientific knowledge and just look stupid.

Oakvillian

But your "vanishingly small probability" is irrelevant given that is exactly what has happened.

Probability theory is a useful tool to help predict outcomes within a statistically significant sample pool. But when there is a sample of one (the Earth) and an event that has actually taken place (the existence of live) then the probability of that event is 1 - as in, absolutely certain.

And anyway, even if we're looking at it from the perspective of the whole universe and at the moment of the big bang, your vanishingly small probability begins to look a bit silly. Of all the approximately 7 x 10^22 star systems (or whatever the current estimate for total number of stars is) the probability that conditions have to be just so for life to form as it has on Earth only has to be one in 7 x 10^22 for your "vanishingly small probability" to come to pass. Is one in 70 sextillion small enough for you? We are that one.

Alan2005

Sextillion ... snigger

Shard

No idea about the chemistry or math in this thread, but I think the emboldened bit is spot on!

Novocastrian

Anyway, the vanishingly small probability stuff is a piece of nonsense. As calculated here http://phl.upr.edu/projects/habuniverse the number of habitable planets in the observable universe is conservatively estimated at 200 billion if we only consider sun-like stars but rises to 4 trillion if we include M-class dwarf stars.

We're nothing special.

Alan2005

pfft.. speak for yourself.

Novocastrian

While you're here, do you know how many of those other planets play football?

Alan2005

My powers don't stretch to creating a planet that england would have a chance of winning the world cup on.

Novocastrian

Well, I just thought maybe some of them would be really crap, only one foot, that sort of thing.

iaink

He never answered me about gravity. Useless non intervening bastard.