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Unanswered Questions

917 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
24 votes
0 answers
1k views

What is d-orbital collapse?

When I was perusing the works of Schwarz on atomic structure, I came across the unfamiliar term of d-orbital collapse. He describes it as a variation in energetic sequence from group 1 to 3 elements ...
11 votes
1 answer
303 views

What is this golden looking substance?

I am currently messing around with gallium compromising aluminum. I am using a titalium lock which is just a brand of aluminum padlock and I put a gallium-indium euctic alloy on the surface of it. It’...
10 votes
0 answers
20k views

Why does the reaction of sodium nitrate, aluminium, and sodium hydroxide yield ammonia?

From Russian test problem 4301: $$\ce{3NaNO3 + 8Al + 5NaOH + 18H2O -> 8Na[Al(OH)4] + 3NH3(g)}$$ How does ammonia evolve here? Is it that we get hydrogen gas evolving in the reaction between Al and ...
10 votes
0 answers
640 views

Identifying alkyl ligands as π-donors or π-acceptors in transition metal complexes

Is there a systematic way to identify an alkyl ligand as a π-acceptor or π-donor in a transition metal complex? Although various sources indicate that the weak field ligands are typically π-donors and ...
9 votes
0 answers
194 views

Why are vapours of xenon hexafluoride coloured?

According to Wikipedia, [...] It is a colorless solid that readily sublimes into intensely yellow vapors. It is clear from the above statement that $\ce{XeF6}$ is colourless in solid form. But why ...
9 votes
1 answer
10k views

Order of Basicity of Nitrogen Trihalides

I was asked to arrange nitrogen tri-halides in order of increasing basicity. On looking up the answer online, it turned out to be the following: $\ce{NF3}$ < $\ce{NCl3}$ < $\ce{NBr3}$ < $\ce{...
8 votes
0 answers
266 views

Why is octaoxygen diamagnetic?

I tried considering that according to LCAO-MO theory $\ce{O2}$ is paramagnetic, which is confirmed by experimental evidence. Since octaoxygen has the crystal structure in figure, I thought there is a ...
8 votes
0 answers
347 views

Isolating radium oxide

Why is radium oxide yet to be isolated when a wide range of other radium (II) compounds are known ?
7 votes
0 answers
89 views

Type of British porcelain invented around 1917-1918

Being subscribed already for 30 years on Scientific American, I recently downloaded the whole archive, and I am now going through 1914-1918. In the 26 January 1918 issue, on page 95, there is a small ...
7 votes
0 answers
593 views

Does solvate isomers exist for coordination compounds with ammonia solvent as ligand?

I could find many sources confirming the hydrate isomerism(with water as solvent) but I couldn't find any information about any other solvent. In all the sources "hydrate/solvate isomerism" ...
7 votes
0 answers
240 views

Why does lithium aluminium hydride appear grey?

Commercial lithium aluminium hydride is a grey compound, which loses a lot of reactivity the darker it is. Luckily you can clean it up to get the reactive white compound and the separated grey ...
7 votes
0 answers
1k views

Why isn't orthoboric acid soluble in cold water even though it has polar B-OH bonds?

This is the information I found regarding orthoboric acid's solubility: Textbook (NCERT India): Sparingly soluble in water (didn't say what temperature - presumably cold) and highly soluble in hot ...
7 votes
0 answers
109 views

How well will molten iron chrysolite (fayalite) react with hydrogen?

The equation balances nicely, but would the reaction tend to proceed this way? What temperature and time would be needed? $\ce{Fe2SiO4 + 2H2 -> 2H2O + 2Fe + SiO2}$ There is no problem with ...
7 votes
1 answer
448 views

Is there a selective wet etch of Bi2O3 Bismuth Oxide?

I'm looking for a wet etch of Bismuth Oxide that does not etch $\ce{Bi}$ itself. There are obviously chemicals that etch $\ce{Bi2O3}$, but $\ce{Bi}$ is pretty fragile, so almost everything I've found ...
7 votes
0 answers
4k views

Is there a difference between hydrated oxides and hydroxides?

My guess is that they are different. I think hydrated oxides would have a lattice with the cation and oxide anions as lattice points and molecules of water trapped in interstitial spaces, while ...

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