Questions tagged [inorganic-chemistry]
Inorganic compounds generally do not have C-H bonds, while organic compounds do have such bonds. The distinction between inorganic and organic chemistry, however, is far from absolute.
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Why is gold golden?
Bulk gold has a very characteristic warm yellow shine to it, whereas almost all other metals have a grey or silvery color. Where does this come from?
I have heard that this property arises from ...
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Do all salts taste salty?
Recently, I am learning the production of soluble and insoluble salts. My friend and I have done this experiment at the school lab.
We wanted to taste them to see whether they are salty are not. The ...
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Why do compounds like SF6 and SF4 exist but SH6 and SH4 don't?
Both $\ce{SF6}$ and $\ce{SH6}$ and $\ce{SF4}$ and $\ce{SH4}$ have the same central atom and the same hybridization, but my teacher specifically mentioned that $\ce{SH6}$ and $\ce{SH4}$ don't exist. I'...
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Why do we write NH3?
We've learnt that the electropositive element is written first. Then why is ammonia written as $\ce{NH3}$ ?
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Is carbon dioxide organic or inorganic?
Today in chemistry class we were discussing Organic Chemistry. We discussed what organic compounds basically are and then I asked the teacher whether $\ce{CO_2}$ is organic or not. She told that it is ...
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Why is an S-S bond stronger than an O-O bond?
I'm wondering why exactly the single bond between two sulfur atoms is stronger than that of two oxygen atoms. According to this page, an $\ce{O-O}$ bond has an enthalpy of $142~\mathrm{kJ~mol^{-1}}$, ...
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Why does sulfur, but not oxygen, catenate?
Oxygen is a rather boring element. It has only two allotropes, dioxygen and ozone. Dioxygen has a double bond, and ozone has a delocalised cloud, giving rise to two "1.5 bonds".
On the other hand, ...
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Does heavy water taste sweet?
In this YouTube video from Cody's Lab, Cody claims that heavy water tastes sweet.
He does some fairly convincing comparisons but still expresses a little doubt that the effect is real.
Has this been ...
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What is the inert pair effect?
I was reading about the p-block elements and found that the inert pair effect is mentioned everywhere in this topic. However, the book does not explain it very well. So, what is the inert pair effect? ...
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Why is BCl3 a monomer whereas AlCl3 exists as a dimer?
What makes dimerization possible in $\ce{AlCl3}$? Are there 3c-2e bonds in $\ce{Al2Cl6}$ as there are in $\ce{B2H6}$?
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Why is the vanadium(3+) ion paramagnetic?
I know that the electron configuration of vanadium is $[\ce{Ar}]\mathrm{4s^2 3d^3}$.
None of the electrons in the 3d subshell are paired. Once it loses these three electrons, shouldn't the remainder ...
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Which "exotic salt" can lower water's freezing point by 70 °C?
The Medium.com article Mars Phoenix Lander, 10 Years Later shows several remarkable images and discoveries on Mars by the Mars Phoenix Lander circa 2008.
One image (shown below) shows what looks like ...
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Why does potassium react more violently with water than lithium?
Recently, I was telling my friends about the violent reaction that takes place when you throw potassium into water. Soon after, a friend of mine claimed that lithium would react more violently than ...
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Why is arsenous acid denoted H3AsO3?
Inspired by this question, I'm wondering why arsenous acid is frequently denoted $\ce{H3AsO3}$, as opposed to $\ce{As(OH)3}$, which would appear to more accurately reflect its connectivity?
[edit]
I ...
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What do the prefixes meta, ortho, pyro mean in inorganic chemistry?
In inorganic chemistry, when is the prefix meta used? (as in metaborate and metasulphite)
What about the terms pyro and ortho (as in orthophosphorous acid)?
For example, I recently came to know about ...
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"Middle row anomaly" of the periodic table
I was studying about the periodic table recently, and was reading a topic associated with oxides of halogens, and came across the following line
The bromine oxides, $\ce{Br2O}$, $\ce{BrO2}$, $\ce{...
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Why does basicity of group 15 hydrides decrease down the group?
In my textbook it is written that the order of basic strength of pnictogen hydrides is
$$\ce{NH3 > PH3 > AsH3 > SbH3 > BiH3}$$
I tried but could not find any explanation as to why this ...
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Why is [PdCl4]2- square planar whereas [NiCl4]2- is tetrahedral?
The molecule $\ce{[PdCl4]^2-}$ is diamagnetic, which indicates a square planar geometry as all eight d electrons are paired in the lower-energy orbitals.
However, $\ce{[NiCl4]^2-}$ is also $\mathrm{d^...
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Would it be possible to destroy gold?
I'm a writer. I have a scenario in which a sizable amount of gold needs to be rendered unusable, preferably completely destroyed. I know an acid like aqua regia is able to dissolve gold, but would ...
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Does O2 have a color in the gas phase
I have noticed that liquid $\ce{O2}$ (I clarify it as $\ce{O2}$ because oxygen exists in several other forms which have different colors in the liquid state than $\ce{O2}$) has a light blue color to ...
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What is Drago's rule? Does it really exist?
My textbooks states the Drago's rule in inorganic chemistry as follows:
The more electronegative atom prefers the orbital having more $\mathrm{p}$ character, and lone-pairs or less electronegative ...
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How to name binary (inorganic) compounds given their chemical formula, and vice-versa?
How can I deduce the name of a binary (inorganic) compound like $\ce{B2F2}$ or $\ce{N2O4}$, from the formula?
And how can I convert a chemical name like diboron difluoride to the chemical formula?
I ...
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What makes Gorilla Glass more durable with each generation?
Gorilla Glass (GG) is one of the most recognizable brands of toughened glasses today, thanks to their marketing and widespread usage in various gadgets and automobile industry.
According to Wikipedia,...
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What metals aren't dissolved in/attacked by aqua regia?
Aqua regia (Latin: Royal Water) is one of the strongest acids known in Chemistry, and is capable of dissolving gold and platinum.
My copy of the Oxford science dictionary goes on to say (under the ...
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Is activated carbon classified as organic or inorganic?
Organic compounds are typically defined as “molecules containing carbon”. Wikipedia states that there for some historical (read: non-logical) reasons,
a few types of carbon-containing compounds ...
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Are graphite and hexagonal boron nitride aromatic
Are graphite and hexagonal boron nitride aromatic?
Graphite has a planar network of 6-membered rings with each carbon connected to three other carbons. Since the valency of carbon is not satisfied, ...
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Why do the alkali metals form different products upon combustion in air?
From Wikipedia's article on sodium:
When burned in dry air, it forms primarily sodium peroxide with some sodium oxide.
We know that sodium has a strong reducing capacity, so why does it produce a ...
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Melting and boiling points of transition elements
The melting and boiling points of transition elements increase from scandium ($1530~\mathrm{^\circ C}$) to vanadium ($1917~\mathrm{^\circ C}$). They increase because as we go across the group, we have ...
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Why does mercury decolourise a gold ring?
I saw that a gold ring decolourised as it got in contact with mercury .
Why does this happen ? Is there any way to reverse this?
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Why is snow white?
I know that this is a rather ambiguous question; but my question is, whenever we take water and freeze it in the freezer, it still tends to stay clear. Since snow is just frozen water, why is it white?...
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