Like, if you look at the back of a shampoo bottle or something, there’s always a ridiculously long name for an ingredient.Are these sorts of ingredients able to be broken down into elements? Kind of like how dihydrogen monoxide is just the chemical name for water.
In: 4
Yes, kind of.
The shampoo ingredients are all organic molecules. This doesn’t mean they’re free-range happy molecules but it instead means that these are molecules – at least conceptually – based on carbon and hydrogen. Carbon, due to it’s very special quantum properties, makes a wealth of compounds greater than the number of compounds of all other elements combined. This literally infite amount of possible compounds needs to be named somehow which is why the [IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUPAC_nomenclature_of_organic_chemistry) was invented.
You guessed correctly that the ridiculous names are assembled from building blocks. However, these building blocks aren’t individual atoms. Instead, they’re common and well-known groups of atoms called functional groups and/or fragments. The names according to the IUPAC system basically are an agreed-upon way of describing which fragments in which order and geometric orientation – at least conceptually – go together to make up the molecules of the substance at hand.
Yes. Everything is just made of different combinations of elements and we can break any chemical down into those elements. Just depending on the chemical it may be easier or harder to break down.
For example, we can break water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen (H2 and O2) but just running electricity through it.
However something like sucrose (sugar) is C12H22O11 more complex and we usually break it down into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. But CO2 is much harder to break down because it’s such a low energy molecule, but we can dissolve it in water to make carbonic acid (H2CO3)
There are a few questions to tease out here, so I’ll try to guess what your intent is.
Molecules are made up of atoms bonded to each other. Your example of water is simple. Two hydrogens, one oxygen.
You can of course break down a molecule into its constituent atoms, but it seems more like you’re asking about the naming system.
Organic chemistry is about carbon-containing compounds, which life depends on. A simple carbon-containing compound is methane, CH4, one carbon with 4 hydrogens around it. Extend it by one and you get ethane, 2 carbons bonded to each other with 3 hydrogens each. Carbon can make 4 bonds, and can double bond. Structure determines function. [Sodium lauryl sulfate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_dodecyl_sulfate) has portions that are hydrophobic (water-repelling or oily) and hydrophilic (water-attracting) which means it will help put oils into water solution by having one end in the oily part and one end in the water part: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant has diagrams.
The other comment’s link to the IUPAC system shows the rules for making the systematic names. For compounds with historical sources, like from animal fat or plant oils, there are common names too. Like lauryl might have come from laurel oil.
Yes. Everything is just made of different combinations of elements and we can break any chemical down into those elements. Just depending on the chemical it may be easier or harder to break down.
For example, we can break water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen (H2 and O2) but just running electricity through it.
However something like sucrose (sugar) is C12H22O11 more complex and we usually break it down into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. But CO2 is much harder to break down because it’s such a low energy molecule, but we can dissolve it in water to make carbonic acid (H2CO3)
Yes, any chemical compound can be broken down into its constituent elements if you try hard enough. Sometimes you have to try pretty hard though…
The simplest way of breaking up organic molecules (carbon chains) is usually to burn them – enough heat and oxygen and they’ll usually break up into water and CO2 (or CO if you’re running a little low on Oxygen).
The long and complicated names are just [structured ways of describing what the molecule is made of](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUPAC_nomenclature_of_organic_chemistry). For organic molecules, they’re basically chains of carbon molecules – Carbons can have 4 bonds, that is they have 4 points that they can join to something else. The default is that all the open joints are filled with hydrogen unless the name describes something else, in fact, the simplified way of drawing these only shows the “something else” and it is assumed that anything left over has a hydrogen on it.
For example, “Eth” means there are 2 carbons and “ane” means the simple chain form”. Ethane is 2 carbons joined together with the rest of the available spaces filled with Hydrogen. Ethene is 2 carbons joined together more tightly with the rest hydrogen (double bond between the carbon atoms). Ethanol is just Ethane with one Alcohol group (Oxygen Hydrogen pair) in place of a hydrogen. Methanol is the same as Ethanol except there’s only one carbon. Propane is the same as Ethane but with 3 carbons and so on (Butane, Pentane, Hexane, Septane, Octane etc).
Once you get more complicated there’s other language to help describe the position and shape of the chain. Cyclo on the front means the chain is a loop instead of a straight chain, cis means that if you’ve got 2 extras added on they’re on the same side, trans means they’re on opposite sides. A number usually denotes where on the chain the next name is (so “Propan 1 ol” means the OH is on the end, “Propan 2 ol” has it on the second carbon (middle) etc).
There’s also special names for some forms like Benzene for a 6 carbon ring with every second bond a double or Alcohol for the OH group.
Yes, any chemical compound can be broken down into its constituent elements if you try hard enough. Sometimes you have to try pretty hard though…
The simplest way of breaking up organic molecules (carbon chains) is usually to burn them – enough heat and oxygen and they’ll usually break up into water and CO2 (or CO if you’re running a little low on Oxygen).
The long and complicated names are just [structured ways of describing what the molecule is made of](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUPAC_nomenclature_of_organic_chemistry). For organic molecules, they’re basically chains of carbon molecules – Carbons can have 4 bonds, that is they have 4 points that they can join to something else. The default is that all the open joints are filled with hydrogen unless the name describes something else, in fact, the simplified way of drawing these only shows the “something else” and it is assumed that anything left over has a hydrogen on it.
For example, “Eth” means there are 2 carbons and “ane” means the simple chain form”. Ethane is 2 carbons joined together with the rest of the available spaces filled with Hydrogen. Ethene is 2 carbons joined together more tightly with the rest hydrogen (double bond between the carbon atoms). Ethanol is just Ethane with one Alcohol group (Oxygen Hydrogen pair) in place of a hydrogen. Methanol is the same as Ethanol except there’s only one carbon. Propane is the same as Ethane but with 3 carbons and so on (Butane, Pentane, Hexane, Septane, Octane etc).
Once you get more complicated there’s other language to help describe the position and shape of the chain. Cyclo on the front means the chain is a loop instead of a straight chain, cis means that if you’ve got 2 extras added on they’re on the same side, trans means they’re on opposite sides. A number usually denotes where on the chain the next name is (so “Propan 1 ol” means the OH is on the end, “Propan 2 ol” has it on the second carbon (middle) etc).
There’s also special names for some forms like Benzene for a 6 carbon ring with every second bond a double or Alcohol for the OH group.
There are a few questions to tease out here, so I’ll try to guess what your intent is.
Molecules are made up of atoms bonded to each other. Your example of water is simple. Two hydrogens, one oxygen.
You can of course break down a molecule into its constituent atoms, but it seems more like you’re asking about the naming system.
Organic chemistry is about carbon-containing compounds, which life depends on. A simple carbon-containing compound is methane, CH4, one carbon with 4 hydrogens around it. Extend it by one and you get ethane, 2 carbons bonded to each other with 3 hydrogens each. Carbon can make 4 bonds, and can double bond. Structure determines function. [Sodium lauryl sulfate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_dodecyl_sulfate) has portions that are hydrophobic (water-repelling or oily) and hydrophilic (water-attracting) which means it will help put oils into water solution by having one end in the oily part and one end in the water part: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant has diagrams.
The other comment’s link to the IUPAC system shows the rules for making the systematic names. For compounds with historical sources, like from animal fat or plant oils, there are common names too. Like lauryl might have come from laurel oil.
There are a few questions to tease out here, so I’ll try to guess what your intent is.
Molecules are made up of atoms bonded to each other. Your example of water is simple. Two hydrogens, one oxygen.
You can of course break down a molecule into its constituent atoms, but it seems more like you’re asking about the naming system.
Organic chemistry is about carbon-containing compounds, which life depends on. A simple carbon-containing compound is methane, CH4, one carbon with 4 hydrogens around it. Extend it by one and you get ethane, 2 carbons bonded to each other with 3 hydrogens each. Carbon can make 4 bonds, and can double bond. Structure determines function. [Sodium lauryl sulfate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_dodecyl_sulfate) has portions that are hydrophobic (water-repelling or oily) and hydrophilic (water-attracting) which means it will help put oils into water solution by having one end in the oily part and one end in the water part: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surfactant has diagrams.
The other comment’s link to the IUPAC system shows the rules for making the systematic names. For compounds with historical sources, like from animal fat or plant oils, there are common names too. Like lauryl might have come from laurel oil.
Thanks everyone for the awesome answers!
Thanks everyone for the awesome answers!
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