How are we continuing to discover new chemical processes? Should we not have tried all combinations of one column or period? What factor allows us to constantly find more efficient elements or processes?
In: Chemistry
Molecules aren’t just A + B = C. Many are A + B + C + D, or A + A + B + C. And A + A + B is different to A + B + A, because order is also important.
And organic molecules, which is where most chemical research now takes place, can contain hundreds of atoms.
And that’s just building one molecule. You then have to react it with every other molecule you have in every possible combination in every possible environmental condition (ie, temperature and pressure variation) and concentration ratio.
Although there are only a limited number of elements, there are functionally infinite ways of combining them in “a chemical process”.
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