To explain, let me start off by showing an example of how the same organic molecule could be written in six different ways:
Now, depending on what I want to understand about or do with this butane molecule, I might use one of these written representations or even a hybrid representation incorporating more than one of these systems. If I just want to compare molecular weights, for example, the molecular formula would suit my purposes just fine. But if I want to use the butane in a complicated synthesis reaction, I'll most likely use the bond-line notation because it makes the overall reaction easier for me to visualize. It's a lot like the comment I made on Andrew's last post - same language (organic chemistry) but a different writing system actually does make a difference.
I've thought a lot about this recently because I keep finding myself having to rewrite molecules from problems, almost having to transcribe them into the system of writing, if you will, that I can understand most easily!
So anyway, all this got me thinking about how the discipline of organic chemistry, and really chemistry in general, developed its system of notation. The big question I had in mind was: Did the development of a useful written system helped advance our understanding of chemistry or did increased understanding of chemistry drive the development of and changes in notation? My conclusion is that the answer is yes. Both. Here's just two examples that help explain why:
1. During the Renaissance and before, chemistry was mostly alchemy, and people who studied it were a little bit possessive and protective of their work. So descriptions were based on where things came from, but they were obscure so that other people couldn't easily figure out the "secret." For example, hydrochloric acid was called "spirit of salt" (source). The clarity that came with standardized chemical nomenclature systems introduced later by scientists like Lavosier, Dalton, Berzelius, and Mendeleev contributed to better collaboration among chemists and an increased understanding of chemistry (source).
2. The bond-line, or skeletal-formula, notation system that organic chemists like to use didn't come about until after we gained an understanding of how carbons bond tetravalently (and how bonding works for other common organic molecules). In this case, our understanding of chemistry facilitated the development of a more useful system for writing about it.
So here's a question: When you think about the disciplines you're studying, how does the way you write about them affect how you understand them?
Here's something I think is similar - studying photosynthesis or cells in biology, I always had to draw pictures to make sure I understood the concepts. I think the important thing about symbols that do not represent exact words is that they allow us to show an entire concept in pictorial form. Kind of like how in chemistry the different forms used to write our a molecule can make it easier to see how it can bond with others, or even what functions it might serve, all without actual words.
ReplyDeleteNow you're helping to remind me of my chemistry test. Thanks...In the discipline I am studying, I suppose I go about it the same way as you, since I'm doing biology and chemistry. I have noticed some things that help me, though. One thing is that I really like to use arrows, whether it is in an equation or just to show how steps proceed. They just make things easier for me to understand. Your post on the language of chemistry reminded me of our last unit in biology, in which our teacher explained that, when DNA is transferred first to RNA and then to amino acids, the DNA and RNA both "speak" the same language of nucleotides, while the amino acids "speak" a different language: proteins, so RNA had to be translated to this language to make amino acids.
ReplyDeleteWhen Issac Newton was practicing alchemy, he had to do it in secret because alchemy was outlawed (the king was afraid that alchemists would produce golf that would upset the currency). I think its pretty interesting that alchemy, which was developed among 'pagans' in places like Greece and Persia, was the precursor to modern chemistry. Nowadays, chemists use arrows and many other symbols to represent equations. Of course you can bet that it's changed over the years!
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to think about how their are certain languages that are created to unify us, despite differences in culture, language, etc. Science and math are both universal, no matter which language we speak in our given country. Another example could be the Euro. Many different countries, but one money language.
ReplyDelete