this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
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Science Memes

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top 17 comments
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[–] JoShmoe@ani.social 21 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I’m not smart enough to know this.

[–] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 28 points 1 day ago

It's the title of the post: Enantiomer an identical chemical structure but mirrored. Think of how your hands are left and right. They're identical in their structure, but are mirrored. Molecules can have the same thing and were denoted by L and D (but now use + and -)

[–] FoxyFerengi@startrek.website 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Some molecules have a rotation that is centered on a chiral carbon atom and is named by the way the other atoms of the molecule rotate. There are some rules to it, but L is levorotatory and means it rotates to the left or counter-clockwise. D is dextrorotatory and spins to the right, or clockwise.

Edit: spelling errors lol

[–] protist@mander.xyz 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

These terms can describe any molecule, btw, doesn't have to contain carbon

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Not any molecule, it’s gotta be able to have stereoisomers in the first place. There’s no R or S water for example. D/L notation is for biology.

[–] protist@mander.xyz 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Well yes, it does have to have chirality, I just meant it doesn't have to contain any specific elements.

I'm definitely no expert, but isn't the D/L notation used in all of chemistry? Sometimes it's written Δ/Λ, but that's the same thing. Doesn't it just describe a molecule's geometry in a different way from R/S?

[–] deranger@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

D/L refers to the entire molecule and how it polarizes light whereas R/S looks at every chiral center and has a priority system to assign. I’ve only really seen D/L in biochemistry, regular chemistry is using R/S notation. D/L is the older less precise notation. R/S is much more specific and isn’t related to polarization of light.

[–] FoxyFerengi@startrek.website 3 points 1 day ago

Fair! I've only taken organic chemistry so far, so that's what I remembered

[–] blackbrook@mander.xyz 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Chirality, Motherfucker! Do you have it?

[–] redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 day ago

Say racemic. Say racemic again motherfucker!

[–] 211@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 day ago

TIL chemists clearly got confused by D(ex)/S(in) and R(ight)/L(eft).

[–] lemmy12369@midwest.social 7 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Because the prefixes for optical rotation are dextro and levo :)

[–] stebo02@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 day ago

because the meme was made by a chemist and not a physicist

[–] Deconceptualist@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Ooh, do Harry S. Truman vs Harry R. Truman next!