Difference between revisions of "2943: Unsolved Chemistry Problems"
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There is a list of mathematical problems that are yet to be solved (such as P=NP). This comic makes a spin on it, by stating that there are (as of yet) unsolved chemistry problems. | There is a list of mathematical problems that are yet to be solved (such as P=NP). This comic makes a spin on it, by stating that there are (as of yet) unsolved chemistry problems. | ||
− | '''Arbitrary Enzyme Design:''' {{w|Enzymes}} are molecules (usually proteins) that act as catalysts to speed up biological processes. These are often important in understanding and curing diseases, so being able to design new enzymes can be critical in medical research. | + | '''Arbitrary Enzyme Design:''' |
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+ | {{w|Enzymes}} are molecules (usually proteins) that act as catalysts to speed up biological processes. These are often important in understanding and curing diseases, so being able to design new enzymes can be critical in medical research. | ||
'''Protein Folding:''' | '''Protein Folding:''' |
Revision as of 20:11, 7 June 2024
Unsolved Chemistry Problems |
![]() Title text: I'm an H⁺ denier, in that I refuse to consider loose protons to be real hydrogen, so I personally believe it stands for 'pretend'. |
Explanation
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a Loose Proton Called H+ - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks. |
There is a list of mathematical problems that are yet to be solved (such as P=NP). This comic makes a spin on it, by stating that there are (as of yet) unsolved chemistry problems.
Arbitrary Enzyme Design:
Enzymes are molecules (usually proteins) that act as catalysts to speed up biological processes. These are often important in understanding and curing diseases, so being able to design new enzymes can be critical in medical research.
Protein Folding:
Proteins are large molecules that consist of chains of amino acids. These amino acids chains become folded folded in extremely complex ways into intricate 3D structures, and the way a protein is folded is of critical importance to its function. "Misfolded" proteins like prions can be inactive or cause other proteins to become misfolded, which can lead to fatal illnesses. Because of the huge importance of proteins to biological life, biologists have devoted significant attention over many decades to the problem of protein structure prediction. This refers to the ability to predict the 3D structure of a protein based on the amino acid sequence, and remains one of the most important problems in computational biology.
Depolymerization:
What the “p” in pH stands for:
“p” shows up in pH, pKa, pKb, and other things related to the concentration of H+ ions and OH- ions. The meaning of the "p" in "pH" has been the subject of much dispute. It is sometimes referred to as "power of Hydrogen", but the term was introduced by Søren Peter Lauritz Sørensen, who did not publish his results in English. The letter p could stand for the French puissance, German Potenz, or Danish potens, all meaning "power", or it could mean "potential". All of these words start with the letter p in French, German, and Danish, which were the languages in which Sørensen published.
Someone, presumably Randall Monroe, claims that they refuse to believe that loose protons are hydrogen atoms, and as such, the “p” stands for pretend. This could work, by saying that it is the pretend Ka and the Pretend Kb. However, Hydrogen atoms and loose protons both have a single proton. An Ion is any atom with a number of electrons not equal to the amount of protons in an atom. This counts for both more electrons (Anions), and less electrons (Cations).
Transcript
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This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks. |
- [Hairbun stands behind a lectern on a podium with two Cueballs and Megan standing behind her. There is a "Grand Opening" sign hanging in the background along with some ornaments.]
- Hairbun: Our lab will be working on chemistry's top unsolved problems: arbitrary enzyme design, protein folding, depolymerization, and, of course, the biggest one of all:
- Hairbun: Figuring out what the "p" in "pH" stands for.
![comment.png](/wiki/images/0/03/comment.png)
![comment.png](/wiki/images/0/03/comment.png)
![Icons-mini-action refresh blue.gif](/wiki/images/e/e5/Icons-mini-action_refresh_blue.gif)
Discussion
P stands for poncentration, SMH my head 😒 --172.70.162.211 21:22, 7 June 2024 (UTC)
- You may find this helpful: RAS syndrome Trogdor147 (talk) 22:25, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
- Oh, that was intentional, my friend. (Also, I believe you meant RAS syndrome.) --162.158.74.48 07:34, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
I think p stands for "pitch", because people start pitching random numbers when they are supposed to calculate a pH (or even an pOH) from given concentrations.Tier666 (talk) 09:54, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
Is 'depolymerization' in this context referring to means of chemically recycling plastics? As I understand it, we basically just do recycling of thermoplastics at the moment by physically melting them, whereas being able to split a plastic apart into its component monomers would in principle enable a completely closed loop lifecycle for plastics, easing the strain on dwindling oil reserves and landfills and whatnot. Since these are supposed to be important unsolved problems, I feel like it probably is a reference to this, but I'm not a chemist and there may be something else which makes more sense. 162.158.33.134 22:37, 7 June 2024 (UTC)
- In a chemistry context, depolymerization is simply the process of breaking down polymers into monomers. Plastic recycling is one potential application. Another is production of biofuels. It's a well understood process (usually just heat it up enough and/or apply the proper chemical treatment). Getting the desired outputs in an efficient manner is, in some cases, an unsolved problem. 172.69.246.150 16:05, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
i've always been taught that the p stood for "parts". youtu.be/miLcaqq2Zpk 04:01, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
- In chemistry, I was taught that it was "potential". I didn't even know this was in dispute. L-Space Traveler (talk) 04:54, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
P does not stand for anything. Originally, it was contrasted with q. Sørensen was performing electrochemical experiments and contrasted the reference electrode q with the hydrogen electrode p. Using p and q like this is common, like using x and y, u and v, or m and n. It's not an abbreviation, just a variable name. He recommended normalizing the concentration of hydrogen ions (i.e. dividing it by 1 mol/l) and calling the result Cₚ or C_q (depending on the electrode). Then each of these tends to be a small number, which we could write as 10^(-p) or 10^(-q). The number p⁺_H then represented the negative log of the normalized concentration of hydrogen cations at the hydrogen electrode. You can read about it in "The origin and the meaning of the little p in pH" by Jens G. Nørby, published in Cell. The associations with words like "power" and "potential" are now widely considered urban legends. 172.70.134.39 04:55, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
My chemistry teacher at school taught us that pH stands for Latin "pondus hydrogenii", meaning "weight of hydrogen". I never questionned this, until today. 162.158.111.178 19:20, 8 June 2024 (UTC)
- My high school chemistry teacher, who was also a French teacher, told us it was for pouvoir hydrogène, meaning “to be able to hydrogen”—I think? I never questioned this, until today. At least it's close to the puissance theory in the article—it's the infinitive-verb form. P1h3r1e3d13 (talk) 17:18, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
Added some stuff concerning the biochem part, since that's my field of expertise. I recently personally felt the problem of the protein folding problem trying to get supercomputer time to simulate a protein I was studying! Also, given that antibody-antigen generation is still extremely faulty I highly highly doubt arbitrary enzyme design will be solved anytime soon, even though great leaps in protein folding have been made. 172.70.39.40 02:13, 9 June 2024 (UTC) caffeinated biochemist
THe issue with loose protons is not ib being or not being atoms. Loose protons have no electrons at all, and thus cannot do Pauli repulsion, and thus cannot do regular chemistry - "should" burrow too much into electron density. The former, however, is not true, because loose protons attach themselves to lone pairs and thus get eletrons and thus can do regular chemistry. This duality is the source of the "proton controversy". In water, for instance, lone H+ do not exist and form H3O+ and H5O2+ /(H2O--H--OH2)+. 162.158.172.4 09:25, 9 June 2024 (UTC)
I've always heard it described as "parts hydrogen", which seems simple enough. Surprised this isn't yet mentioned in the explanation. PotatoGod (talk) 19:47, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
Seriously guys, read the Nørby paper. It's good. It is also irrefutable. p did not originally stand for anything. Or if it did, you will have to explain what q stood for. This is like insisting the a, b, and c in the Pythagorean Theorem must stand for something in some language. It's just factually, provably not the case. We don't have to keep adding speculations about what it might have meant when there is no mystery. 172.70.230.193 05:57, 13 June 2024 (UTC)
"ρ operator"
I'm not finding any mention of the "ρ operator" in a Google search. Is this section just fiction? The author has no prior contributions to this wiki. BunsenH (talk) 22:42, 9 June 2024 (UTC)
- As this operator isn't even mentioned in the comic the section is irrelevant, fiction or not. Trivia at best. I removed that part Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 09:52, 10 June 2024 (UTC)
Protein folding is biophysics (or rather computational biophysics if you’re doing it in a worthwhile way - Alphafold 2 anyone?), I’m genuinely mad about this.
NavieredAndStoked (talk) 19:45, 30 July 2024 (UTC)NavieredAndStoked