Synthesis of ______ (fill in the blank)

Yeah, so, I was wondering...how in the world do chemists synthesize new compounds such as cubane, which is a cube of carbon and hydrogen atoms. I mean do they just throw a bunch of stuff together and guess what's in there...or do they use X-ray crystallography or something weird or what?

Yeah.

The flu or the sicknesses

Ok, so a quick question...can you get sick from the same virus if you just got better from that same virus. Like if you get a fever and get better and then a week later you get sick again, would that be from the same virus or a different one?

just thoughts...

H-bonds

Ok, so in my Organic Chemistry class we are reviewed the types of bonds between atoms. One of those was hydrogen bonding.

My question is: does the hydrogen bonding occur only between two molecules or can it occur with the atom (N, O, or F) that it is directly attached to, on the molecule?

...

Sleep...

I was wrong...I do have a question!
Ok, so, I guess I have been thinking about sleeping a lot lately because I need it!

Anyways, I was wondering what happens to your body when you sleep, i.e. which proteins are released in the bloodstream, etc.

Molecular Genetics

So far, it's weird, I usually have questions that pop into my head about something in science...like the questions I have below...but in my Molecular Genetics class, I don't have many questions...I guess I'm just trying to understand the material first.

I hope organic chemistry will be better.

It's Time for another bad idea--good idea!!!

Ok, next question...

In our immune system there are specific defense mechanisms that take care of specific bacteria or viruses. So, for a given bacteria, there is a given lymphocyte (B or T) that binds to its antigens so that it can swallow it up.

So, what if there is a new bacteria that you are exposed to...how does your body or your WBC recognize the new pathogen and destroy it?? Are new receptors needed for nonspecific (if there is such a thing) WBC? How do you create new receptors?



Oh, another question...
If you just had an infection, are there more memory cells present than there are, say when you were not infected for 10 years?


I need answers!! :)

Glass vs. Metal

Ok, here's a question I've been pondering about recently...I wish I knew the answer.

Glass breaks easily, but metal does not...why?

I was thinking that it might be due to the fact that glass is made of silicon and oxygen (right?), which forms a covalent bond and metals usually have ... different bonds? I was thinking that covalent bonds are somehow less strong than metal bonding...I don't know why though.

I was also wondering whether ionic bonds are stronger or weaker than covalent bonds...

Antioxidants

Ok, so my first chemistry/biology question that has been bugging me for a while is:

How do antioxidants work?

Because I was thinking about the significance of the word. Oxidant means that some molecule lost electrons, thus it has a positive charge...so if an oxidant has a positive charge, wouldn't an antioxidant have a negative charge, i.e. an anion?

So, maybe antioxidants and oxidants combine to neutralize each other and the tissue (cancer?) that was formed???

Anyways...

Welcome

Welcome to the Ultimate World of Chemistry!

If you need any chemistry help (like I could help you!), then try to ask me, otherwise give up!