Otter@lemmy.ca to Science Memes@mander.xyzEnglish · 1 month agoxkcd: Chemical Formulaimgs.xkcd.comimagemessage-square10linkfedilinkarrow-up1201arrow-down15file-textcross-posted to: xkcd@lemmy.world
arrow-up1196arrow-down1imagexkcd: Chemical Formulaimgs.xkcd.comOtter@lemmy.ca to Science Memes@mander.xyzEnglish · 1 month agomessage-square10linkfedilinkfile-textcross-posted to: xkcd@lemmy.world
minus-squareOtter@lemmy.caOPlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up11·1 month agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empirical_formula In chemistry, the empirical formula of a chemical compound is the simplest whole number ratio of atoms present in a compound In this comic, the “compound” is the entire observable universe. So it’s the simplest whole number ratio of every atom in the observable universe A more in depth explanation for this comic (and all other xkcd comics) is here: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/3200:_Chemical_Formula
minus-squarethedaylights@lemmy.worldlinkfedilinkEnglisharrow-up2·1 month agoAdd to this, the subscripts are raised to exponents. I have never seen that before in a chemical formula, so it took me a while to figure out what those numbers were.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empirical_formula
In this comic, the “compound” is the entire observable universe. So it’s the simplest whole number ratio of every atom in the observable universe
A more in depth explanation for this comic (and all other xkcd comics) is here: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/3200:_Chemical_Formula
Add to this, the subscripts are raised to exponents. I have never seen that before in a chemical formula, so it took me a while to figure out what those numbers were.