this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 107 points 1 month ago (3 children)

is that even stable? been too long since organic chemistry class

[–] [email protected] 117 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Dicarbon monoxide. Wikipedia is shockingly poor in information about it, but "stable" is certainly not the first word I'd use to describe it.

[–] [email protected] 101 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

From the third sentence in the wiki page:

It is, however, so extremely reactive that it is not encountered in everyday life.

So yeah, not at all stable.

[–] Aurenkin 25 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Well, it seems Wikipedia was wrong at least about the second half of that sentence

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

To be fair, most people won't buy this specific drink.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I was about to say, you got way too many things that absolutely will bond with that with no hesitation. Thats a very unstable molecule.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I would thing the plastic lining in that container would probably be high on the bonding list, but I haven’t taken a chemistry class in 24 years.

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 month ago

When the Wikipedia page is that sparse, it's safe to assume it's probably too reactive to be of much use.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Alternatively for a full octet on every atom, oxiryne, which does not exist and does not have a wiki page. It's basically acetylene with its arms chopped off and the stumps dislocated, bent back, and stapled together with an oxygen atom.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

Please describe all chemistry to me as body horror.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You could also do something like a cross between https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethylene_oxide and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylene (the fuel responsible for the hottest welding flames) but remove the hydrogens and then have the carbons do a triple bond to make https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Epoxy-acetylene

Considering ethylene oxide is already so unstable as fuck though due to its strained structure that it's used as the main component in thermobaric weapons and this would be even more strained with a very unstable triple carbon bond, I don't know if that would be an improvement. This ring would also likely cause mega cancer when it's not exploding, pretty much all the https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxide rings cause cancer and this one is particularly unstable (though I don't really know if this one would because its not an alkening agent, which is why the other ones are so hostile, this one would be so reactive that it likely would immediately create some cancer causing compounds as soon as it met biological tissue).

Not that I know that is really possible to make. Chatgpt hallucinates a pathway and I never took organic chemistry so I can't really criticize it. Google doesn't really present with any answers. I'd imagine you'd need very low temperatures and an esoteric pathway.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

Looks pretty darn reactive

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

The following is conjecture based on my highschool level knowledge of chemistry:

Alright, so let's say this bottle suddenly appeared on your kitchen counter:

t = 0: The liquid C₂O immediately begins to decompose. Since it's highly unstable, the bonds between carbon and oxygen atoms start breaking apart, even more rapidly in the presence of air. The immediate breakdown will produce carbon monoxide (CO) and elemental carbon.

t = 0 to t = 0.01 milliseconds: The initial decomposition reaction of C₂O releases a significant amount of heat. The heat from this reaction will cause the wax paper bottle to begin melting almost instantly. Compromising the bottle would expose the highly reactive C₂O directly to the air (Lots of oxygen!). Since the wax paper is flammable, the intense heat would cause the bottle to ignite, adding burning wax to the mix.

t = 0.01 milliseconds to t = 0.1 milliseconds: The carbon monoxide (CO) gas and solid carbon particles being produced will come into direct contact with the air. In the presence of oxygen, the carbon monoxide (CO) would start to burn, forming carbon dioxide (CO₂) and releasing even more heat:

2CO + O₂ --> 2CO₂

The wax paper bottle will likely be completely engulfed in flames at this point, burning rapidly due to the intense heat generated by the decomposition of C₂O and the oxidation of CO.

t = 0.1 milliseconds to t = 1 millisecond: The wax paper, now fully aflame, is contributing to the fire, adding smoke and soot from the combustion of hydrocarbons in the wax. As the heat from the fire builds, any residual liquid C₂O would further vaporize and decompose, intensifying the reaction. The decomposition continues to produce CO and solid carbon, while the surrounding air feeds oxygen to the burning CO, turning it into CO₂. At this stage, the pressure inside the remaining wax paper bottle would become too high, likely causing the bottle to burst in a small explosion, spraying any remaining liquid C₂O into the air.

t = 1 millisecond to t = 1 second: As the explosion occurs, the now airborne liquid C₂O particles would decompose instantly, reacting with the available oxygen in the air and producing more CO and CO₂. The additional heat generated would cause a tiny fireball to erupt, consuming any remaining wax from the bottle and intensifying the flames. Carbon soot (from the solid carbon produced in the decomposition) would mix with the smoke from the burning wax, forming a thick, black cloud. The surrounding air would become superheated, and the fireball would quickly dissipate as the remaining C₂O fully decomposes and reacts with oxygen.

t = 1 second and beyond: The result is a scorched area where the wax paper bottle used to be, surrounded by the remnants of burnt wax, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and solid carbon (soot). The carbon monoxide initially produced would be mostly oxidized into carbon dioxide due to the presence of oxygen, though some trace CO might still linger. Soot and charred remains of the wax bottle would coat the immediate area, while the air would be filled with the smell of burnt wax and carbon.

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 month ago (3 children)

That sounds as bad an idea as the other drink, H2O4U

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Bro I tried some and I was looking absolutely radiant afterwards.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

I love hot beverages!

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago

And don't even think about drinking their flavored H2SO4.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

It is soluble in water...

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I know it's a meme but it's pretty good.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

Yeah, I buy a case of these every so often. The label is goofy and probably made by someone who didn't realize what they were implying chemically, but the ingredients are 100% coconut water. No added sugar. No pulp. Good source of potassium. Really delicious.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

I've also tried a bunch of other coconut water brands and this is one of the better ones, particularly because of the lack of added bullshit. It tastes like coconut water. That's it. It can be a little offputting for people that expect coconut water to taste like "coconut flavoring" or coconut pulp.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 month ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

I love me some Suspicious White Fluid to go with my Mystery Meat

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Man I thought I'd never have to remember the coconut story from reddit.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago

Hm, I needed a new stage name, thx

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If you drink it, you will make that face :C=C=O

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[–] UrPartnerInCrime 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Co² water would be cool though

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago

Isn’t that just LaCroix?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Dicarbonmonoxide juice sounds gross

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They wanted to imply the C is for coconut and this is coconut water but really all they did to people that passed middle school (which you'll get to soon enough) is say "this is dicarbon monoxide."

I don't know what would happen if you were to drink C2O but it probably wouldn't be good, making this a drink marketed to idiots by idiots (marketing majors)

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

So that's great that 'C'subscript-2'O' means dicarbon monoxide, what are the biologic implications of drinking dicarbon monoxide (for those of us who are only 10 and a half and haven't passed middle school yet)?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Apparently it's not even really all that stable, so that whole container would rapidly decompose into probably carbon dioxide (CO2) and a bunch of pure carbon (think charcoal). At least that's my hunch. There is a Wikipedia article on the stuff, but it's pretty short, since it's a pretty unusual chemical (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dicarbon_monoxide ).

CO2 is of course extremely common. I'd love to see what a chemist can describe about a bottle of C2O though!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

it’s a pretty unusual chemical

Yeah, I can't even find an SDS for it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)
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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

They have replaced the H in the chemical formula for water (H2O) with a C to represent "coconut". However, C already stands for a chemical element, carbon. That implies this product is a compound made of two carbon atoms and one oxygen. If such a thing exists, it would be incredibly unstable and react with anything it touches; you certainly would not want to drink it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Is C2O at all useful, or should we just remove it in the next update?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (3 children)

For that record, coconut water is disgusting

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Coconut water is awesome, when it comes straight from the coconut. The crap they sell in cartons is depressing and disgusting.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

The carton stuff literally tasted like sweat the one time I tried

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago

Spoken like someone who has never had fresh coconut water straight from a fresh coconut.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's also one of the few ways to get enough potassium, an essential nutrient for life (that, or eat a shitload of avocado-based dishes every single day). Learn to love it if you want to live a long life. There are also coconut-based drinks like Body Armor that don't taste like coconut, but nothing beats the original source when it comes to getting the most potassium per dollar. So it's best to get used to it and get over it like I did. Eventually you'll enjoy the taste.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Use a little salt substitute on your food. It's potassium salt instead of sodium, and contains a lot more of it than those completely worthless pills.

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