Scientists recreated the conditions on Saturn's moon Titan and watched molecules that shouldn't mix form stable crystals together — at around minus 179°C, polar hydrogen cyanide accepts nonpolar methane and ethane into its crystal structure, breaking one of chemistry's most familiar rules of thumb.
2 Articles
2 Articles
Scientists recreated the conditions on Saturn's moon Titan and watched molecules that shouldn't mix form stable crystals together — at around minus 179°C, polar hydrogen cyanide accepts nonpolar methane and ethane into its crystal structure, breaking one of chemistry's most familiar rules of thumb.
“Like dissolves like” is one of chemistry’s most useful shortcuts. Polar materials tend to associate with polar materials, while nonpolar compounds prefer their own kind. On Titan, at temperatures that turn water into rock and leave methane flowing as liquid, that shortcut has acquired an unusual exception. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory exposed crystals of hydrogen cyanide, or HCN, to methane, ethane and other small hydrocarbon…
The formation of crystals in Titan caught the researchers by surprise by proving that totally opposite substances can unite in the cold of space. This natural process mixes materials that were previously seen as water and oil, changing our view of the beginning of life. Why does this spatial mixture impress so much scientists? A... The post Scientists recreated the conditions of the moon of Saturn, Titan, and observed molecules that should not b…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 100% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
