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An analysis of the difficulties associated with determining that a reaction in chemical equilibrium is incomplete Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2021-01-25 Kevin C. de Berg
There are inherent difficulties in a subject like chemistry particularly the notion of a chemical reaction. In this paper the difficulties are discussed from a teaching and learning perspective and from a history of chemistry perspective. Three teaching/learning studies of the incompleteness of the iron(III) thiocyanate reaction in chemical equilibrium are reviewed and it is shown that a recent historical
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A problem with explaining the electron configuration of scandium Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2021-01-20 Geoffrey R. H. Neuss
The statements and arguments based on experimental evidence used to support the claim that the 3d sub-level is below the 4s sub-level in scandium are examined. The flaw in all the arguments is that they assume the order in which the 3d and 4s sub-levels arrange remains the same in both the neutral atom and in its ions. Analysis of the ground and excited states of atomic spectra shows that as the number
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Liquid crystal chemistry and poetry Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2021-01-17 David Dunmur
This paper comments on a recent article “Revolutionary poetry and liquid crystal chemistry: Herman Gorter, Ada Prins and the interface between literature and science” by Hub Zwart (Foundations of Chemistry, published online: 10 July 2020), in which the author explores the influence of the liquid crystal research of Ada Prins on the epic poem Pan written by her long-time lover Herman Gorter. The present
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Logics for algorithmic chemistries Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-11-13 Ceth Lightfield
Algorithmic chemistries are often based on a fixed formalism which limits the fragment of chemistry expressible in the domain of the models. This results in limited applicability of the models in contemporary mathematical chemistry and is due to the poor fit between the logic used for model construction and the system being modeled. In this paper, I propose a system-oriented methodology which selects
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Correction to: The location and composition of Group 3 of the periodic table Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-10-12 René E. Vernon
In the original publication of the article, the author has identified four belated corrections which are listed below.
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The location and composition of Group 3 of the periodic table Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-09-24 René E. Vernon
Group 3 as Sc–Y–La, rather than Sc–Y–Lu, dominates the literature. The history of this situation, including involvement by the IUPAC, is summarised. I step back from the minutiae of physical, chemical, and electronic properties and explore considerations of regularity and symmetry, natural kinds, and quantum mechanics, finding these to be inconclusive. Continuing the theme, a series of ten interlocking
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Three related topics on the periodic tables of elements Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-08-18 Yoshiteru Maeno, Kouichi Hagino, Takehiko Ishiguro
A large variety of periodic tables of the chemical elements have been proposed. It was Mendeleev who proposed a periodic table based on the extensive periodic law and predicted a number of unknown elements at that time. The periodic table currently used worldwide is of a long form pioneered by Werner in 1905. As the first topic, we describe the work of Pfeiffer (Naturwiss. 8:984–991, 1920), who refined
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On vague chemistry Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-07-16 Apostolos Syropoulos
Generally, an object is vague when its properties cannot precisely defined. The ontic view of vagueness is the idea that vagueness is a fundamental property of Nature. This simply means that everything is vague: animals, plants, molecules, atoms, etc. Furthermore, if atoms and molecules are vague, then the subject matter of chemistry is vague. However, we first need to understand why molecules and
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The QSAR similarity principle in the deep learning era: Confirmation or revision? Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-07-15 Giuseppina Gini
Structure–activity relationship (SAR) and quantitative SAR (QSAR) are modeling methods largely used in assessing biological properties of chemical substances. QSAR is based on the hypothesis that the chemical structure is responsible for the activity; it follows that similar molecules are expected to have similar properties. Similarity plays an important role in read across, which categorizes molecules
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On the early thermodynamic and kinetic deductions of the equilibrium constant equation Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-07-14 Juan Quílez
After briefly presenting the first formulation of the equilibrium constant stated by Guldberg and Waage, this study examines the early thermodynamic and kinetic deductions of the equilibrium law. Firstly, it is discussed how Horstmann applied the concept of entropy to chemical equilibrium reactions, which meant the first thermodynamic explanation of the Guldberg-Waage law of mass action proposed in
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Chemistry and dynamics in the thought of G.W. Leibniz I Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-07-11 Miguel Escribano-Cabeza
Chemistry and dynamics are closely related in G.W. Leibniz's thinking, from the corpuscularism of his youth to the theory of conspiracy movements that he proposes in his later years. Despite the importance of chemistry and chemical thought in Leibniz's philosophy, interpreters have not paid enough attention to this subject, especially in the recent decades. This work aims to contribute to filling this
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Chemistry and dynamics in the thought of G.W. Leibniz II Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-07-07 Miguel Escribano-Cabeza
Is Leibnizian dynamics the New Physics sought in his youth to provide a solution to the problem of body unity/composition? This question can only be answered tentatively. The thesis that I will develop in this second part is that chemical-combinatoria project is not complete without some ideas of dynamics. The idea of form, which since the early Leibniz’s philosophy is projected to give a foundation
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Chemistry is pluralistic Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-07-07 Klaus Ruthenberg; Ave Mets
Recently, philosophers have come forth with approaches to chemistry based on its actual practice, imparting to it a proper aim and character of its own. These approaches add to the currently growing movement of pluralist philosophies of science. We draw on recent pluralist accounts from (the philosophy of) chemistry and analyse three notions from modern chemical practice and theory (acidity, electronegativity
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Organic chemistry as representation Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-07-06 Eamonn F. Healy
Electron redistribution is the cornerstone of our understanding of chemical reactivity. For the vast majority of organic reactions electrons are assumed to move in pairs providing explanatory mechanisms through the generation of intermediate structures. But for many transformations these discrete steps are idealized constructs, involving intermediates assumed but not empirically justified. This unitary
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A new definition of reduction between two scientific theories: no reduction of chemistry to quantum mechanics Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-07-05 Antonino Drago
All suggested notions of reduction of two scientific theories are critically reviewed and analyzed. In particular those applied to the case of the alleged reduction of Chemistry to Quantum mechanics are examined. Since it is recognized that the weakness of this field of research is the lack of a definition of a scientific theory, it is suggested that a scientific theory is characterized by two choices
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A relational-constructionist account of protein macrostructure and function Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-06-17 Gil Santos; Gabriel Vallejos; Davide Vecchi
One of the foundational problems of biochemistry concerns the conceptualisation of the relationship between the composition, structure and function of macromolecules like proteins. Part of the recent philosophical literature displays a reductionist bias, that is, the endorsement of a form of microstructuralism mirroring an out-dated biochemical conceptualisation. We shall argue that such microstructuralist
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Ontological status of time in chemistry Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-06-11 N. Sukumar
While temporal considerations are of prime importance for chemical reactions, as well as for molecular stability, most chemical concepts (outside of the field of chemical kinetics) are not explicitly formulated on a diachronic basis (Earley in Found Chem 14:235, 2012). It will be argued here that a formulation explicitly incorporating temporal and epistemological considerations enables us to treat
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Prediction, accommodation and the periodic table: a reappraisal Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-06-06 Sergio Gabriele Maria Sereno
The history of the diffusion and confirmation of Mendeleev’s periodic table of elements has proven to be a challenging testbed for contemporary philosophical debates on the role of predictions in science. More than ten years of fruitful literature came after Scerri and Worrall (Stud Hist Phil Sci 32(3):407–452, 2001) versus Maher (Proc Bienn Meet Philos Sci Assoc 1:273–285, 1988) and Lipton (Inference
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How to investigate the underpinnings of sciences? The case of the element chlorine Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-06-05 Sarah Hijmans; Jean-Pierre Llored
In recent publications, Harré and Llored (in: Javenovic (ed) Challenges of cultural psychology, Routledge, London, pp 189–206, 2018a; Philosophy, 93:167–186, 2018b; The analysis of practices, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2019) take the role of philosophy of science as a digging out of the ‘hinges’, that are the tacit elements of a discipline. In this perspective, the philosophy
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Watch the colors: or about qualitative thinking in chemistry Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-06-04 Wojciech Grochala
Abstract The importance of watching and understanding color of chemical compounds and linking it to diverse physical and chemical properties is illustrated here using transition metal oxides at the highest achievable oxidation state of a metal. Analyses are based on qualitative thinking supported by Molecular Orbital theory in its simplest implementation. Graphic abstract
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Philosophy, natural kinds, microstructuralism, and the (mis)use of chemical examples: intimacy versus integrity as orientations towards chemical practice Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-05-16 Clevis Headley
This essay critically considers the issue of natural kind essentialism. More specifically, the essay critically probes the philosophical use of chemical examples to support realism about natural kinds. My simple contention is that the natural kind debate can be understood in terms of two different cultures of academic production. These two cultures will be conceptualized using Thomas Kasulis’s distinction
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A comment about the meaning and significance of life in the light of generalized crystallography Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-04-22 Amihud Gilead
The time-honored questions concerning the meaning and significance of life should be discussed not only in the light of various philosophical and literary considerations but also from the natural scientific perspectives as human beings are conditioned parts of nature as a whole. Hence, in this paper, I discuss these questions from the perspectives of two major and universal scientific fields, namely
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A nuclear periodic table Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-04-21 K. Hagino; Y. Maeno
There has been plenty of empirical evidence which shows that the single-particle picture holds to a good approximation in atomic nuclei. In this picture, protons and neutrons move independently inside a mean-field potential generated by an interaction among the nucleons. This leads to the concept of nuclear shells, similar to the electronic shells in atoms. In particular, the magic numbers due to closures
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Early theoretical chemistry: Plato’s chemistry in Timaeus Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-04-12 Francesco Di Giacomo
The Timaeus is the dialogue that was for many centuries the most influential of Plato’s works. Among its readers we find Descartes, Boyle, Kepler and Heisenberg. In the first division of Timaeus Plato deals with the theory of celestial motion, in the second he presents us with the first mathematical theory of the structure of matter. Here, in a gigantic step forward with respect to the preceding Democritean
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Molecular models and scientific realism Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-04-08 Gabriela García Zerecero
The practice of theoretical research in chemistry largely consists in the construction of models without which experimentation would be impossible. The best-known theoretical models in chemistry are those of the molecular structures of chemical compounds. What is the correspondence between these models and the unobservable entities that they are meant to explain? What is the ontological status of molecular
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Understanding molecular structure requires constructive realism Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-03-29 Hirofumi Ochiai
Since molecules are inaccessible to immediate observation, our conception of the molecule is brought about by transdiction which entails invention of various transcendental ideas. In organic chemistry we think that molecules consist of atoms, bonds, functional groups, etc. This is, however, not the unique description of the molecule as is shown by quantum mechanical calculations, for example. Then
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Binódic periodic system: a mathematical approach Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-03-05 Julio Antonio Gutiérrez Samanez
This article discusses the mathematizing of the chemical periodic system as a grid, which leads to a quadratic function or “binódica function” formed by pairs of periods or binodos (dyads). We describe the periodic law as an increasing function of the principal quantum number (n). It works subject to the dialectical laws that generate; first: gradual quantitative changes: (2n2), with “duplication”
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Chemistry as the basic science Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-01-29 Peeter Müürsepp, Gulzhikhan Nurysheva, Aliya Ramazanova, Zhamilya Amirkulova
Abstract The paper deals with the philosophy of science and technology from a new perspective. The analysis connects closely to the novel approach to scientific research called practical realism of the late Estonian philosopher of science and chemistry Rein Vihalemm. From his perspective, science is not only theoretical but even more clearly a practical activity. This kind of practice-based approach
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How Mendeleev issued his predictions: comment on Andrea Woody Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-02-08 Chris Campbell; Karoliina Pulkkinen
Much has been said about the accuracy of the famous predictions of the Russian chemist Dmitrii Ivanovich Mendeleev, but far less has been written on how he made his predictions. Here we offer an explanation on how Mendeleev used his periodic system to predict both physical and chemical properties of little-known and entirely unknown chemical elements. We argue that there seems to be compelling evidence
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Organising the metals and nonmetals Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-02-05 René E. Vernon
The periodic table can be simply demarcated into four classes of metal and four classes of nonmetal. Such a treatment has been obstructed by the traditional view of metalloids as in-between elements; understandable but needless boundary squabbles; and a group-by-group view of the reactive nonmetals. Setting aside these limiting notions reveals some interesting patterns and facilitates teaching and
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A scale of atomic electronegativity in terms of atomic nucleophilicity index Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-01-30 Hiteshi Tandon; Tanmoy Chakraborty; Vandana Suhag
AbstractElectronegativity (χ) is an important physico-chemical concept to study the chemical structure and reactivity. Although, the conundrum related to measurement of electronegativity still persists. In view of this fact, a simple yet rigorous scale of electronegativity (χ), invoking an inverse relationship with atomic nucleophilicity index (N), has been proposed for 103 elements of the periodic
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Teaching of chemistry before and after the periodic table Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-01-29 Jerry Ray Dias
An Example of Teaching of Chemistry Before and After Mendeleev’s 1869 Periodic Table of Elements is presented. Prior to Mendeleev’s publication in 1869, only 63 elements were known. The ensuing discovery of the electron and the correspondence of the number of electrons to equivalent weight and atomic number is of singular importance to the impact of the Periodic Table of Elements and the way modern
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Two-step emergence: the quantum theory of atoms in molecules as a bridge between quantum mechanics and molecular chemistry Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-01-25 Chérif F. Matta; Olimpia Lombardi; Jesús Jaimes Arriaga
By moving away from the traditional reductionist reading of the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), in this paper we analyze the role played by QTAIM in the relationship between molecular chemistry and quantum mechanics from an emergentist perspective. In particular, we show that such a relationship involves two steps: an intra-domain emergence and an inter-domain emergence. Intra-domain
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Correction to: 4D-cubic lattice of chemical elements Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2020-01-24 Haresh Lalvani
In the original publication of the article under the Acknowledgements section, a contributor name was missed out. The corrected statement should read as follows.
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4D-cubic lattice of chemical elements Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-12-14 Haresh Lalvani
A 4-dimensional periodic table of chemical elements (4D PT) is presented. The 120 elements in the n = 8 system are located on vertices of a 4D-cubic lattice and specified by Cartesian coordinates (n, l, m, s) based on the four quantum numbers. Each quantum number is represented by a vector along a different spatial direction (axes) in 4D Euclidean space. The 4D PT has a fixed topology governed by Euler–Poincare-type
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Overcoming skepticism about molecular structure by developing the concept of affordance Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-11-11 Hirofumi Ochiai
What chemists take as molecular structure is a theoretical construct based on the concepts of chemical bond, atoms in molecules, etc. and hence it should be distinguished from tangible structures around us. The practical adequacy of it has been demonstrated by the established method of retro-synthetic analysis, for instance. But it is not derived a priori from quantum mechanical treatments of the molecule
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Whom should we credit for the discovery of isotopes? Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-10-09 Gareth R. Eaton
Whom should we credit for the discovery of isotopes? The first suggestion of an idea, the first experimental proof, or the development of a new method that clearly reveals the isotopes? Strömholm and Svedberg, Fajans and Soddy interpreted patterns of radioactive decay, which became confirmed theory on the solid basis of the very accurate atomic weight determinations by Richards and his coworkers. The
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The beginnings of a formal language for conceptual analysis of processes in macro-chemistry Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-10-04 Michèle Friend
I present a formal language that imposes a structure on processes in macro-chemistry. Each symbol in the language invites a type of analysis that is carried out either by looking into the semantics if the language or by looking at the context. Every formal language has assumptions underlying it. The assumptions made in developing the formal language are meant to help with conceptual analysis by inviting
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Reporting the discovery of new chemical elements: working in different worlds, only 25 years apart Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-10-03 K. Brad Wray; Line Edslev Andersen
In his account of scientific revolutions, Thomas Kuhn suggests that after a revolutionary change of theory, it is as if scientists are working in a different world. In this paper, we aim to show that the notion of world change is insightful. We contrast the reporting of the discovery of neon in 1898 with the discovery of hafnium in 1923. The one discovery was made when elements were identified by their
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Model transfer and conceptual progress: tales from chemistry and biology Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-09-28 Justin Price
The dissemination of models across disciplinary lines has become a phenomenon of interest to philosophers of science. To account for this phenomenon, philosophers have invented two units of analysis. The first identifies to the thing that transfers, model templates. The second identifies the thing to which transferable templates apply, landing zones. There exists a dynamic between the thing that is
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Conceptual confusion in the chemistry curriculum: exemplifying the problematic nature of representing chemical concepts as target knowledge Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-09-26 Keith S. Taber
This paper considers the nature of a curriculum as presented in formal curriculum documents, and the inherent difficulties of representing formal disciplinary knowledge in a prescription for teaching and learning. The general points are illustrated by examining aspects of a specific example, taken from the chemistry subject content included in the science programmes of study that are part of the National
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The role of idealisations in describing an isolated molecule. Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-09-24 Vanessa A Seifert
The investigation of the relation between chemistry and quantum mechanics includes examining how the two theories each describe an isolated molecule. This paper focuses on one particular characteristic of chemistry’s and quantum mechanics’ descriptions of an isolated molecule; namely on the assumptions made by each description that an isolated molecule is stable and has structure. The paper argues
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Boyle, Spinoza and Glauber: on the philosophical redintegration of saltpeter—a reply to Antonio Clericuzio Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-09-24 Filip A. A. Buyse
The so-called ‘redintegration experiment’ is traditionally at the center of the comments on the supposed Boyle/Spinoza controversy. A. Clericuzio influentially argued (criticizing R.A. & M.B. Hall’s interpretation) in his publications that, in De nitro, Boyle accounted for the ‘redintegration’ of saltpeter on the grounds of the chemical properties of corpuscles and “did not make any attempt to deduce
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Statistical mechanical interpretation of temperature Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-03-07 Peter G. Nelson
A statistical mechanical treatment is given of thermal contact between two systems. Reciprocal temperature (1/T) emerges from this as the relative change in the number of microscopic states a macroscopic system at equilibrium ranges over, at constant volume and chemical composition, with change in internal energy. The significance of this is discussed in detail with reference to a monatomic gas and
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Mineral misbehavior: why mineralogists don’t deal in natural kinds Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-02-27 Carlos Santana
Mineral species are, at first glance, an excellent candidate for an ideal set of natural kinds somewhere beyond the periodic table. Mineralogists have a detailed set of rules and formal procedure for ratifying new species, and minerals are a less messy subject matter than biological species, psychological disorders, or even chemicals more broadly—all areas of taxonomy where the status of species as
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From telluric helix to telluric remix Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-02-22 Philip J. Stewart
The first attempt to represent the Periodic system graphically was the Telluric Helix (Vis Tellurique) presented in 1862 by Alexandre-Emile Béguyer de Chancourtois, in which the sequence of elements was wound round a cylinder. This has hardly been attempted since, because the intervals between periodic returns vary in length from 2 to 32 elements, but Charles Janet presented a model wound round four
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Structure, shape, topology: entangled concepts in molecular chemistry Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-02-01 Elena Ghibaudi; Luigi Cerruti; Giovanni Villani
The concepts of molecular structure and molecular shape are ubiquitous in the chemical literature, where they are often taken as synonyms, with unavoidable drawbacks in chemistry teaching. A third concept, molecular topology, is less frequent but it is a reference term in molecular research domains such as Quantitative Structure–Activity Relationships. The present paper proposes an epistemological
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Five ideas in chemical education that must die Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-01-03 Eric R. Scerri
The article concerns five traditionally difficult issues that chemical educators encounter and how they should be resolved. In some cases I propose the examination of necessary and sufficient conditions in order to cast light on the relationships under discussion. The five educational issues are, the notion that a pH value of seven implies a neutral solution of water and vice versa, the use of Le Châtelier’s
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Incompatible models in chemistry: the case of electronegativity Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-01-02 Hernán Lucas Accorinti
During the second half of the nineteenth century, electronegativity (EN) has been one of the most relevant chemical concepts to explain the relationships between chemical substances and their possible reactions. Specifically, EN is a property of the substances that allows them to attract external electrons in bonding situations. The problem arises because EN cannot be measured directly. Indeed, the
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Émile Meyerson and mass conservation in chemical reactions: a priori expectations versus experimental tests Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-01-02 Roberto de Andrade Martins
In his celebrated historic-epistemological work Identité et réalité, Émile Meyerson claimed that the scientific conservation principles were first suggested and accepted for philosophical reasons, and only afterwards were submitted to experimental tests. One of the instances he discussed in his book is the principle of mass conservation in chemical reactions. Meyerson pointed out that several authors
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A new chapter in the problem of the reduction of chemistry to physics: the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Jesus Alberto Jaimes Arriaga; Sebastian Fortin; Olimpia Lombardi
The problem of the reduction of chemistry to physics has been traditionally addressed in terms of classical structural chemistry and standard quantum mechanics. In this work, we will study the problem from the perspective of the Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM), proposed by Richard Bader in the nineties. The purpose of this article is to unveil the role of QTAIM in the inter-theoretical
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The function of microstructure in Boyle’s chemical philosophy: ‘chymical atoms' and structural explanation Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Marina Paola Banchetti-Robino
One of several important issues that inform contemporary philosophy of chemistry is the issue of structural explanation, precisely because modern chemistry is primarily concerned with microstructure. This paper argues that concern over microstructure, albeit understood differently than it is today, also informs the chemical philosophy of Robert Boyle (1627–1691). According to Boyle, the specific microstructure
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The problem of optical isomerism and the interpretation of quantum mechanics Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-01-01 Juan Camilo Martínez González
When young Kant meditated upon the distinction between his right and left hands, he could not foresee that the problem of incongruent counterparts would revive in the twentieth century under a new form. In the early days of quantum chemistry, Friedrich Hund developed the so-called Hund paradox that arises from the supposed inability of quantum mechanics to account for the difference between enantiomers
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Re-evaluating semi-empirical computer simulations in quantum chemistry Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2019-01-01 María Silvia Polzella; Penélope Lodeyro
Usually within the context of computer simulations in quantum chemistry practices (and solid-state physics), there is a distinction between ab initio and semi-empirical methods. Related to this, a controversy within the scientific and philosophical communities came about regarding the superiority of the ab initio methods due to their theoretical rigor. In this article we re-evaluate the condition of
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Thermodynamic foundations of physical chemistry: reversible processes and thermal equilibrium into the history Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2018-12-10 Raffaele Pisano; Abdelkader Anakkar; Emilio Marco Pellegrino; Maxime Nagels
In the history of science, the birth of classical chemistry (1789) and thermodynamics (1824) produced an anomaly within Newtonian mechanical paradigm: force and acceleration were no longer citizens of new cited sciences. Scholars tried to reintroduce them within mechanistic approaches, as the case of the kinetic gas theory. Nevertheless, Thermodynamics, in general, and its Second Law, in particular
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Further light on the philosophical significance of Mackay’s theoretical discovery of crystalline pure possibilities Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2018-10-10 Amihud Gilead
As early as 1981, about 1 year before Shechtman’s discovery of an actual quasicrystal, Alan L. Mackay discussed, in a seminal paper, the first steps for the expansion of crystallography toward its modern phase. In this phase, new possibilities of structures and order, such as the structures of five-fold symmetry, for crystals have been discovered. Medieval Islamic decorators as well as Albrecht Dürer
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Does the period table appear doubled? Two variants of division of elements into two subsets. Internal and secondary periodicity Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2018-06-28 Naum S. Imyanitov
Demarcation of elements for two subsets appears to be the most fundamental approach to their classification. If one draws a vertical straight line through the middle of each block of elements in the Periodic table, all the elements are divided into two subsets: “early” and “later”. For example, in the d-block, the early ones are Sc–Mn, and the late ones, respectively, are Fe–Zn. Later elements partially
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Research of chemical elements and chemical bonds from the view of complex network Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2018-06-11 Runzhan Liu; Guoyong Mao; Ning Zhang
Though complex networks have been widely applied in the research of chemistry, there is hardly any introduction about the establishment of networks using chemical bonds. In this paper, we consider chemical elements as a system linked by chemical bonds and create the undirected chemical bond network by abstracting nodes from elements and undirected edges from bonds. Connectivity, heterogeneity, small
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A historical/epistemological account of the foundation of the key ideas supporting chemical equilibrium theory Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2018-06-08 Juan Quílez
In this paper it is performed a historical account of the theoretical roots that grounded the following four key basic ideas of chemical equilibrium: ‘incomplete reaction’, ‘reversibility’, ‘equilibrium constant’ and ‘molecular dynamics’. These notions developed in nineteenth-century as a consequence of the evolution of the concept of chemical affinity. The discussion begins with the presentation of
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The network theory: a new language for speaking about chemical elements relations through stoichiometric binary compounds Found. Chem. (IF 0.677) Pub Date : 2018-06-07 Rosana del P. Suárez
Traditionally the study of chemical elements has been limited to well-known concepts like the periodic properties and chemical families. However, current information shows a new and rich language that allows us to observe relations in the elements that are not limited to their positions in the table. These relations are evident when reactions are represented through networks, as in the case of similar
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