The Chemistry Conundrum

Now that many readers are back at school, there is something that I think should have a name. But I very much doubt that I am the first person who has noticed this. There is something about basic chemistry that is confusing and doesn't make sense. It concerns valence, or the exchange of electrons between atoms to form molecules.

There are two electric charges, negative and positive. But negative and positive are represented by the symbols "-" and "+". The confusion begins because these two symbols also have another meaning.

Minus, "-", means to subtract or take away. This is the same symbol that is used for negative electric charge.

Plus, "+", means to add or join to. This is the same symbol that is used for positive electric charge.

There are two types of bonds between atoms so that they form compounds or molecules. Ionic bonds are where one atom loses an electron to another so that one atom has a net negative charge and the other has a net positive charge, so that they join together by mutual opposite charge attraction. Covalent bonds, in structures such as the complex structures of carbon atoms, is where two atoms share one or more electrons.

Ionic bonds are more in inanimate matter but the molecular bonds in living things rely on covalent bonds. As you can see by your flesh, matter based on covalent bonds is often flexible while ionic bonds tend to be brittle or inflexible.

This conundrum concerns ionic bonds. Suppose that two atoms are close together and one takes an outer electron from the other. Because electrons have a negative charge, the atom that loses the electron will then have a net positive charge. The atom that gains the electron will then have a net negative charge.

Do you see how confusing this is?

An atom loses an electron which has a negative charge, as in "-", yet it now has a positive charge, as in "+", as if it has gained something because "+" also means addition.

The other atom gains the electron. To gain means to add something. Addition is symbolized by the plus sign, "+", but the atom now has a negative charge, which is symbolized by the opposite sign, "-".

The negative and positive designations given to the two opposite electric charges are entirely arbitrary. We could just as easily called negative positive and vice versa. If we said that the electron has a positive charge, while the nucleus has a negative charge, which is now what we define as antimatter, it would make more sense.

An atom that GAINED an electron would then have a POSITIVE electric charge, as in "+".

An atom that LOST an electron would then have a NEGATIVE electric charge, as in "-".

Wouldn't that make more sense and be less confusing?

THE BRIGHT SIDE OF THE MOON

We know of misnomers like "tidal waves", which are caused by undersea earthquakes and have nothing to do with tides, and "microwaves" which are near the short wavelength end of the radio spectrum but actually toward the longer end of the electromagnetic spectrum overall. Since we are on the subject of verbal conundrums in science, there is another one that we could point out.

The same side of the moon always faces toward us. We have never seen the far side of the moon except for photographs taken from spacecraft. That far side is often referred to as "The Dark Side of the Moon". It is actually "The Bright Side of the Moon".

First, the far side of the moon receives just as much sunlight as the side that faces us. The moon that we see goes through a cycle of phases, from new moon to full moon. The unseen far side has the opposite illumination. When we see a full moon, it is "new moon" on the far side and, at that point, it is indeed "The Dark Side of the Moon". But when we see a new moon, meaning that the moon is not visible at all, then the sun is shining fully on the far side so that each side overall faces the sun equally.

Second, the reason that I say the unseen far side is really "The Bright Side of the Moon" is that it receives sunlight that is more intense than the side of the moon that we see. Both sides of the moon face toward the sun in equal measures. But the far side of the moon faces the sun when it is between the earth and the sun, which is why solar eclipses occur only at new moon, this means that the far side is closer to the sun than the earth when it fully faces the sun.

In contrast, the side of the moon that we see only fully faces the sun when it is on the opposite side of the earth's orbit, when it is further from the sun than the earth is. That is why a lunar eclipse only occurs at full moon. But because it is further away from the sun than the earth when fully lit, and the far side of the moon is closer to the sun than the earth when fully lit, that means that the total sunlight that falls on the far side is more intense than the total sunlight that falls on the side of the moon that we see.

That means that "The Dark Side of the Moon", the far side that we cannot see, is really "The Bright Side of the Moon".