News tagged with molecules
New type of extra-chromosomal DNA discovered
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists from the University of Virginia and University of North Carolina in the US have discovered a previously unidentified type of small circular DNA molecule occurring outside ...
Mar 09, 2012 |
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First-ever images of atoms moving in a molecule captured
Using a new ultrafast camera, researchers have recorded the first real-time image of two atoms vibrating in a molecule.
Mar 07, 2012 |
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H3+: The molecule that made the Universe
(Phys.org) -- In a study that pushed quantum mechanical theory and research capabilities to the limit, University of Arizona researchers have found a way to see the molecule that likely made the universe - ...
Apr 12, 2012 |
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Researchers unlock mystery of how 'handedness' arises
The overwhelming majority of proteins and other functional molecules in our bodies display a striking molecular characteristic: They can exist in two distinct forms that are mirror images of each other, like ...
May 08, 2012 |
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Scientists image the charge distribution within a single molecule for the first time
(PhysOrg.com) -- IBM scientists were able to measure for the first time how charge is distributed within a single molecule. This achievement will enable fundamental scientific insights into single-molecule ...
Feb 27, 2012 |
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Spitzer finds solid buckyballs in space
(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have, for the first time, discovered buckyballs in a solid form in space. Prior to this discovery, the microscopic carbon spheres ...
Feb 22, 2012 |
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Scientists discover a surprising new way that protons can move among molecules
When a proton – the bare nucleus of a hydrogen atom – transfers from one molecule to another, or moves within a molecule, the result is a hydrogen bond, in which the proton and another atom like ...
Mar 18, 2012 |
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Researchers engineer molecular magnets to act as long-lived qubits
(PhysOrg.com) -- Some physicists today are investigating the possibility of using molecular magnets as information storage units in future quantum computers. Molecular magnets are molecules whose magnetic ...
Mar 21, 2012 |
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Scattered light could reveal alien atmospheres
The light scattered off distant worlds could help reveal details about their atmospheres that no other method could uncover, scientists find.
Feb 20, 2012 |
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Sex-deprived fruit flies drink more alcohol: New study could uncover answers for human addictions
Sexually deprived male fruit flies exhibit a pattern of behavior that seems ripped from the pages of a sad-sack Raymond Carver story: when female fruit flies reject their sexual advances, the males are driven ...
Mar 15, 2012 |
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Two molecules communicate via single photons
Scientists realize one of the most elementary and oldest "gedanken" experiments in modern physics, namely, excitation of a single molecule with a single photon. This paves the way for further investigations ...
Feb 28, 2012 |
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Molecular alternatives to DNA, RNA offer new insight into life's origins
Living systems owe their existence to a pair of information-carrying molecules: DNA and RNA. These fundamental chemical forms possess two features essential for life: they display heredity—meaning they can encode and ...
Apr 19, 2012 |
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New metal catalyst drives hydrogen fuel reaction forwards and backwards
(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to driving hydrogen production, a new catalyst built at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory can do what was previously shown to happen only in nature: store energy in hydrogen and release ...
Feb 16, 2012 |
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Tiny reader makes fast, cheap DNA sequencing feasible
Researchers have devised a nanoscale sensor to electronically read the sequence of a single DNA molecule, a technique that is fast and inexpensive and could make DNA sequencing widely available.
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Mar 26, 2012 |
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Honeycomb structure responsible for bacteria's extraordinary sense
(PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell researchers have peered into the complex molecular network of receptors that give one-celled organisms like bacteria the ability to sense their environment and respond to chemical ...
Feb 20, 2012 |
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Molecule
A molecule is defined as a sufficiently stable, electrically neutral group of at least two atoms in a definite arrangement held together by very strong (covalent) chemical bonds. Molecules are distinguished from polyatomic ions in this strict sense. In organic chemistry and biochemistry, the term molecule is used less strictly and also is applied to charged organic molecules and biomolecules.
In the kinetic theory of gases the term molecule is often used for any gaseous particle regardless of its composition. According to this definition noble gas atoms are considered molecules despite the fact that they are composed of a single non-bonded atom.
A molecule may consist of atoms of a single chemical element, as with oxygen (O2), or of different elements, as with water (H2O). Atoms and complexes connected by non-covalent bonds such as hydrogen bonds or ionic bonds are generally not considered single molecules.
No typical molecule can be defined for ionic crystals (salts) and covalent crystals (network solids), although these are often composed of repeating unit cells that extend either in a plane (such as in graphene) or three-dimensionally (such as in diamond or sodium chloride). The theme of repeated unit-cellular-structure also holds for most condensed phases with metallic bonding. In glasses (solids that exist in a vitreous disordered state), atoms may also be held together by chemical bonds without any definable molecule, but also without any of the regularity of repeating units that characterises crystals.
For more information about Molecule, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
