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Monday, August 06, 2007

Monday's Molecule #38

 
Today's molecule is actually several molecules. In order to win the reward you have to identify what's going on and make the connection to Wednesday's Nobel Laureate(s).

The reward (free lunch) goes to the first person who correctly identifies the molecules and the Nobel Laureate(s) when comments are unblocked.*

Comments will be blocked for 24 hours. Comments are now open.

*Previous free lunch winners are ineligible for one month from the time they first collected the prize. There's only one (Marc) ineligible candidates for this Wednesday's reward since many recent winners haven't collected their prize. The prize is a free lunch at the Faculty Club.

8 comments :

Steve LaBonne said...

Top, sold sodium chloride; bottom, sodium chloride in solution, with the sodium and chloride ions solvated by water molecules, with their electronegative oxygen atoms oriented towards the positively-charged sodium ions, their electropositive hydrogen atoms oriented toward the chloride ions.

I'm guessing the inventors of X-ray crystallography, the Braggs (Sir William Henry and his son, the youngest-ever Nobelist at age 25, Sir William Lawrence.) Solving the lattice structure of solid NaCl was one of their early successes.

Steve LaBonne said...

That's "solid", though it is indeed "sold" at your friendly local grocery store. ;)

Larry Moran said...

You have accurately described the figure but you need to work on finding the Nobel Laureate.

No free lunch for you, yet. :-)

Steve LaBonne said...

OK, I'll try once more- Svante Arrhenius (1903) who would be more or less responsible for the bottom half of the figure. ;)

Anonymous said...

Steve,

He may be wanting to hear about how salts are used to study the structure of protiens or some such...

Alex said...

Hmm, Anfinsen's off the table, so maybe it has something to do with chromatography (Synge and Martin?).

Larry Moran said...

Steve, you are correct with your second guess!

Are you coming to Toronto to collect your free lunch tomorrow?

Steve LaBonne said...

I'm afraid I'll have to take a rain check. But one of these days I really ought to get up there (haven't been in a few years), since it's an easy day's drive from Northeast Ohio where I live now. I'd be delighted to meet you.