4 ms·

At what point a 'name' becomes an 'infodump'? :-D Or more aptly, what constitutes a single molecule, rather than a complex structure built from a repetitive pa

• curryst 5y ago
  > Or more aptly, what constitutes a single molecule, rather than a complex structure built from a repetitive pattern of almost-equal components? The bonds. Not a chemist, but if I remember enough chem 101, all molecules are bonded together by either covalent or ionic bonds between the individual atoms. There are names for some of the common "building blocks" of molecules; i.e. a methyl group is a single carbon with 3 hydrogens bound onto it, and an arbitrary atom on the 4th side. A "complex structure built from a repetitive pattern of almost-equal components" sounds more like a crystal. There are still individual molecules in a crystal, but the molecules are arranged in a precise and repeating pattern.