this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2024
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Science Memes

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submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 37 points 4 months ago (1 children)

And here's me, mixing up hydrocarbons and carbohydrates.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 4 months ago (1 children)

one is food for animals, the other is food for cars

[–] [email protected] 14 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Yes, but which is which? Nothing in the name tells me whether it has oxygen in its chemical composition.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Well, you might've heard foods with carbohydrates are sometimes referred to by the abbreviation “carbs". If you know carbs are food, it's obvious the word starting in "carb-" is the edible one.

If you weren't familiar with that abbreviation, here's another memory helper: Spaghetti carbonara contains carbs.

If you're also not familiar with spaghetti carbonara, I'm very sorry for you.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 4 months ago (2 children)

But spaghetti also needs water so wouldn't that make it a hydrocarbonara?

[–] [email protected] 12 points 4 months ago

Aye, I stand defeated.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Or a carbonarahydrate?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Don't cars have carborators? Are carborators edible?

I don't know anything about cars except they go vroom. I know even less about chemistry.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

I have never heard of anyone eating a carburetor and dying, so we have to assume it's safe to eat

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Carbohydrates are the ones with (H20)n

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago (2 children)

To hydrate means to add water. Hence a hydrate has OH2 added.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

More generally, -ate itself means 'with oxygen'.

Carbonate = carbon + oxygen

Nitrate = nitrogen + oxygen

Phosphate = phosphorus + oxygen

There is apparently some nuance but it is a good rule to remember: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/32962/when-to-use-ate-and-ite-for-naming-oxyanions

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

Oooohhhh, nice!