Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by kees99 31 days ago
"colorless molecules called benzoquinones"

...and then dozen of words further on:

"blue benzoquinone has the capacity to act against the bacteria that cause tuberculosis, while the red one is effective against Staphylococcus aureus."

How quaint! Blue colorless molecule is different from the red colorless molecule!

1 comments

Maybe you should not omit those "dozens of words" that clearly explain what you're trying to portray as a contradiction.

> These molecules have a particular property: When they come into contact with air, they oxidize and change color. One becomes blue and the other red.

You are absolutely right.

Maybe I shouldn't. But then I have to deep-dive into yet another flagrant cheap hallucination. You see, when a molecule oxidize, it becomes a different molecule.

It is impossible for a benzoquinone to oxidize, yet remain a benzoquinone. There are just two of them [1], and the two are isomers [2]. Transforming one into another would be isomerisation, not oxidation.

Not to mention — "oxidize on contact with air" is such a pile of nonsense. Just look at those things: benzene ring with a couple of oxygens sticking from it. [1] That stuff is pretty darn stable in presence of atmospheric oxygen.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoquinone

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isomer