As it turns out, the possibility of creating Kryptonite isn’t possible, so if Superman ever does invade, we’re screwed.
The boffins over at iO9 have the chemistry worked out. As we have the element krypton, and molecules which end in ‘ite’, surely combining the two would result in kryptonite?
According to the site, each part of the name – in this case ‘kryton’ and ‘ite’ – tells us something about what it is and what it does. The name ‘kryptonite’ indicates that the molecule is an oxyanion (a negatively-charged molecule with several oxygen atoms attached).
“Most of the time, when you hear about these oxyanions,” writes Esther Inglis-Arkell “you hear about ‘ates’ not ‘ites.’ Nitrate (potassium nitrate makes smoke bombs) is NO3- , sulfate (potassium sulfate makes fertilizer) is SO42-, and carbonate (calcium carbonate is in shells and chalk) is CO32-. “Ites” have the same negative charge as “ates,” but have one less oxygen atom. So nitrite is NO2-, and sulfite is SO32-.”
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The boffins over at iO9 have the chemistry worked out. As we have the element krypton, and molecules which end in ‘ite’, surely combining the two would result in kryptonite?
According to the site, each part of the name – in this case ‘kryton’ and ‘ite’ – tells us something about what it is and what it does. The name ‘kryptonite’ indicates that the molecule is an oxyanion (a negatively-charged molecule with several oxygen atoms attached).
“Most of the time, when you hear about these oxyanions,” writes Esther Inglis-Arkell “you hear about ‘ates’ not ‘ites.’ Nitrate (potassium nitrate makes smoke bombs) is NO3- , sulfate (potassium sulfate makes fertilizer) is SO42-, and carbonate (calcium carbonate is in shells and chalk) is CO32-. “Ites” have the same negative charge as “ates,” but have one less oxygen atom. So nitrite is NO2-, and sulfite is SO32-.”
Continue reading…
Continue reading...