this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2025
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xkcd

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Title text:

Can you pass the nackle?

Transcript:

[Cueball is holding a pointer and gesturing towards a whiteboard that shows the chemical formulas HCOOH and CH₃COOH. Below these, respectively, are classic diagramatic representations of formic/methanoic acid [with an apparently accidental doubled bond between the carbon and the hydroxy group] and acetic/ethanoic acid; being, in turn, a single- and double-carbon chain molecule with a double-bonded oxygen (carbonyl group) plus an oxygen-hydrogen (hydroxy) upon one carbon of each, to form the full carboxyl grouping, and hydrogens completing all other expected bonds.]
Cueball: The two simplest carboxylic acids are hakoo and chuckoo.
Off-panel voice: No!!

[Caption below the panel:]
How to annoy chemists

Source: https://xkcd.com/3040/

explainxkcd for #3040

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[–] otter 20 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

HCH₂COOH sounds like a sneeze