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Nicodem
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Regarding the proper use of chemical symbols, there is an interesting recent thread titled "H202?" in the Energetic materials section that seems
exemplary to the objections raised in this thread. The 1-post member obviously made no typo exchanging "O" for "0", but apparently honestly believes
that hydrogen peroxide is represented by "H-twohundredtwo" as he repeats that in the post. All this would be nothing but funny if it wasn't a question
on "simply looking to synth some HMTD". As if this would not be sad enough, he then goes on with this selfhumiliation by declaring: "i understand the
risks involved ( i have looked at previous topics on peroxide compounds)".
This is a nice example on how lack of proper spelling, no capitalization and misuse of symbols can lead to dangerous situations, eventually death.
When ignorance and hazarding with life is combined, such things are not funny any more.
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Nicodem
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There is something in regard to this thread's topic that I have been wandering for years, but never dared asking.
Are there actually people who believe the symbol for chlorine is "CL"?
At first I be believed all those annoying "HCL", "CuCL2", etc., are only typos and didn't pay much attention to it, but then due to the shear amount
of this same presumed typos, I started to have doubts about it. You can see this all over the internet, on all forums, and I would like to ask those
that do this errors to honestly answer if these are typos or misconceptions.
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hissingnoise
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Quote: Originally posted by Nicodem  | | . . . I would like to ask those that do this errors to honestly answer if these are typos or misconceptions. |
Everyone makes mistakes (and typos), Nicodem!
If you reread your own post you'll find a few . . .
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Nicodem
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Yes, I'm aware that everyone, me included, makes lots of mistakes. But that was not the question. What keeps me puzzled about the "CL" thing is that
it keeps on appearing all the time. You don't see symbols of other elements being misrepresented the same way and so commonly. So, for the other
elements, I'm quite sure it is just a typo when they are mistakenly written.
I mean, can it really be just a typo, if it is mistakenly written so many times in the same post or even in the same sentence? Is that statistically
reasonable? And if it is a typo, then how come it is so widespread? Does it have something to do with the position of the letters C and L on the
standard keyboard coupled with some widespread stereotyped lack of typing coordination in humans? Does this typo evolved because people just like to
repeat other's mistakes? Am I the only one who finds this unusual? Is it nothing special and I'm just being paranoid? Ah, never mind this last
question, I already know the answer. But seriously, I do want to know more about this phenomenon.
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hissingnoise
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All mistakes and typos have some irritant value; the ones that piss me off most though, are the ones I make myself . . .
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Magpie
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For CL I think this is due to the rhythm of typing as for HCL and CH3CL. For the use of the personal pronoun i this seems to be laziness + irritant
value.
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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Chordate
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I offer an alternate theory: Cl is probably one of if not the most common two letter element symbol used on these boards. This gives it ample
opportunities for error, and and if it bothers you, you will notice the mistakes far more than the correct uses.
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Finnnicus
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Ooh, old(ish) thread.
How does everyone feel about subscripting chemical formulas?
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bfesser
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Subscript & Superscript
I feel that there's now no excuse not to use subscript and superscript in posting. Some time ago, I coded up some buttons that you will see on the
"Post Reply" page under the "Text Color:" dropdown (<strong>x<sub>y</sub></strong> and
<strong>x<sup>y</sup></strong> , and <a
href="viewthread.php?tid=18651#pid242812">Polverone was gracious enough to fix my errors and implement them</a>. For those who can type
BBCode tags, you can use [sub][/sub] and [sup][/sup]. Or for HTML junkies like
myself, use <sub></sub> and <sup></sup>.
<strong><a href="viewthread.php?tid=15528#pid201809">Subscript</a></strong> thread
[Edited on 7/6/13 by bfesser]
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