Stereochemistry

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/stereochemistry

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the core principle?The study of the three-dimensional spatial relationships among atoms in molecules
2. What is the nomenclature system?Cahn-Ingold-Prelog (CIP) rules are used to assign R/S configurations to chiral centers
3. Why are molecules compared to LEGO bricks?Because like LEGO bricks, molecules can twist and turn in space, and these twists make them act differently even though they have the same pieces.
4. What are enantiomers?Enantiomers are two mirror‑image forms of a molecule that cannot be superimposed, just like your left and right hands. They have the same melting and boiling points but turn light in opposite directions.

Stereochemistry: The branch of chemistry concerned with the three-dimensional arrangement of atoms and molecules.
Stereoisomers: Molecules with the same molecular formula and connectivity but different spatial arrangements of atoms.
Chirality: The property of a molecule or ion that is not superimposable on its mirror image.
Enantiomers: A pair of molecules that are non-superimposable mirror images of each other.