Ch

[astrogirl15]

Is that an official name for CH?

 

I know that NH3 is named Ammonia. I also know that NH3 is stable wheras CH isnt.

[CaptainPanic]

CH is no existing chemical, but sometimes all the hydrocarbons are called "[math]C_x{H_y}[/math]".

 

As you learned before in this thread, you can determine how many hydrogen you will need to make the carbon get its desired 8 electrons (like the nitrogen in ammonia).

[astrogirl15]

Thank you

[hermanntrude]

I think your problem stems from your interpretation of the diagram in the other thread (apologies for cross-threading). You saw the diagram as a group of molecules joined to each other (you mentioned ammonia and CH and CH2). The trouble is that the diagram represents one single molecule, not a series of separate molecules joined together. So that's why it contains things like CH and CH2 which aren't stable on their own. As part of a larger molecule they can be very stable indeed.

[astrogirl15]

okies that helps, thank you!