Can We Truly See the Structures of Compounds in Chemistry and Physics?

  • Level: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter lewis198
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    History
Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
Sign up Log in
2 replies · 3K views
lewis198
Messages
95
Reaction score
0
hey guys, I was thinking about the history of chemistry/physics and thought:

Ok, we know from experimentation that there is matter that cannot be easily reduced, i.e. elements.

However the way we are taught about (in)organic chemistry at school assumes that the structure is a given. How does one tell the structure of a compound, without actually looking at it? Ok, salt would be easy, and metals, but what process would take place?

Does AFM, STM and other forms of microscopy hold promise of 'seeing' actual structures? Because it seems that many structures are just theory and can be falsified.
 
Physics news on Phys.org

Discussion

for example the structure of DNA was not actually 'seen', it was just a model based on the experiments and theory of other physicists.
 
What's seeing if not just bouncing photons off and back-inferring from the scattering pattern? Replace photons with electrons... or with neutrons... and you do the back-inferring on a computer... what's the difference?