Chirality

There is a final chemistry concept that will be important this semester.

Chirality is the handedness of molecules.

This means the same chemical make-up, but a mirror image.

http://web99.arc.nasa.gov/~astrochm/aachiral.html

Examples of achiral objects (that is, symmetric): a fork. a ladder.

Examples of chiral objects (objects with handedness): your ear. shoes.

Also check out www.chiral.com.

There is also a Japanese manga science fiction comic book called Chirality, although that might be less relevant for this class.

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