Home >
Community >
What is the role of the slash (/) in chemical reactions?
Upvote
27
Downvote
+ Notation
Posted by
Michael Georgiades
What is the role of the slash (/) in chemical reactions?
The ambiguity seems to come not so much from Chemistry, but from English punctuation. Slashes are often used in place of "and", "or", or the latin "cum" (meaning combined with). It seems that it unfortunately is just context dependent, though I would argue its use as a replacement for "or" is most consistent grammatically and defining this to be the meaning of the slash would eliminate ambiguity in these situations.
The ambiguity seems to come not so much from Chemistry, but from English punctuation. Slashes are often used in place of "and", "or", or the latin "cum" (meaning combined with). It seems that it unfortunately is just context dependent, though I would argue its use as a replacement for "or" is most consistent grammatically and defining this to be the meaning of the slash would eliminate ambiguity in these situations.
The "/" mainly means the medium in which the compound is present. NaBH4/OH- means NaBH4 is being used in basic medium. After all the medium in which a particular compound is present matters much in a chemical reaction. Similarly, Pt/Pd/Ni (which is commonly used when H2 is a reactant) implies H2 is being passed over any of the above 3 metals (which help to dissociate H2 into [H] atoms to help in reaction).
The "/" mainly means the medium in which the compound is present. NaBH4/OH- means NaBH4 is being used in basic medium. After all the medium in which a particular compound is present matters much in a chemical reaction. Similarly, Pt/Pd/Ni (which is commonly used when H2 is a reactant) implies H2 is being passed over any of the above 3 metals (which help to dissociate H2 into [H] atoms to help in reaction).
The ambiguity seems to come not so much from Chemistry, but from English punctuation. Slashes are often used in place of "and", "or", or the latin "cum" (meaning combined with). It seems that it unfortunately is just context dependent, though I would argue its use as a replacement for "or" is most consistent grammatically and defining this to be the meaning of the slash would eliminate ambiguity in these situations.
The ambiguity seems to come not so much from Chemistry, but from English punctuation. Slashes are often used in place of "and", "or", or the latin "cum" (meaning combined with). It seems that it unfortunately is just context dependent, though I would argue its use as a replacement for "or" is most consistent grammatically and defining this to be the meaning of the slash would eliminate ambiguity in these situations.
More
VOTE
The "/" mainly means the medium in which the compound is present. NaBH4/OH- means NaBH4 is being used in basic medium. After all the medium in which a particular compound is present matters much in a chemical reaction. Similarly, Pt/Pd/Ni (which is commonly used when H2 is a reactant) implies H2 is being passed over any of the above 3 metals (which help to dissociate H2 into [H] atoms to help in reaction).
The "/" mainly means the medium in which the compound is present. NaBH4/OH- means NaBH4 is being used in basic medium. After all the medium in which a particular compound is present matters much in a chemical reaction. Similarly, Pt/Pd/Ni (which is commonly used when H2 is a reactant) implies H2 is being passed over any of the above 3 metals (which help to dissociate H2 into [H] atoms to help in reaction).
More
VOTE
VOTE
VOTE