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Chem 534 Phys Sc 416/36 Monthly Question Crystal Ball



The following two puzzles don’t require much knowledge of chemistry. They are basically LOGIC puzzles.

LOGIC Puzzle #1

Among the six molecules below, there are two that are classified as alcohols, two ketones, one aldehyde and one carboxylic acid.

C3H6O, C2H4O2, CH4O, C3H8O, C2H4O, C4H8O

Use the following statements to figure out which formulas correspond to which groups( alcohol, ketone, aldehyde or carboxylic acid). Careful: one of the statements below is FALSE!

  1. Neither CH4O nor C4H8O, which is not an alcohol, is an aldehyde; C3H6O isn’t either.
  2. The carboxylic acid is not C3H6O or C3H8O.
  3. The aldehyde is not C2H4O2 or C3H8O.
  4. C2H4O is neither a ketone nor an alcohol.
  5. The acidic molecule is neither CH4O nor C4H8O, which is not an alcohol.
  6. C2H4O is neither an aldehyde nor a carboxylic acid.
  7. C3H6O is not one of the alcohols.
Solution

LOGIC Puzzle #2

Four particles (kaon ,muon, photon, and neutron) belong to four different categories: (baryon, gauge, lepton and meson). Each has a different rest mass (0, 106, 494, and 940). From the statements below, fill out the following table:

Particle

Category

Rest Mass

kaon

   

muon

   

neutron

   

photon

   
  1. The particle whose rest mass is 106 is not a meson or a baryon.
  2. The gauge particle has the lowest rest mass.
  3. A kaon is neither a gauge nor a baryon, and its rest mass is not 106.
  4. A photon is not a baryon.
  5. A neutron’s rest mass is not 494. And neither the neutron nor the photon has a rest mass of 106.
Solution

Puzzle 1 Solution:

Formula

Group

C3H6O

Ketone

C2H4O2

Carboxylic acid

CH4O

Alcohol

C3H8O

Alcohol

C2H4O

Aldehyde

C4H8O

Ketone

Puzzle 2 Solution:

Particle

Category

Rest Mass

kaon

meson

494

muon

Lepton

106

neutron

Baryon

940

photon

gauge

0