Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2019 May 2

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May 2

lone electron

Can a single free electron be counted as its own bonding domain? For instance, some ions such as FeO+ have a free single electron that isn't part of a lone pair. I want to know this so I could figure out the molecular geometry (and polarity) of FeO+. Not a homework question.

Yes, a single electron will need to occupy some orbital, so it creates a bonding domain. Any orbital with any electron in it (either 1 or 2) is a bonding domain. For example, Nitrogen dioxide has a bent geometry, where the nitrogen has sp2 hybridized orbitals. If you work out the molecular orbitals for nitrogen, that odd electron has to show up somewhere. Regarding a species like FeO⁺, well, the molecular geometry has to be linear: You can't get anything but a line with only two points! --Jayron32 16:26, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

What's the largest animal that will hunt prey in the manner of cats and mice?

Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 16:11, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Tigers -- Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 16:19, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Sperm whales, depending on what the hell is meant by "in the manner of cats and mice". Matt Deres (talk) 19:22, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

What, you don't know how mice hunt their prey? Henry^Flower 19:49, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Presumably they are referring to the way cats stalk, with their bodies close to the ground, to get as close to prey as possible, then pounce. If so, then I believe all animals in the cat family share this trait, as they are not good long-distance runners, but are sprinters, so need to get close enough that they can catch prey after a short sprint, and before those prey can fly away or escape into a burrow. A possible exception is lions, which hunt in packs. This theoretically could allow them to surround their prey and drive them towards an ambush, but in any case it's still useful to get as close as possible before alerting the prey. If we presume this Q relates to land predators only, then tigers are the correct answer, and specifically the Siberian tiger used to be the largest, but have declined in size due to pressure from humans, and now the Bengal tiger may be larger, on average. SinisterLefty (talk) 22:40, 2 May 2019 (UTC)

Polar bear#Life history and behaviour: "The polar bear also hunts by stalking seals resting on the ice: upon spotting a seal, it walks to within 90 m (100 yd), and then crouches. If the seal does not notice, the bear creeps to within 9 to 12 m (30 to 40 ft) of the seal and then suddenly rushes forth to attack" --Digrpat (talk) 07:33, 3 May 2019 (UTC)

Nobody has every directly observed sperm whales stalking their prey, so we cannot rule out the possibility of them being an ambush predator. --Guy Macon (talk) 06:43, 4 May 2019 (UTC)

Given that squids have big eyes, and that they can obscure themselves with an ink spray, it wouldn't be at all surprising if sperm whales have to sneak up on them. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:13, 6 May 2019 (UTC)