Are the two structures depicting the same molecule? Why? Why not?
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8$\begingroup$ If ethanol was flat, it would make sense, but it isn't. $\endgroup$– MithoronMar 3, 2016 at 12:29
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$\begingroup$ They can be stereo isomers instead. See upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/… for 3d structure of ethanol. $\endgroup$– another 'Homo sapien'Mar 3, 2016 at 12:33
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2$\begingroup$ If ethanol was static, this would be true, but it isn't. $\endgroup$– jerepierreMar 3, 2016 at 16:12
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1$\begingroup$ There could be atropoisomers if rotation was blocked but it would need very low temperature to try to separate what is normally rotamers of ethanol. $\endgroup$– MithoronMar 3, 2016 at 22:17
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1 Answer
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Try to imagine it in a 3D fashion. You can look it at molcalc.org. The molecule rotates around the $\ce{C-C}$ bond converting one structure into the other. These rotations are very fast.
Another point is, that the representations you chose are 2D, so the could still represent the same molecule:
answered Mar 3, 2016 at 12:37
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$\begingroup$ I changed the URL for ethanol model, the previous one gives error 404 (probably they change the part in the address that looks like a hash from time to time). $\endgroup$– andselisk ♦Jan 2, 2018 at 14:19
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1$\begingroup$ @andselisk thanks. Maybe I should come back to this again and add an animated gif, or even link to some other provider as a backup. The Pittsburgh repository comes to mind, but I guess that was still in its infancy when writing this answer. $\endgroup$– Martin - マーチン ♦Jan 2, 2018 at 23:16