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can anyone help me understand what does spatial arrangement mean? chemistry

I am learning stereoisomerism and i really don't understand the term about different arrangement in space like what does that even mean

Reply 1

awkwardshortguy

Different stereoisomers of the same compound have atoms that are in different points in space relative to eachother. An atom that is 'above' the double bond relative to another atom in one stereoisomer would be 'below' the double bond relative to that same atom in the other stereoisomer.

Reply 2

NonIndigenous

Mirror images of the same identical compound, for example. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It's been a lifetime.

Reply 3

awkwardshortguy

Original post by NonIndigenous

Mirror images of the same identical compound, for example. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. It's been a lifetime.

That's chirality. OP's question concerns stereoisomers, although it didn't say so in the title, which I think is a different thing. I think stereoisomers don't necessarily have chiral centres, so their mirror image would not necessarily have a different arrangement of it's atoms in space relative to eachother. I could be wrong though, it's been a long time since I properly studied Chemistry, too.

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