What are cis and trans alternate types of? I don’t think it’s “gender identity” because wouldn’t that just be man, woman or nonbinary regardless of whether they’re cis or trans? Cis/trans just being a qualifier?

If the answer is “I am cis” or “I am trans”, what is the question?

Edit: Someone came up with the term “gender congruity” and (after looking up the definition of “congruity”) I think this describes what I’m talking about perfectly.

  • IHeartBadCode
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    32 years ago

    Chemistry. Cis-2-n-ene vs Trans-2-n-ene. First one is all carbons on the same side and the latter is carbons on opposite sides.

    • KawaiiKurai
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      1 year ago

      That is how I remember it as well.

      For those not well versed in organic chemistry or needs a refresher, where it is the most likely scenario you would encounter such terms, let me clarify a few points:

      1. The -ene suffix indicates there is a double bond in the compound

      2. The -2- indicates that the double bond is on the 2nd carbon, between carbon 2 and 3 (beta position). The placement of the n in the above post is incorrect as the location should be beside the functional group, hence the example should have been “-n-2-ene”

      3. The -n- is a variable for the length of the carbon (e.g. prop- (3 C), but- (4 C), pent- (5 C), hex- (6 C), etc.).

      4. Due to symmetry, you do not see the cis/trans-isomers (aka E/Z and syn/anti) unless until there is at least 4 carbons.

      Hence, the easiest way to demonstrate this, is to show but-2-ene

      Due to priority, the cis/trans is based on the relative position of the alkyl group rather than hydrogen in this compound (review the IUPAC naming system if you want THAT refresher)

      A cis-but-2-ene has the C1 and C4 (alkyls to the left and right of the beta double bond respectively) are on the same side.

      Trans-but-2-ene has C1 and C4 on opposite sides.

      Hope that helps clarify matters for people. If not, look up the topic on your favorite search engine. I highly recommend checking out the Wikipedia entry first though as it may resolve it.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/But-2-ene

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cis-trans_isomerism