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Chirality(/kaɪˈrælɪti/) is a property of asymmetryimportant in several branches of science. The word chiralityis derived from the Greekχείρ(kheir), "hand", a familiar chiral object. An object or a system is chiralif it is distinguishable from its mirror image; that is, it cannot be superposed(not to be confused with superimposed) onto it.
Chirality (chemistry) Two enantiomers of a generic amino acid that are chiral. (S)-Alanine (left) and (R)-alanine (right) in zwitterionic form at neutral pH. In chemistry, a molecule or ion is called chiral (/ ˈkaɪrəl /) if it cannot be superposed on its mirror image by any combination of rotations, translations, and some conformational ...
Chirality (physics) A chiral phenomenon is one that is not identical to its mirror image (see the article on mathematical chirality). The spin of a particle may be used to define a handedness, or helicity, for that particle, which, in the case of a massless particle, is the same as chirality. A symmetry transformation between the two is called ...
Homochirality is a uniformity of chirality, or handedness. Objects are chiral when they cannot be superposed on their mirror images. For example, the left and right hands of a human are approximately mirror images of each other but are not their own mirror images, so they are chiral. In biology, 19 of the 20 natural amino acids are homochiral ...
The achiral groups contain also transformations of determinant −1. In an achiral group, the orientation-preserving transformations form a (chiral) subgroup of index 2. Finite Coxeter groups or reflection groups are those point groups that are generated purely by a set of reflectional mirrors passing through the same point.
An object that is not chiral is said to be achiral. A chiral object and its mirror image are said to be enantiomorphs. The word chirality is derived from the Greek χείρ (cheir), the hand, the most familiar chiral object; the word enantiomorph stems from the Greek ἐναντίος (enantios) 'opposite' + μορφή (morphe) 'form'.
Chiral media. Chirality with hands and two enantiomers of a generic amino acid. The direction of current flow and induced magnetic flux follow a "handness" relationship. The term chiral / ˈkaɪrəl / describes an object, especially a molecule, which has or produces a non-superposable mirror image of itself. In chemistry, such a molecule is ...
Chiral knot. In the mathematical field of knot theory, a chiral knot is a knot that is not equivalent to its mirror image (when identical while reversed). An oriented knot that is equivalent to its mirror image is an amphicheiral knot, also called an achiral knot. The chirality of a knot is a knot invariant.