Talk: Molecule

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The definition of a molecule as "the smallest indivisible portion of a substance that retains chemical and physical properties" is widespread among encyclopaedias and vocabularies. However,it looks *very puzzling* to me. Most chemical and physical properties of a substance have sense only when we talk of a *set* of molecules together. For example,I see as plain nonsense asking something like "at what temperature/pressure will that single isolated water molecule boil/ice/melt?". I think no one will deny phase transitions of a substance are among the most basic physico-chemical properties of a substance,but at what number of molecules does this make sense?

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Isn't the "word analogy" thingy a little too puerile? I mean, if I follow the paragraph and add carbon atoms (carbon black in a first approximation) to water molecules (tap water in another approximation)... Isn't there any other analogy -- if necessary at all?--Unconcerned 10:08, 19 May 2004 (UTC)

Moved the analogy paragraph on the talk page. Besides, (CH₂O)₃ is not a sugar molecule but rather the chemical formula of a sugar. The analogy might work for chemical formula.--Unconcerned 01:15, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

Molecules are analogous to words. If one adds the letter "e" to the word "can", one obtains "cane". In a similar fashion, if one adds C atoms to H₂O (the water molecule), one obtains (CH₂O)₃ (a sugar molecule).