Shape of Organic Molecules

[ali_boutrosdisc3H]

Just to confirm, the more stable geometry or setup of organic molecules are those in which the hydrogen atoms are farthest away from each other (to prevent any "rubbing" up against one another)? would a situation in which the neighboring hydrogen molecules are interacting with each other ever happen naturally? in nature, isn't the most stable configuration always going to be the one that results?

[Natassia Dunn 3G]

I'm not positive how likely it would be to happen in nature, but yes I think that you are correct in that organic molecules with hydrogen atoms farthest away from each other is the most stable.

[Rachel Wile 2D]

The stable conformation will not always be what happens in nature because of thermal collisions. As we increase the temperature, you will see the equilibrium constant between the a less stable conformation (gauche) and the most stable conformation (anti) will decrease, meaning that as the temperature increases you are more likely to see molecules in the gauche conformation. However, when the temperature is low, the molecules are almost locked in that stable conformation, so the equilibrium constant will be much higher, so almost all the molecules will be in the stable conformation. So, the answer to your question is that it depends on the temperature.