Where does conformation collide?

In chemistry a conformation is one of the spatial arrangements a molecule can adopt by rotating about its single bonds, without breaking any bond, so that a single compound interconverts among many conformers (chair and boat rings, gauche and anti chains) that differ in energy. Barton's 1950 The conformation of the steroid nucleus showed that these preferred shapes control reactivity and launched conformational analysis as a field. The referent is molecular geometry and its energy landscape, measured by techniques such as NMR and X-ray crystallography; it has nothing to do with the judged build of a show animal, which merely shares the word.[1]

Unit

The relative energies and populations of a molecule's rotational isomers

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Resolved by NMR, X-ray diffraction, and computed potential-energy surfaces for bond rotation

In animal breeding and veterinary practice, conformation is the external physical form of a live animal (the proportions and structure of its skeleton, limbs, udder, and body), assessed against a breed standard or recorded as linear type traits that predict function, soundness, and longevity. Brotherstone's 1994 study of linear type and production traits in Holstein-Friesians is an example of treating conformation as measurable, heritable scores rather than a judge's impression. The referent is the structural build of an organism and how well it suits its purpose, graded by trained classifiers, and it is an entirely different thing from a molecule's rotational geometry.[2]

Unit

Scores for an animal's structural traits against a breed or type standard

Recovery means

Not applicable

Measured by

Recorded by linear type classification and conformation scoring by trained assessors