NMR Question

[Wizard]

I was reading about NMR, and I came across the terms "upfield" and "downfield". What do these terms mean, and do we need to know what they mean and how to use them for VCE Chem?

 Thanks 

[NE2000]

Probably referred to whether the proton spin is aligned with the external magnetic field or whether it is aligned against the external magnetic field.

[polky]

You probably do not need to know this, it's good to know what happens but I doubt they will test you on this.  Most questions will revolve around interpreting results.

[Wizard]

What does the "integration trace" mean? 

[Wizard]

What is spin-spin coupling, and how does it work?

[shinny]

For both of the last two questions, I'll just say you don't need to know them, and the explanations for especially the latter are quite tedious. For the spin-spin coupling, all you need to know is the 'n+1 rule'. They'd be much easier to explain in person since I'm not sure exactly sure at which stage I'd lose you if I just gave a few paragraphs of lecturing here so yeh. I might write up a thorough NMR principles guide if I get the time, but considering that I haven't touched my context one in like a month, I have doubts at that =P

[Mao]

I have uploaded some NMR notes before, they are in there somewhere. Integration trace is the area under the peak, i.e. number of C/H under a peak. Spin-spin coupling causes the splits according to the n+1 rule. That's all you need to know.