# Naproxen question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naproxen-question/387816
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 13, 2007, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naproxen-question/387816 "2007-01-13T06:57:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2007, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naproxen-question/387816/1 "2007-01-13T06:57:44Z")
So I went to the Wikipedia entry for naproxen.
> **[Naproxen](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naproxen)**
>
> Naproxen, sold under the brand name Aleve among others, is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to treat pain, menstrual cramps, inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout and fever. It is taken orally. It is available in immediate and delayed release formulations. Onset of effects is within an hour and lasts for up to twelve hours.
> Common side effects include dizziness, headache, bruising, allergic reactions, heartburn, and stomach pain. Severe side effects include...
I looked at the pictorial representation, and couldn’t figure out what that part that kind of looks like a slowly widening radio wave is supposed to mean.
---
### Author:  [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2007, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naproxen-question/387816/2 "2007-01-13T07:19:10Z")
For organic molecules, dashed lines indicate the bond is going into the plane of the paper.
A solid line would indicate that the bond is coming out of the paper.
(Warning: I am slightly intoxicated. Hopefully, some one will back me up on this.)
---
### Author:  [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2007, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naproxen-question/387816/3 "2007-01-13T14:53:10Z")
[IUPAC agrees with](http://www.chem.qmul.ac.uk/iupac/stereo/intro.html) **Kid\_A**
---
### Author:  [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naproxen-question/387816/4 "2007-01-13T18:31:27Z")
A solid line doesn’t indicate that the bond is coming out of the paper, it is the indication that the bond is ON the paper. There is an unlabelled hydrogen at that location of the Naproxen molecule, and _it_ is coming out of the paper. If you were to draw it, you would draw a wedge shape (like a triangle). Some people fill in the wedge to make it “bold” others just simply draw the wedge (that’s what I do).
So the “radio waves”, I was taught to refer to them as “dashes”, indicate a CH3, oriented “behind” the plane of the paper. Both the double ring structure and the carboxylic acid (COOH) are laid flat against the paper, and there is an undrawn H popping out towards you.