Chemistry For Your Life

Melissa and Jam, Bleav
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Apr 6, 2023 • 44min

How do gemstones get their color?

#158 Gemstones come in all sorts of colors, but how do they get them? Are different stones super different at the molecular level? How do these different colors happen naturally? And how can those colors be replicated in lab-made gemstones? Let's get into it. References from this episode https://www.acs.org/education/students/highschool/chemistryclubs/activities/jewelry-science.html Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Mar 30, 2023 • 25min

What is silver tarnish?

#073 Rebroadcast Well if you haven't experienced silver tarnish yourself, then you've almost certainly heard people complain about it. Can anything last? These sparkly treasures we collect and cherish, are they but temporary sparkles, doomed to a fate of tarnish? Or is there a way out? Also what is tarnish? Thankfully in this case, these philosophical questions actually have a chemistry explanation. So let's get into it.   References from this episode https://chicagoacs.org/articles/176 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ed077p328A#:~:text=In%20air%2C%20a%20silver%20object,(1). Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Mar 23, 2023 • 35min

How do smoke alarms detect smoke? (part 2)

#157 Part Two: When smoke alarms aren't beeping at us to replace their batteries, they are sitting, watching, waiting for the perfect moment, waiting for smoke to happen so they can alert us that a fire may be happening. But how on earth do they detect the presence of smoke? How do they only react to smoke and nothing else? What is going on inside of our little circular, protective friends? Let's find out. References from this episode https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Staying-safe/Safety-equipment/Smoke-alarms/Ionization-vs-photoelectric https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/Public-Education/By-topic/Smoke-alarms/Photoelectric-smoke-alarm-chart.ashx https://www.epa.gov/radtown/americium-ionization-smoke-detectors https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/sfm/programs-services/Documents/Sprinkler%20Applications/HowSprinklersWork.pdf https://www.nist.gov/how-do-you-measure-it/how-do-smoke-detectors-work#:~:text=Smoke%20alarms%20detect%20fires%20by,to%20safety%20and%20call%20911. Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Mar 16, 2023 • 31min

Bonus: Why do cucumbers upset people's stomachs? (and other questions)

Bonus Episode: Question and Response 41 In this month's bonus episode, Melissa and Jam respond to comments and questions about glass cookware, freezing point depression, digesting cucumbers, pasta staining Tupperware, hotdogs being sandwiches, and more! References from this episode: https://www.acs.org/molecule-of-the-week/archive/c/cucurbitacins.html#:~:text=Cucurbitacins%20are%20tetracyclic%20terpenes%20with%2Cemetics%2C%20narcotics%2C%20and%20antimalarials Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Mar 9, 2023 • 39min

How do smoke alarms detect smoke? (part 1)

#156 When smoke alarms aren't beeping at us to replace their batteries, they are sitting, watching, waiting for the perfect moment, waiting for smoke to happen so they can alert us that a fire may be happening. But how on earth do they detect the presence of smoke? How do they only react to smoke and nothing else? What is going on inside of our little circular, protective friends? Let's find out. References from this episode https://www.nist.gov/how-do-you-measure-it/how-do-smoke-detectors-work#:~:text=Smoke%20alarms%20detect%20fires%20by,to%20safety%20and%20call%20911. https://www.compoundchem.com/2019/11/20/iypt095-americium/ https://cen.acs.org/materials/Chemistry-Pictures-Americium-beautiful/99/web/2021/07 https://www.epa.gov/radtown/americium-ionization-smoke-detectors https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Staying-safe/Safety-equipment/Smoke-alarms/Ionization-vs-photoelectric Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Mar 2, 2023 • 37min

Baking soda and baking powder: What's the difference?

#009 Rebroadcast Baking powder? Baking soda? I mean they're both white powders with the word "baking" in it. How different could they be? Well, one can cause miniature kitchen volcanos and the other does what? Listen this week as Melissa and Jam talk about acids, bases, baking soda, baking powder, and how they can make all the difference in your busy life as a single parent of three. Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Feb 23, 2023 • 47min

How does baking soda eliminate odors?

#155 So baking soda, do you bake it? Can you drink it? What's the deal? And specifically for the purposes of this episode, how does it eliminate odors? You may have heard of the idea of placing baking soda in your fridge to eliminate lingering odors, does that work? If so how? Let's bake this soda. References from this episode https://axial.acs.org/2018/08/03/the-science-of-baking-soda/ https://youtu.be/85diRmuk-ow Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Feb 16, 2023 • 30min

Bonus: Are candles toxic? (and other questions)

Bonus Episode: Question and Response 40 In this month's bonus episode, Melissa and Jam respond to comments and questions about smells, candles, vinegar, milk, macromolecules, and more! Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Feb 9, 2023 • 48min

Is freezing point *actually* real?

#154 When you're young in science class, you probably learned the phrase "freezing point," but is that even a thing? Is there a specific temperature at which things go from liquid to solid? Spoiler alert: Melissa thinks that's actually a huge misunderstanding about states of matter and how substances go from liquid to solid. So what's really going on? Let's get into it. References from this episode https://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i25/Exploring-Supercooled-Water-Structures.html https://cen.acs.org/articles/96/i3/Waters-hypercooling-point-reach.html   Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. We love using Transistor to host our podcast -> Check it out to be sure your podcast makes a bang. Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Feb 2, 2023 • 32min

How do thermoses keep coffee hot?

#033 Rebroadcast That's right, we are sort of talking about coffee this week. Or rather, how to keep it hot. Nowadays we all have some version of a thermos for our coffee, tea, water, or what-have-you. Today Melissa and Jam try to get to the bottom of how those work. How do they keep things hot and cold? What's between the two layers (or whatever) and how is it so good at insulating? Is it a vacuum? Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on? References from this episode Chemistry, Edition 2 - Flowers, Theopold, Langley, Robinson Physical Chemistry, Edition 3 - Thomas Engel  Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. We love using Transistor to host our podcast -> Check it out to be sure your podcast makes a bang. Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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