Chemistry For Your Life

#235

You’ve seen it a hundred times… but how does it actually work? Why do diapers change color when they’re wet? What kind of chemistry is happening in there? And how does something as simple as pee trigger such a dramatic color shift? Let’s talk acids, bases, color, and one surprisingly deep piece of everyday science.

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0:00 – Intro + diapers, parenting, and the big question

1:00 – Melissa’s nose update + community shoutouts

4:00 – Where this question came from (real-life inspiration)

5:30 – The two chemistry ideas: acids/bases + color

6:00 – What’s inside a diaper (polymers + absorption)

7:30 – The indicator strip: where the chemistry happens

8:30 – Acid-base reactions explained (with a breakup analogy)

11:30 – What happens after the “breakup” (conjugates + stability)

13:00 – Conjugation + the “electron highway”

18:30 – How this leads to color change

21:30 – What is an indicator? (and how this compares to cabbage juice)

23:30 – Why this reaction is so dramatic visually

24:50 – Jam explains it back (and works through the concepts)

30:00 – Clarifying acids vs bases (and common confusion)

33:00 – Building the full picture step-by-step

38:30 – Color, light, and energy (why we see yellow → blue)

44:50 – Wrap-up + why this matters in everyday life

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References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Bri

Summer Alden

Amanda Raymond

Kyle McCray

Justine

Ash

Vince W

Julie S.

Heather Ragusa

Autoclave

Dorien VD

Scott Beyer

Jessie Reder

J0HNTR0Y

Jeannette Napoleon

Cullyn R

Erica Bee

Elizabeth P

Rachel Reina

Letila

Katrina Barnum-Huckins

Suzanne Phillips

Venus Rebholz

Jacob Taber

Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
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#042 Rebroadcast

What's that smell? Is it us? Is it you? We hope it's neither, thanks to deodorants and antiperspirants. This week, Melissa and Jam delve into the chemistry of this everyday important substance. What are the differences between deodorant and antiperspirant? How do they work in the first place? Does one work better? Is one better for us? Be kind to one another, wear deodorant.

References from this episode

Individual and gender fingerprints in human body odour – Dustin J Penn, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Karl Grammer, Gottfried Fischer, Helena A Soini, Donald Wiesler, Milos V Novotny, Sarah J Dixon, Yun Xu, and Richard G Brereton

What are deodorants and antiperspirants, and how do they fight sweat? - Everts, Chemical and Engineering News

Studies of trans 3 methyl 2 hexenoic acid in normal and schizophrenic humans - S. G. Gordon, K. Smith, L. Rabinowitz, P. R. Vagelos, Journal of lipid research

Breast Cancer and Deodorants/Antiperspirants: A Systematic Review

Aluminium, antiperspirants and breast cancer

The mechanism of eccrine sweat pore plugging by aluminium salts using microfluidics combined with small angle X-ray scattering. - Bretagne A, Cotot F, Arnaud-Roux M, Sztucki M, Cabane B, Galey JB.

 
Support this podcast on Patreon

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References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Amanda Raymond

Emily Morrison

Kyle McCray

Justine

Emily Hardy

Ash

Vince W

Julie S.

Heather Ragusa

Autoclave

Dorien VD

Scott Beyer

Jessie Reder

J0HNTR0Y

Jeannette Napoleon

Cullyn R

Erica Bee

Elizabeth P

Rachel Reina

Letila

Katrina Barnum-Huckins

Suzanne Phillips

Venus Rebholz

Jacob Taber

Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

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Birds… but chemistry.

What does compost have to do with eggs? How are birds basically doing chemistry experiments to make their colors? Why would a bird eat dirt… or rub ants all over itself?? This episode is a grab bag of wild, fascinating bird facts that connect back to chemistry you already know. No quiz, just vibes.

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00:00 Bird Chemistry Vibes

02:02 Compost Egg Incubators

02:58 Feather Colors Chemistry

06:20 Seeing Ultraviolet Light

08:11 Clay Eating Detox Trick

09:28 Hot Bodies Fast Reactions

14:23 Preening Oil Waterproofing

16:15 Rainy Day Birdwatching

16:44 Anting Bird Hygiene

19:17 Seabird Feather Sunscreen

20:14 More Bird Chemistry Ahead

20:41 Bird Phobia Banter

21:19 Documentary Media Swap

22:22 Mississippi Kite Swoops

28:19 Do Birds Recognize Faces

31:12 Photo IDs and Backyard Hawks

32:34 Chicken Show Family Lore

33:00 Wrap Up and Support

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

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References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Amanda Raymond

Emily Morrison

Kyle McCray

Justine

Emily Hardy

Ash

Vince W

Julie S.

Heather Ragusa

Autoclave

Dorien VD

Scott Beyer

Jessie Reder

J0HNTR0Y

Jeannette Napoleon

Cullyn R

Erica Bee

Elizabeth P

Rachel Reina

Letila

Katrina Barnum-Huckins

Suzanne Phillips

Venus Rebholz

Jacob Taber

Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

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#053 Rebroadcast

This week, Melissa and Jam revisit one of their fav episodes on the topic of mosquitos. What is DEET? What part does it play in repelling mosquitos? How do repellants repel mosquitos in the first place? Is it just straight witchcraft? Let's do it.

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References from this episode

Staph Retreat - Radiolab - WYNC

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/rachel-carson-silent-spring.html

https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/reregistration/fs_PC-080301_1-Apr-98.pdf

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-it-true-that-the-deet/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24892824/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11693870/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26827259/

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31167-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219311674%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31167-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219311674%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/biochemistry/does-DEET-fend-off-malaria/97/web/2019/10

 
 

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Amanda Raymond

Emily Morrison

Kyle McCray

Justine

Emily Hardy

Ash

Vince W

Julie S.

Heather Ragusa

Autoclave

Dorien VD

Scott Beyer

Jessie Reder

J0HNTR0Y

Jeannette Napoleon

Cullyn R

Erica Bee

Elizabeth P

Rachel Reina

Letila

Katrina Barnum-Huckins

Suzanne Phillips

Venus Rebholz

Jacob Taber

Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

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Birds fly all the time. We see it constantly. But how does it actually work? Is it just "Bernoulli’s" principle? Is the air pushing up? Are the wings pushing down? And what’s happening at the molecular level when a bird takes off? Let’s talk about feathers, airflow, collisions between air molecules, and why the way flight is usually explained might not actually be the whole story.

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Timestamps:

00:00 — The Question
Have you ever actually wondered how birds fly? A kid’s question sparks the episode.

01:00 — “Isn’t this physics?”
Why a chemistry podcast is talking about aerodynamics.

02:00 — A disclaimer about flight explanations
Melissa explains why common explanations of bird flight can be misleading.

04:00 — The weird analogy that starts it all
What does oobleck (cornstarch and water) have to do with bird wings?

06:00 — Air isn’t nothing
Thinking about air as billions of tiny molecules interacting with wings.

09:00 — The classic explanation of lift
Bernoulli’s principle and why it’s often used to explain flight.

13:00 — Why that explanation isn’t the whole story
What’s missing from the “air moves faster over the top” idea.

18:00 — Collisions at the molecular level
What air molecules are actually doing when a wing moves through them.

22:00 — Pushing air downward
Why deflecting air matters for creating lift.

26:00 — Wing shape and angle
How airfoil shape and angle of attack change the behavior of airflow.

30:00 — Flapping vs gliding
Why bird flight isn’t the same as airplane flight.

34:00 — Turbulence and airflow patterns
What’s happening behind the wing as the bird moves through the air.

37:00 — Bringing chemistry into the picture
How thinking about molecular motion helps make sense of the physics.

39:00 — Final recap
So… what actually keeps birds in the air?

 
Support this podcast on Patreon

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Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

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References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Amanda Raymond

Emily Morrison

Kyle McCray

Justine

Emily Hardy

Ash

Vince W

Julie S.

Heather Ragusa

Autoclave

Dorien VD

Scott Beyer

Jessie Reder

J0HNTR0Y

Jeannette Napoleon

Cullyn R

Erica Bee

Elizabeth P

Rachel Reina

Letila

Katrina Barnum-Huckins

Suzanne Phillips

Venus Rebholz

Jacob Taber

Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.