Chemistry Connections

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Amelie Bass and I am your host for episode #18 called Cupcake Chemistry. Today I will be discussing how the ingredients of a cupcake form the magical dessert we all know and love.

Cupcakes: the delicious dessert baked for a celebration or eaten as a late-night snack. But like what goes into the cupcake to give it a moist and fluffy cake? 

I love baking a variety of treats but cupcakes are always a classic. 

Ok, let’s start with the key ingredients of any good cupcake:

• Flour
• Butter
• Sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla
• Leaveners, like baking powder and baking soda
• Dairy, like sour cream and milk
• And of course a good frosting and decorations

In this episode we will be discussing the chemistry behind 2 of these ingredients, starting with….

Leaveners (like the thing that gives the cupcake a light fluffy texture) are probably the most important ingredient in a cupcake. It is used to help the cupcake rise, giving it a light and fluffy texture.

So what is a leavener, like what is the ingredient that is doing the rising. Baking soda and baking powder are what recipes will commonly call for. 

Now some will call for both of these leaveners. But wait, why is that, why do I need 2? Hold onto that idea later and we will come back to it later. Let's first analyze what these two substances even are.

Baking soda

• Sodium bicarbonate is a base, used to neutralize any acidic components (chocolate or citrus) in the batter
• When the cupcakes are baked, the baking soda or NaHCO3 in the batter turns into sodium carbonate, water, and carbon dioxide
• The carbon dioxide which is released in bubbles, causing the batter to rise.

Baking powder

• A dry mixture that contains baking soda, acid salts, and cornstarch
• The baking soda reacts with the acid salts in the powder only when the mixture is moistened
• The cornstarch is a drying agent used to prevent the acid and baking soda reaction from occurring.

So now that we better understand the substances we are talking about, why would a recipe call for both baking soda and baking powder? 

In the reaction with baking soda (a base with a pH of 8.5) one of the products is sodium carbonate (an even stronger base with a pH of 11.5) This will cause the entire mixture to be too basic resulting in a bad cupcake.

That cupcake is not gonna sit well with whoever eats it.

So we use a larger amount of baking powder to do the heavy lifting, acting as the rising agent to give us our lovely fluffy cupcake, and then use a smaller amount of baking soda to neutralize any other acids in the batter. This is a good cupcake. 

So, when you think of baking the first ingredient almost anyone will think of is flour. All-purpose flour for all my baking purposes, but is that the best type of flour? Wait, hold on. Did I just say “type of flour”, as in there are other types of flour? YES! Now don’t stress all-purpose flour is still good for almost anything you are trying to make, however, to achieve optimal results, there are other options for the type of flour you use. 

But what’s the difference? Isn’t all flour the same?

The differences between types of flour like: cake flour, all-purpose flour, bread flour ect… is the level of protein in the flour. 

Protein? Flour has protein? Yes it does, and it gives the cupcake (or whatever your baking) its texture. 

Flour is made from wheat which contains 2 types of protein: glutenin and gliadin. When water is added these 2 protein link together and form gluten. Gliadin gives it the abilitity to stretch and glutenin gives it the ability to snap back. 

The strength of gluten is what makes flour the structural component of cupcakes. Gluten is a string of amino acids, 35% of which being Glutamines. Glutamine forms numerous inter-chain hydrogen bonds with other amino acids. Individual, these bonds are weak, but in combination they are very strong, contributing to the high cohesiveness of gluten. Also, the numerous hydrophobic (meaning the repulsion of water) interactions result in strong cohesion in the batter.

Flours with a higher protein content, means its has more “gluten-forming potential”, therefore the flour is “stronger”. 

Soo, how does this relate to cupcakes? Cupcakes don’t stretch and snap. True. So the flour used to make cupcakes, Cake Flour: has a protein percentage of 10%. This is considered low-protein, giving the cupcake it’s soft texture.

The commonly used, all-purpose flour: has a protein percentage of 11.7% which sits in a comfortable middle level. This is usable and won't result in a drastic change in texture, but the cake flour is better. 

So there we have it, the chemistry of a cupcake. 

I love cupcakes.

I think my favorite flavor to make would be chocolate of strawberry. My favorite part of making cupcakes is piping decorations on top. Whether it’s a simple flower or more detailed decorations, I always have fun. 

The main reason I chose to do this topic was to have an excuse to bake cupcakes and I look forward to how they turn out.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections.   For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

• https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2008/09/science-turned-sweet-with-cupcake-chemistry-91835
• https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/the-flour-used-in-baking-recipes-determines-the-texture-of-the-final-product/#:~:text=Cake%20flour%20is%20low%2Dprotein,a%20higher%2Dgluten%20end%20result.
• https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2023/09/25/protein-percentage#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20protein%20in,the%20building%20blocks%20of%20gluten.
• https://www.agc-chemicals.com/jp/en/products/detail/index.html?pCode=JP-EN-C010#:~:text=Sodium%20bicarbonate%20is%20a%20white,substances%20with%20the%20lowest%20alkalinity.
• https://scrippslabs.com/ph-of-common-reagents-at-room-temperature/
• https://foodsciencetoolbox.com/gluten-chemistry-and-functionality/ 

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Adithya Shrikanth and I am your host for episode 1 called  Today I/we will be discussing the chemistry of Gasoline.

Gasoline how it works are what are the differences between regular and premium and the difference between the gasoline in car and jets

The chemical composition of gasoline is C8H18 and it appears as a yellowish liquid. The problem is that gasoline is a liquid and for an engine of any vehicle to work it needs fuel. The wondrous thing about gasoline is that is vaporizes at low temperatures so the engine does not have to heat up much for the gasoline to turn into fuel. Gasoline is a petroleum-based compound so when the engine is running, the gasoline reacts with the air and a combustion reaction occurs turing the gasoline into a gas. To understand gasoline further we must know how the gasoline reacts with the engine. Despite the type of engines used, all of them use pistons. When the gasoline combusts, the explosion pushes the piston down which transfers energy to the crankshaft and so one eventually leading to a running car. How we know how gasoline works but what about the differences between gasoline. At the gas station we see two options, premium and regular and normally we use regular gasoline due to its price but why do these options exist. Well the main difference between regular and premium is the ocatnce level. Premium gasoline has a higher octane level. The level of octane in gasoline indicated the likelihood of improper engine combustion which is known as engine knock. The higher octane concentration in premium gasoline causes a lower likelihood of engine knock happening, this is why high premium gasoline is used in high-performance cars. Jets and cars both use fuel but what is the difference between them. Both aviation fuel and regular fuel use hydrocarbons but the difference is the type of hydrocarbons each fule uses. The hydocarbns that make up normal gasoline contain 7 to 11 carbon atoms attached to hydrogen atoms, the ones that make up Avatioan fuel contain 12-15 carbon atoms so jet fuel is made up of mostly kerosene. In theory jet fuel can be used in cars but car fuel cannot make a jet run because the conditions that a jet goes through are very different as compared to a car. At the hights that a jet travels, the temprature becomes -40 Celcius so normal gasoline would freeze at those temperatures so the combustion reactions would stop. Since jet fuel is mostly kerosene it has a low freezing point so that is why jet fuel and gasoline are different. 

We all drive cars and have been in cars as long as we can remember. One of the converstones of driving a car is gasoline. We pull up to the gas station and see options for gasoline and we wonder what they all mean. We also wonder how a liquid can help a car or plane run.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections.   For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

https://www.chemistryislife.com/the-chemistry-of-gasoline-engines

https://www.chicagotoyota.com/premium-vs-regular-gasoline.htm

https://interestingengineering.com/transportation/whats-the-difference-between-jet-fuel-and-gasoline

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is dongxuan and I am your host for episode #16 called .  chemistry in steroids  Today I/we will be discussing the structure and some basic information about the steriods

The first therapeutic use of steroids occurred in the 18th century when English physician William Withering used digitalis, a compound extracted from the leaves of the common foxglove, to treat edema.

steroid: any of a class of natural or synthetic organic compounds characterized by a molecular structure of 17 carbon atoms arranged in four rings.

Today I’m gonna talk about 6 types of steroids. I’m gonna talking about their structure and their functions. 

Cortisol plays an important role in the stress response. Maintaining an adequate balance of cortisol is essential for health.

In many species, including amphibians, reptiles, rodents and birds, corticosterone is a main glucocorticoid involved in regulation of energy, immune reactions, and stress responses.

Aldosterone A steroid hormone made by the adrenal cortex (the outer layer of the adrenal gland). It helps control the balance of water and salts in the kidney by keeping sodium in and releasing potassium from the body.

Progesterone is an endogenous steroid hormone that is commonly produced by the adrenal cortex as well as the gonads, which consist of the ovaries and the testes. Progesterone is also secreted by the ovarian corpus luteum during the first ten weeks of pregnancy, followed by the placenta in the later phase of pregnancy.

Oestradiol is a steroid hormone with a molecular weight of 272. It is secreted mainly by the ovary, but small amounts are produced by the adrenals and testis, so that in males and in post menopausal females' Oestradiol is always present at low concentrations.

Testosterone is the primary male hormone responsible for regulating sex differentiation, producing male sex characteristics, spermatogenesis, and fertility. 

Personal connection:

Several weeks ago, I’m just doing a regular blood test, and the doctor said my platelets are low, and it’s getting lower. I have to go to the doctor. After the examination, the doctor told me that my immune system recognizes that my platelets are harmful and is destroying my platelets. So the doctor gave me decadron, that’s corticosterone. that’s a medicine that will suppress the immune system so it won’t destroy more platelets. SInce the decadron has many side effects. It cause me headaches, muscle pain, and stomach pain. So I decided to do some research about steroids. Because it really cause a lot of trouble to me. That’s the main reason that I choose this topic. That’s my connection with the steroids. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections.   For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/science/steroid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steroid

Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Matthew Nguyen and I am your host for episode 15 called Fumes to Fresh Air. Today I will be discussing the chemistry of catalytic converters. 

General Information on Catalytic Converters

• Used to reduce emissions from car engines
• Used in exhaust systems to remove harmless byproducts from internal combustion engines
• Removes nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons and turns them into carbon dioxide, water, and nitrogen gas
• Converts 98% of the harmful emissions to less harmful gasses
• Most stolen parts of the car because it has valuable materials like platinum, rhodium, and palladium which can sell for a lot of money
• No more than 4-9 grams of these precious metals are used in a single converter
• Located between the muffler and the engine
• Composed of metal housing with a ceramic honeycomb-like interior with insulating layers

1. To begin, I’ll first dive into what specifically a catalytic converter is and what its function is for those who don’t know
2. A catalytic converter filters out harmful emissions released by a vehicle.
3. It is a metal square box containing a ceramic honeycomb interior, located on the underside of the car between the engine and muffler with insulating layers composed of precious metals like platinum, rhodium, and palladium. 
4. Because these metals are extremely valuable, they make the converter one of the most frequently stolen items in a car. Put a pin in that idea, we’ll come back to it later.
5. Due to the elements of palladium, platinum, and rhodium, a single converter can filter 98% of harmful emissions like nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons into harmless gasses of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. 

The Chemistry part of Catalytic Converters

• One reduction and two oxidation reactions occur inside a catalytic converter
• Nitrogen oxide reduces into elemental nitrogen and oxygen
• Carbon monoxide oxidized into carbon dioxide
• Hydrocarbons are oxidized into carbon dioxide and water
• Two systems running in catalytic converters “rich” and “lean” 
• It runs lean resulting in the favoring of oxidation of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons 
• It runs rich resulting in the favoring of the reduction of nitrogen oxide into elemental nitrogen and oxygen
• If NO is not converted into less harmful emissions, it can create smog or acid rain 
• Catalysts like platinum, rhodium, and palladium are used to lower the activation energy to drive the reaction forward

1. Let's pause here and talk about some of the chemistry at work. Surprisingly, catalytic converters have many chemical processes.
2. When a car combusts in the presence of oxygen and gasoline, it releases nitrogen gas (N2) as a harmless byproduct; however, when it bonds with oxygen, it creates nitrogen oxides which are extremely harmful to the environment. If these nitrogen oxides are not filtered out, it can create smog or even acid rain.
3. That's when catalytic converters come into play which contain no more than 4-9 grams of valuable metals like platinum, rhodium, and palladium. 
4. What makes these metals different from others is that they are good at resisting oxidation, corrosion, and acid allowing them to withstand all of the chemicals released by an internal combustion engine. 
5. Furthermore, these metals function as catalysts within a catalytic converter. These catalysts reduce the activation energy needed for a reaction to occur, allowing it to proceed at a faster rate. Furthermore, the honeycomb structure within a converter allows for a large amount of surface area so that multiple reactions occur rapidly and efficiently. 
6. Inside a catalytic converter, a redox reaction occurs simultaneously: called oxidation and reduction reactions. In an oxidation reaction, electrons are lost whereas in a reduction reaction, electrons are gained. Each metal is responsible for either oxidizing or reducing carbon or nitrogen. For example, the first stage of the reaction involves platinum and rhodium which both take part in reduction reactions that reduce nitrogen oxides in the exhaust. They can do this by removing nitrogen atoms from nitrogen oxide or nitrogen dioxide molecules, freeing up oxygen atoms. Once the catalysts have finished the reaction, the nitrogen atoms react with each other creating nitrogen gas which is harmless to the environment. The byproducts are nitrogen and oxygen gas.
7. Similarly, the second stage of the reaction involves platinum and palladium which oxidize carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, turning them both into carbon dioxide and water. 

1. Let's return to the idea of how catalytic converters get stolen pretty often.
2. Well… a couple of years ago, after coming home from a family trip, I remember my dad turning on our car after dropping it off in a secluded lot for several weeks. The car soon became extremely loud after ignition and it turns out that the catalytic converter on our car was stolen. 
3. The reason for this was merely because of the precious metals within the converter that made it a prime target for thieves.
4. The purpose of these metals has remained a curious phenomenon with me, but taking AP Chem has allowed me to understand the chemistry and function of the metals. This has prompted me to want to create a podcast episode about how harmful emissions are reduced and the chemistry behind catalytic converters. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections.   For more student-run podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry_Textbook_Maps/Supplemental_Modules_(Physical_and_Theoretical_Chemistry)/Kinetics/07%3A_Case_Studies-_Kinetics/7.01%3A_Catalytic_Converters

https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/stem-explained/catalytic-converters

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/catalytic-converter

https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=110282#:~:text=%22In%20a%20catalytic%20converter%2C%20ceria,nitrogen%20gas%2C%22%20Rodriguez%20said.

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Zoey and I am your host for episode #14 called The History & Chemistry of Agent Orange. Today I will be discussing The notorious herbicides used during the Vietnam War, its composition, and its impact.

We’ll first start by introducing the herbicide, agent orange and its history and use during the Vietnam War.

• Agent Orange was a mix of two herbicides which was sprayed in high concentrations during the Vietnam War by the U.S. Military. The name came from the orange stripe that was found on the containers of this chemical.
• Agent Orange, and other herbicides known as the “rainbow herbicides,” were part of a large operation, operation Ranch Hand, which aimed to defoliate lots of land through spraying chemical herbicides from aircrafts. Agent Orange was the most used herbicide during the Vietnam War.
• The chemical was sprayed in up to 20 times higher concentration than suggested for killing plants normally by manufacturers. This caused severe damage to millions of acres of forest, affected three million Vietnamese people with disease and defects, including children who were not alive during the war, and remained in soil for decades and disturbing the food sources.
• Agent Orange was the most commonly used chemical during the war to defoliate the forests and farmland of Vietnam and its neighboring countries Laos and Cambodia. This was for many reasons. 
• One, this took away cover from the Viet Cong, who were guerilla fighters dependent on the cover provided by Vietnam’s thick forests. 
• The destruction of farmland also caused many of the viet cong to be unable to sustain themselves rurally, which starved them or forced them to move closer to sustain themselves. This would take away rural nourishment support for the Viet Cong during the war, which were their main food sources.
• Agent Orange was eventually banned in 1971 by the United States, and remaining stocks were destroyed on a remote island.

Now we’re going to talk about the chemistry behind Agent Orange, and how it impacted the environment and people involved in the Vietnam War. We will first talk about the composition of Agent Orange, then why this chemical mixture caused so much damage to the environment and people.

• Agent Orange is a 1:1 mixture of two herbicides which are  (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid, or 2,4-D and 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid, or 2,4,5-T. 
• The herbicides were originally developed in the 1940s, but only used domestically until after WWII, and came to prominence as chemical warfare weapons in the Vietnam War.
• 2,4-D, in its pure acid form, is not soluble in water due to its strong solute-solute polar bonds, which cannot be broken by water to form weaker solute-solvent bonds. 
• Therefore, other forms of the acid, such as in salts or esters, are used instead for water solubility. This can be seen in common forms of the herbicide by itself in use today.
• However, 2,4,5-T is almost completely not soluble in water, also due to its strong polar bonds, so Agent Orange was often dissolved in diesel fuel or other organic solvents, which can create stronger solute-solvent bonds with 2,4,5-T than water.
• Agent Orange, and its component 2,4,5-T was phased out after the 1970s due to toxicity concerns, however 2,4-D is still used to this day
• 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D belonged to a class of selective herbicides known as synthetic auxins, which changed growth hormones in broadleaf plants and effectively killed them in high concentrations.
• 2,4,5-T was phased out because the production of 2,4,5-T would lead to a contaminant byproduct, known as Tetrachloro Dioxin, TCDD, or simply dioxin for the general public.
• As you can see in the show notes figure 1, the process of synthesizing 2,4,5-T by heating 2,4,5-Trichlorophenol, which is an organochlorine with the chemical formula C₆H₃Cl₃O, with a base NaOH in CH3OH or water under high pressure will produce 2,4,5-T at 140 degrees celsius. However, a slightly higher temperature of 160 degrees C will cause the production of TCDD.
•  Figure 1
• This is because of the activation energy to start these reactions. The activation energy to start the synthesis of 2,4,5-T is lower than the activation energy to start the synthesis of TCDD, so with extremely controlled temperatures it is possible to synthesize 2,4,5-T without synthesizing dioxin by not giving it enough activation energy.
• However, since the difference in temperature is so small and hard to fully control, TCDD was often produced as a side product when synthesizing 2,4,5-T.
• Although TCDD was produced in trace amounts, it still caused lots of damage. It’s attributed to as the cause for many forms of cancer encountered in Vietnam veterans, such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It’s also believed to be the cause of many birth defects found in children of Vietnam after the war
• As previously mentioned, since Agent Orange was sprayed on farmland and lasted for a long time, the contamination of TCDD in food grown from them may be a reason why many people were affected by the toxin.
• Agent Orange also had a large impact on the environment, as many countries have condemned its use as a form of “ecocide” because of the damage done to the environment. The US and Vietnamese governments worked together to cleanse the land of Agent Orange, but the recovery of the forests has been hard.

• I wanted to talk about this topic because it’s a commonly overlooked event in history. This can be seen because wars that the U.S. didn’t win, such as the Vietnam war, despite its important impact on the United States, are often overlooked when history is taught to many Americans. In addition, the U.S. committed many war crimes or similar atrocities to other parts of the world, which this episode aimed to shine a light on. I hope you have learned something from this episode, be it history or chemistry. If this episode sparked an interest in you for chemical warfare during the Vietnam War, I highly recommend doing a bit of learning on other rainbow herbicides and napalm as well.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections.   For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

List your sources here.  Make sure they are linked.  Wikipedia cannot count for more than 50% of your sources.

• https://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/245t/245tv/syn_of_245t_and_dioxin.htm
• https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/agent-orange-in-vietnam-program/what-is-agent-orange/#:~:text=Agent%20Orange%20was%20a%20herbicide,to%20have%20harmful%20impact%20today.
• https://www.warrelatedillness.va.gov/education/exposures/agent-orange.asp
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236351/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange
• http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/archive/2,4-DTech.html
• https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts104.pdf

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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Welcome to Chemistry Connections. My name is Fox Ueng-McHale, and I am your host for episode #13, the Chemistry of Radiation Poisoning. Today, I will be discussing several chemical processes related to the effects of radiation exposure.

Since the advent of the hydrogen bomb during the Second World War, radiation has quickly captured public attention. From medical uses to paint forgery detection, in one form or another radiation can be found in almost every industry. But uncontrolled, radiation can kill. And it’s this destructive potential that has dominated the public’s perception of radiation.

But what is radiation? In chemistry, radioactivity is the spontaneous breakdown of an atom's nucleus, emitting particles or waves. This is caused by chemical reactions. Here, atoms become more stable by participating in a transfer of electrons or by sharing electrons with other atoms. In nuclear reactions, it is the nucleus of the atom that gains stability by undergoing a change of some kind.

This occurs as unstable isotopes shed. This radioactive decay is a reaction where a nucleus spontaneously disintegrates into a slightly lighter nucleus, emitting particles, energy, or both. One of the most important ways of measuring radioactive decay is the half life. This is the interval of time required for one-half of the atomic nuclei of a radioactive sample to decay, calculated with the half-life formula. Shedding particles include alpha and beta radiation, as well as shedding protons or neutrons.

The effects of radiation are horrifying, but surprisingly straightforward from a chemical perspective. Radiation poisoning comes in two classes: particulate and electromagnetic. Particulate ionizing radiation include alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, and positrons; gamma rays and X rays are forms of electromagnetic ionizing radiation.

Ionization is the cause of the toxic effects of ionizing radiation. Ionization of tissues creates highly reactive compounds. Radiation generates H2O+ and H2O- ions. In turn, these create H and OH radicals. Hydrogen and hydroxide ions are extremely reactive, causing massive biological damage, targeting DNA and proteins. Especially, ionizing radiation quickly kills rapidly dividing cells, targeting immature blood cells in bone marrow, cells lining the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract, and cells in the lower layers of the epidermis and in hair follicles. Ionizing radiation is the most harmful because it can ionize molecules or break chemical bonds, which damage the molecule and causes malfunctions in cell processes. It can also create reactive hydroxyl radicals that damage biological molecules and disrupt physiological processes.

Moving into the future, it will be increasingly important to know how to combat radiation poisoning, especially as more nuclear power plants are commissioned in the future. In the event of a large-scale meltdown, having information about the effects of radiation will be crucial to planning a response. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-run podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

• https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/University_of_Kentucky/CHE_103%3A_Chemistry_for_Allied_Health_(Soult)/10%3A_Nuclear_and_Chemical_Reactions/10.01%3A_Nuclear_Radiation
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation
• https://www.britannica.com/science/half-life-radioactivity
• https://www.britannica.com/science/poison-biochemistry/Radiation
• https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_Chemistry/Introductory_Chemistry/17%3A_Radioactivity_and_Nuclear_Chemistry/17.10%3A_The_Effects_of_Radiation_on_Life#:~:text=Ionizing%20radiation%20is%20the%20most,molecules%20and%20disrupt%20physiological%20processes.

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Maggie Maclean and Lilla Antal and I am your host for episode 12 called Chemistry of Bread. Today I/we will be discussing the chemistry involved in the making of bread.

The first bread was made around 12,000 years ago and was created by coarsely crushed grain mixed with water, with the resulting dough probably laid on heated stones and baked by covering it with hot ashes. At the time, we can imagine it was the tastiest bread out there. However, there is such a wide variety of different types of bread now. Whether it's sourdough, bagels, croissants, whole grain, Irish soda bread, English muffins, biscuits, pumpernickel, banana bread, or pizza dough it is found in all parts of life. Even people intolerant to these ingredients can enjoy a substitute made with gluten-free dough.    

• Maggie: My personal favorite is the classic Irish soda bread with gluten-free wheat of course toasted with raspberry jam and butter. This is the bread my parents made me growing up to connect me to my heritage. 
• Lilla: You know I like a good whole grain rye bread toasted with eggs and cheese. 
• Unison: Comment down below what YOUR favorite bread is, and while you’re down there smash that like button!!!

Getting back on track… By the late nineteenth century, enzymes in the form of malt were being added to flour and dough to control and aid the breadmaking process in emerging commercial bakeries. However, over time this practice was abandoned as new chemical additives and processing aids became available. Let’s pause here and look at some of the chemistry at work. 

Lilla:  The yeast in bread contains enzymes that can break down the starch in the flour into sugars. Yeast produces the enzyme maltase to break maltose into glucose molecules that it can ferment once the starch has been broken down into these simple sugars, other enzymes in yeast act upon simple sugars to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide in the bread-making step called fermentation.

Maggie: The enzymes in yeast are natural catalysts. A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction or lowers the temperature or pressure needed to start one, without itself being consumed during the reaction, in bread making the catalysts accelerate the fermentation of bread. Fermentation is the process where the dough produces and retains carbon dioxide in the form of microscopic air pockets. It rises as a result of this. Catalysts break down complex carbohydrates into sugar which yeast can feed off of. With sugars fueling yeast, it releases CO2 which makes bread rise. An you know I like a fluffy bread. 

Lilla: When reactions happen, there energy is needed to break the bonds in the reactants, this is called activation energy. If activation energy is high, reactions are slow because only a few particles will have enough energy to collide. In order for a chemical reaction to occur enough particles have the required energy to allow the reaction to proceed. When the activation energy is high there are less particles that have the energy necessary for the reaction.   

Maggie: If activation energy is low however, reactions are faster because more particles have enough of the required activation energy. The reaction has more energy, allowing the particles to move faster. This is where catalysts, like enzymes, come in because the enzymes lower the activation energy allowing for the reaction to occur at a faster rate. Which allows for the yeast in the bread, which contains enzymes, to grows resulting in the formation of bread. 

Maggie: Now onto carbon dioxide… though it can kill you it helps in making a great treat. Carbon dioxide is released once the bread is heated causing the bread to rise. In bread making the yeast organisms release carbon dioxide, CO2, as they feed off sugars. As the dough is proofed in a warm environment carbon dioxide is formed. This is why the volume of the dough increases. The carbon dioxide expands and moves through the dough of the bread as it is baked in the oven. This results in a loaf of bread with height. 

Lilla: Carbon dioxide is a gas. A gas is one of the three fundamental states of matter that is in a gaseous or vaporous state. The rate at which gas particles move is determined by the temperature of the environment they are in. As the bread heats up in the oven the carbon dioxide gas starts to move faster. This faster movement of gases in the bread is what causes the bread to rise and maintain a higher volume. As the gas particles speed up they create more collisions with the inside surface of the bubbles in the bread. The CO2 collisions allow the bread to maintain a light and fluffy texture as it forms pockets of gas. 

Maggie: Now back to where this whole thing began…we chose to study the chemistry of bread because I have celiac disease. Due to having celiac, I cannot have any products containing wheat, barley, oats, malt, or rye so I cannot eat any bread products. We thought it would be funny to study bread considering I cannot consume it. Now we are going to be doing ASMR and taste tests of our homemade gluten-free bread. 

*BREAD ASMR TASTE TEST*   

Now back to where this whole thing began…we chose to study the chemistry of bread because I have celiac disease. Due to having celiac, I cannot have any products containing wheat, barley, oats, malt, or rye so I cannot eat any bread products. We thought it would be funny to study bread considering I cannot consume it. Now we are going to be doing ASMR and taste tests of our homemade gluten-free bread.

Before our traste test lets real quick say a big…thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections.   For more student-run podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

https://www.energy.gov/science/doe-explainscatalysts

https://www.exploratorium.edu/explore/cooking/bread-science#:~:text=Once%20reactivated%2C%20yeast%20begins%20feeding,aromas%20we%20associate%20with%20bread.

https://www.ifst.org/lovefoodlovescience/resources/raising-agents-biological-fermentation#:~:text=During%20fermentation%2C%20carbon%20dioxide%20is,during%20the%20bread%20baking%20process.

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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Welcome to Chemistry Connections, our names are Lucy and Jack and we are your hosts for episode 11 called The Chemistry of Ice Hockey. 

Ice hockey is one of the greatest sports to both play and watch. It features extremely fast-paced and physical gameplay because it's played on ice. Hockey originated in Canada during the early 1800s and comes from the French word “hocquet” meaning stick. The game involves one goalie and five other players who skate around trying to score goals. One of the greatest sporting achievements ever, The Miracle on Ice, was an Olympic ice hockey game when the underdog US men’s team beat the top seed USSR team. This illustrates the elusive nature of hockey and the unpredictability surrounding it drawing fans from all around the globe. 

Both of us adore sports. Hockey has been a key aspect of my childhood and a way I have connected with my family. And I hope to become a professional sports commentator, so it was only natural for both of us to research the chemistry and science behind hockey. 

Lets pause here to talk about some chemistry at work. We will be covering the most important aspect of hockey, the ice (but put a pin in that)! First, though,  we will discuss the pucks that slide across the ice. 

Pucks are made out of vulcanized rubber. Vulcanized rubber is used to create o-rings, tires, and much more. Its unique properties make it a useful tool in not just ice hockey. Before the process of vulcanization was developed rubber was susceptible to changes in temperature, too hot and the rubber would quickly melt, too cold and the rubber would become extremely brittle. This would be ineffective as an ice hockey puck because it is a sport played in the cold on ice, it would lose all of its strong yet elastic properties. Vulcanization is a process that involves heating rubber and combining it with sulfur to improve its elasticity and strength. 

Vulcanization works by forming chemical cross-links or covalent bonds (attractive force between nonmetal atoms) between long isoprene molecules (a natural rubber monomer aka a carbon chain) using sulfur. This when diagramed looks like long carbon chains parallel to each other, connected by perpendicular bonds with sulfur. This forms a net-like structure which contributes to the hockey puck’s key characteristics (resistance to extreme temperatures and strength). This allowed Alexander Riazantsev, from the KHL (Russian pro league) to hit a slap shot at 114.27 MPH. 

Maybe even more important to hockey than pucks is ice. What defines hockey from all other sports (making it cooler, better, and more fun) is that it is played on ice. This contributes to super-fast gameplay and cool skates.

Ice, as we all know, is made of water. The intermolecular forces (IMFs) are attractive forces between particles. The IMFs between water molecules are known as hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds form when hydrogen atoms in a molecule bond with nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine in another molecule. It is a very strong bond. The strongest, even. As a result, it requires a lot of energy to break these bonds. In our case, we mean melting the ice (solid to liquid). Hydrogen bonds aren’t the only IMFs between water molecules; London dispersion forces (LDFs) exist between all particles, but are much weaker and aren’t as strong as the hydrogen bonds between water molecules. 

The best part about ice (hockey) is the Zamboni. The Zamboni is a big machine that comes out in between periods during the intermission to clean and smooth the ice (and look cool). (I really, really, really, want to ride one). (You know you can ride them for your birthday when you go to a game)? Zambonis start by scraping away the top layer of the ice. However, there are still deep grooves in the ice from the skaters. In order to fix this, the Zamboni lays down a piping-hot layer of water. This water transfers heat into the top layer of the ice. This causes the hydrogen bonds between water molecules to break (because the water from the Zamboni is hot enough to break the super strong forces between the molecules). This melts the ice, and gets rid of the grooves. The Zamboni then has a broom which smooths the water behind it. Then, because the whole arena is cold and sitting on top of a larger ice sheet, the thin layer of water begins to cool again and refreeze. The ice is the defining feature of hockey, and knowing how it works (and how the Zamboni works) can enhance our love for an already cool sport. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections. For more student-run podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

• https://www.flohockey.tv/articles/7966340-do-you-know-what-hockey-pucks-are-made-of 
• https://www.globaloring.com/blog/what-is-vulcanization-and-vulcanized-rubber/#:~:text=The%20vulcanization%20process%20involves%20adding,used%20to%20manufacture%20vehicle%20tires. 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcanization#:~:text=It%20works%20by%20forming%20cross,thermosetting%20polymers%2C%20is%20generally%20irreversible. 
• https://olympics.com/en/sports/ice-hockey/#:~:text=Ice%20hockey%20originated%20in%20Canada,%E2%80%9D%2C%20meaning%20%E2%80%9Cstick%E2%80%9D. 
• https://annex.exploratorium.edu/hockey/ice3.html#:~:text=The%20Zamboni%20is%20a%20mechanical,and%20dirt%20is%20then%20collected.
• https://www.britannica.com/science/covalent-bond 
• https://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/khl-alexander-ryazantsev-sets-world-record-hardest-shot-174131642.html 

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Ryan  Foret and I am your host for episode #10 called  Chemistry of Fishing Today I will be discussing the different examples of chemistry in various aspects of fishing.

The thrill of reeling in a fish and fighting against it is one of the most exhilarating things that humans can do for fun. What makes the sport even better is that almost anyone can do it with minimal equipment and cost. That being said, there is a variety of high-end and complex gear that experienced fishermen use. And I bet if you talk to any long time fisherman they will complain about why a bendy stick is over 500 dollars. But beginner fishermen don’t really need to worry about that.

Fishing can be very simple or very complicated depending on how deep you want to dive into the different types of gear and techniques that can be used. 

Today, we are going to dive deeper than any fisherman usually does in their lifetime and look at fishing on the molecular level. And that is what today’s episode is all about: the chemistry behind fishing. 

Let’s start with diving deeper into the most dreaded thing that people think about when they hear “fish”; the smell. A certain chemical compound is the culprit of the fishy smell of fish. Trimethylamine (TMA) is what gives fish its odor. It’s derived from Trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) which protects saltwater fish from their salty environment. TMAO has nitrogen as its central atom with 3 CH3 groups and and an oxygen bonded to it. The oxygen atom breaks off of the compound and TMAO turns into TMA as the fish dies. This explains why old fish smells very bad and fresh fish shouldn’t have a foul odor.

Next, I want to talk about the chemistry behind the gear used to catch fish. Starting with fishing rods.  Fishing rods are made from graphite and carbon fiber. Graphite is a covalent network solid made from carbon atoms that is very strong. Covalent network solids are solids made from nonmetals covalently bonded to each other that create lattice structures. Some examples of other covalent network solids are Diamond and silicon dioxide.

 Many people think of graphite as very weak and brittle because of the number 2 pencils made from graphite they use in school every day. But graphite is quite strong due to the hexagonal honeycomb lattice of the material’s molecular structure. In fact, the only thing separating graphite from diamond which is one of the hardest materials on earth is one carbon atom. 

The graphite in fishing rods is made into sheets made of graphite fibers that can bend and form around a center of material called the mandrel which is usually steel. The sheets of carbon are very strong and don’t break when stretched, but they can break under compression. This is why rods break on the underside where the material is compressed.

One of the most important pieces of fishing equipment is the hook. Fishing hooks need to be very sharp and thin but also extremely strong. This is why Fishing hooks are made from alloys such as Vanadium steel. Let’s step away from talking about fishing for a minute to talk about alloys. Alloys are metals that are mixed with other atoms to create a new, stronger metal that has different properties. There are two types of alloys; Interstitial and substitutional. Today we are going to focus on interstitial alloys. The most popular interstitial alloy is steel. Steel is made from iron with carbon atoms in between. The alloy is stronger than pure metals because the atoms are different sizes and are positioned between each other which makes it harder for sheets of atoms to slide past each other. Vanadium steel is an interstitial alloy made from .5% carbon, .8% manganese, .3% silicon , 1% chromium , and .18% vanadium . The rest is iron atoms

When fishing in saltwater, however, fishermen have to deal with the corrosive environment of the salt. This is why saltwater hooks are usually made from stainless steel, which isn’t as strong as carbon steel like Vanadium steel but it is corrosion resistant and doesn’t rust easily. Stainless steel is a steel alloy that contains a minimum chromium content of 10.5%. The chromium reacts with the oxygen in the air and forms a protective layer that makes stainless steel highly resistant to corrosion and rust. 

Ok so that wraps up the chemistry portion of this podcast. Now I’m going to give you some insight on why im so passionate about this topic to wrap up the episode. 

I’ve been fishing for as long as I can remember because my dad introduced me to it at a very young age. I fell in love with the thrill of the sport and the memories I have made with my dad on fishing trips are unforgettable. I have become a very experienced fisherman over the years and I always want to know more about the sport. That is why I made this podcast to learn about fishing on a deeper level and I hope you learned as much as I did.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections.   For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-chemistry-of-fish 

https://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Fishing-Rod.html#google_vignette 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium%E2%80%93vanadium_steel  https://www.sportfishingmag.com/techniques/bait-fishing/fishing-hook-construction/ 

https://www.thyssenkrupp-materials.co.uk/does-stainless-steel-rust 

https://blog.ohiocarbonblank.com/graphite-isnt-brittle-may-think/ 

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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Welcome to Chemistry Connections, my name is Mahisvi Vemulapalli and I am your host for episode #9 called The Chemistry of Chemotherapy. Today, I will be discussing how chemotherapy works in the human body.

Before we talk about chemotherapy, we need to know what cancer is. Cancer is a disease where damaged DNA results in cells overproducing and spreading to other parts of the body, resulting in the gathering of a tumor. These tumors latch onto the body parts to surrounding cells, growing exponentially in size and taking over the body’s systems. In order to combat cancer, chemotherapy was applied. However, the origin of chemotherapy comes from the discovery of reduced white blood cell counts after people were exposed to nitrogen mustard during World War II. Before you guys get excited about mustard, no, it is not the mustard that you eat. Nitrogen mustard was used in chemical warfare during the war as blister agents. Although the intentions of nitrogen mustard were to harm their opponents, the discovery allowed researchers to start examining the therapeutic effect of mustard agents in treating lymphoma, a type of cancer that arises in the lymph nodes. Though more nitrogen mustard had to be utilized, it was proven that the patient’s tumor masses were significantly reduced, marking the start of the use of cytotoxic agents for the treatments of cancer in 1946. Chemotherapy, otherwise known as chemical healing, started its fame that year. Therefore, as forms of chemotherapy updated and become popularized, there was a decline in mortality rates, making this form of treatment the most common for cancer. Today, we will be focusing on paclitaxel, a chemotherapy drug used for breast, lung, and ovarian cancer.

Solubility

However, the mysteries of chemotherapy start from how it is administered. So today, let’s talk about the truth behind paclitaxel. Paclitaxel is a part of the bark of a Pacific yew tree (don’t eat the fruits unless you vomit!), but actually, paclitaxel is actually a tetracyclic diterpenoid, an organic nonmetal compound with a base of 20 carbons, and many more carbonic structures on top of that. In fact, paclitaxel consists of 47 carbons, 51 hydrogens, 14 oxygens, and one nitrogen atom (that’s a lot of atoms!). Based off its molecular structure, this molecule mainly forms London dispersion forces (LDFs), with fewer hydrogen bonds. These hydrogen bonds only occur with the nitrogen and a few oxygen bonds. Though it may seem like there should be more hydrogen bonds, the distribution of the hydrogens amongst the oxygens are dispersed due to the established diterpenoid base with 20 carbons. Overall, this structures causes there to be a greater London dispersion force charge. Paclitaxel itself is originally a fine white powder. In order to administer as an injection, it needs to be dissolved in a soluble solution. Paclitaxel is not soluble in water. This is due to its organic structure that contains mainly LDFs. Therefore, paclitaxel is a nonpolar substance that can only dissolve with other nonpolar substances, like methanol. By dissolving the drug in methanol, it can now be administered as chemotherapy.

Half-life

Now, let’s dive into how chemotherapy works in the body. Paclitaxel itself breaks down in the body by targeting dividing cells. In order to do so, paclitaxel goes through a biphasic decline; it works rapidly and consistently in its first stage, and then travels slower at a constant rate. In its initial elimination phase being the first stage, paclitaxel has a half-life of about 3 to 14 minutes, while in its slower phase, it has a half-life of around 13 to 52 hours. But what is half-life anyway? Half-life is the time required for a substance to reduce to half of its initial value.  This means that in the case of paclitaxel during the first phase, it takes between 3 and 14 minutes for the initial dose to be reduced by half. Therefore, when the paclitaxel decomposes into the cells in order to break them down, they initially reduce to a faster constant half-life, and then break down further into a slower half-life. Therefore, once the molecule is fully administered, it can produce the greatest effect.

It’s important to understand truly how chemical treatments like chemotherapy work on the body, as most people just attribute the treatments to losing hair. However, chemotherapy itself is a wonder, as it one of the most efficient and effective treatments of cancer. Therefore, chemotherapy should not be taken lightly, and instead, it should be researched, so people are aware of the multiple factors that might change their lives. Personally, I enjoy researching medical solutions, and understanding this popular treatment was eye-opening. So next time you hear about chemotherapy, remember its journey throughout the human body.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Chemistry Connections.   For more student-ran podcasts and digital content, make sure that you visit www.hvspn.com. 

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/how-cancers-grow

https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/what-is-cancer

https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/nitrogenmustard/basics/facts.asp

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Paclitaxel

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536917/#:~:text=Paclitaxel%20and%20its%20metabolites%20undergo,approximately%2013%20to%2052%20hours

Warm Nights by @LakeyInspired 

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In this episode, listen as you learn about one of the most influential medications in the modern medical world.