Questions tagged [everyday-chemistry]
Applications of chemistry to reagents, reactions and processes of everyday life. Use this tag for question on chemistry in an out-of-laboratory/class context. DO NOT use this tag merely because the question is about simple chemistry.
228 questions
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If aliens lived in a hydrogen (or any flammable gas) based atmosphere, would they perceive oxygen to be flammable?
Energy, fuel, and oxygen are needed for a fire to burn. In a hydrogen chamber, if there was a pipe spewing small amounts of oxygen, could you light the oxygen on fire as it began to mix with the ...
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Chemical compounds responsible for the colors in flowers?
I know that anthocyanins are a class of compounds responsible for the purple colors found in flower petals.
Anthocyanins (also anthocyans; from Greek: ἀνθός (anthos) = flower + κυανός (kyanos) = ...
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Why do raisins bob up and down in carbonated water?
Yesterday I preformed a fun little experiment where I poured a glass of seltzer water into a glass, then dropped a few raisins into it.
I observed that the raisins would float at the top of the glass ...
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Using table salt as a way to limit humidity in an unoccupied house
We own a static caravan in the UK (Snowdonia region, so rainy and wet all year round, moderately cold winters) and we leave it unoccupied during Winter (Oct-Feb).
We were advised of an apparently ...
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How to dissolve candle wax (paraffin)?
Wikipedia states that waxes can be dissolved by non-polar organic solvents.
I failed to dissolve candle wax in both acetone and ethanol, which are the only organic solvents I have at home.
I have ...
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Can molecules diffuse upstream when emptying a cup of tea?
I was drinking some tea, and I randomly decided to pour some into the toilet in an unbroken stream; can particles travel "upstream" quickly enough to reach the mug of tea? How fast can diffusion occur ...
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Why are water droplets shaped like that?
With nothing to do, I stared at the droplets that get condensed on the glass panel of my window.
Upon examination, these droplets appear to be in some sorta pattern. There are big droplets as well as ...
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Why doesn't HCl form when you dissolve NaCl in water?
People say it dissolves, but shouldn't the acid form?
$$
\ce{NaCl + H2O ->[?] HCl + ???}
$$
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What material are heat bags made of?
I just bought a heat bag from store and it has special property.
It is made up of transparent plastic bag and transparent unknown liquid inside when sold. There is a tiny circular metal piece in ...
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Why does gum get harder to chew after a while?
My Sister asked me this:
"Why is it that when we chew gum, it is soft and mushy to begin with , but slowly gets firmer and firmer like after 20 mins of chewing?"
I think it is because when we ...
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Is there such a thing as a "minimal soap" molecule?
Wikipedia's Soap gives sodium stearate as an example of soap, and apparently I've been eating it:
Sodium stearate is the sodium salt of stearic acid. This white solid is the most common soap. It is ...
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Does the chemical in an alkaline battery make battery leaks unavoidable?
Battery leaks was an issue in the 80s and 90s, and since quality and innovation is constantly improving, I thought battery leak might be slowly going away. But I found that even nowadays, name brand ...
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What is the difference between hand wash and body wash soap?
I do not like body wash always with strong favor. I like hand wash soap to wash my body. Are they difference at all?
Thanks for the comments, so that I add the following information
I am really sorry ...
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Why do most drugs (eg: oxycodone) have seemingly arbitrary names?
How do some medicines derive their names?
For instance, is the name oxycodone somewhat arbitrary? I am not well-versed in Chemistry (1st semester student) but does the prefix oxy- imply some ...
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Can drinking a lot of water be fatal?
I vaguely recall having heard that drinking too much water can, over time, prove fatal to the human body.
Nothing special about the water; not distilled or de-ionized or anything … just plain ol' ...
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What makes Coke acidic?
What makes Coke and other soft drinks acidic? These drinks are carbonated, so a freshly-opened can should have a lot of dissolved carbonic acid, but the ingredients also lists phosphoric acid. Would ...
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Does bleach turn a substance white or colorless?
From what I understand, bleach works to weaken the ability of a substance to absorb light. Thus this seems to be "whitening" i.e. reflecting all light. In contrast, colorlessness (according to ...
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What is the smell of a glass of water in contact with fresh air?
When you pour water into a clean glass in a small confined room with no or little fresh air circulation, the only smells you perceive are those of the glass and the water (or the impurities from both ...
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Why do some materials turn black and others white after combustion?
Most solids objects turn black after they are burnt.
But some turn white.
Why is that ?
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Why are synthetic pH indicators used over natural indicators?
Synthetic indicators seem to be exclusively used when determining the pH of a substance with an indicator (with the exception of that school experiment where you boil cabbage to demonstrate natural pH ...
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Does desalination work?
Does salt vaporise? If I boil salt-water and leave it there until half of the water vaporises, will it be twice as salty as in the beginning? Or exactly the same? Or somewhere in between?
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How pure NaCl is typical table salt? How is it purified?
How pure $\ce{NaCl}$ is typical table salt? Is it pure enough for research-level experiments in chemistry? How is $\ce{NaCl}$ purified if need to be?
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What are the chemical process responsible for the warping of wood?
Background:
According to this Wikipedia article:
Wood warping costs the wood industry in the U.S. millions of dollars per year. Straight wood boards that leave a cutting facility sometimes ...
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Does water have a smell?
I was washing my cup with hot water (without soap) and upon it nearing my nose, there was some sort of 'smell' (I lack a better word)-
However the 'smell' was different compared to when I was ...
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Why does hot oil fry things, but hot water does not?
When a slice of potato is dropped into hot oil, it gets fried but the same in hot water, gets ‘cooked’. What is it about oil that gives the slice of potato the crispy feature while water only makes it ...
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Is Acrylamide carcinogenic? Why?
Recently concerned with health effects by common chemicals existent in food I've been rather busy reading article after article; and just an interesting one came around:
Acrylamide (or acrylic ...
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What is the product of a copper and vinegar reaction?
I put a copper wire through a hole in the cap of a water bottle, filled the water bottle ~ half way full with vinegar, and left it over night. The part of the wire inside the bottle that wasn't in ...
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Does milk drinking prevent long-term chemical poisoning?
I have heard some rumors that drinking milk prevents chemical poisoning. I have done a bit research and some sources confirm that.
Corrosive Poisons
The best first aid is to dilute the poison as ...
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Is there a chemical reaction which could give off enough heat underwater to cook something?
The mer-people demand cooked food. They don't want to go on land to make it.
Is there a chemical reaction they could use which would create enough heat to cook their food underwater in a safe manner?
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Which electrodes do not corrode at all?
I had used spare pieces of metal to perform electrolysis. They all had the disadvantage that they corrode when used as anode - and some of the oxides are toxic (copper, chromium).
I've found that ...
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What is the molecular structure of the coating on cast iron cookware known as seasoning?
When a piece of cast iron is repeatedly covered in fat and exposed to heat it develops a hard, black, non-stick coating referred to as "seasoning".
What exactly is this coating made of molecularly? ...
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Why is tin(II) fluoride more effective in turning apatite into fluorapatite?
In more powerful toothpastes, like Crest Pro-Health, stannous fluoride is used in place of sodium fluoride.
According to Wikipedia:
Stannous fluoride converts the calcium mineral apatite into ...
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Sugar burning with the assistance of ash
If a plain pile of sugar (or a sugar cube) is heated with a torch, it just melts and gives off smoke. However, if some paper or wood ashes are added, it burns quite easily. What are the ingredients of ...
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What is "super" in superphosphate?
This question is inspired from a previous question(marked unclear). I don't know the context of that question but I was intrigued by a statement:
Superphosphate is used instead of just phosphate ...
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Can sodium bicarbonate be considered an acid?
I was reading about acids and bases today and finally decided to question the statement that "baking soda is a base."
Let's start with the dissolving of baking soda, $\ce{NaHCO3}$. The equation to ...
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How does WD40 displace water?
How does WD-40 displace water? Or does it even displace water? WD40.com explains what WD-40 stands for:
WD-40® literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th formula. That's the name straight out of ...
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Why does lactose-free milk last so much longer than regular milk?
I buy lactose-free milk. The sell-by date is usually as much as eight weeks from the date of purchase, which is in the neighborhood of twice that of regular milk. This seems puzzling; lactose-free ...
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What forces hold ink on paper?
On regular paper, ink is absorbed, while on photopaper ink stays at the surface and dries for a longer time. What forces act in these two different cases?
(see also related questions about pencil ...
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Why does milk flake?
While drinking milk (or better 'while seeing the milk I'm gonna drink') a question came up to my mind:
Why does the milk sometimes flake, even if not in contact with some other substances?
I guess ...
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Chemically removing rust without leaving any unwanted residues
I have this iron pan that got rusty from not being properly dried. Scrubbing it I was able to get rid of most of the rust, but there's still some I just can't remove. I thought I could chemically ...
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Why ginger reacts with sparkling water?
I think that the ginger ale is born this way.
Anyway, if you put the ginger in a glass and add sparkling water, small drops splash out of the glass, the water is fizzier, more effervescent.
Why? ...
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Quantifying soapiness; there's pH, pKa and pO2, is there a p_soap or p_surfactance?
Yes, $\mathrm{pH}$ is a concentration, $\mathrm{p}K_\mathrm{a}$ is a dissociation constant, and $\mathrm{pO_2}$ is a partial pressure. These are (roughly speaking) ways to indicate how much of a key ...
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What are the active ingredients of shampoo, and how do they work?
After seeing one too many TV commercial about the fantastical properties of different high-profile shampoo products all "with documented effect" it suddenly struck me that I never actually researched ...
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How to detect lead paint on a bicycle?
Recently I started renovating a bicycle. The frame has been painted probably over 30 years ago, and despite holding well, big patches of rust are showing. So it's time to give the bike a new paint job....
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Chemistry of Walter Mitty's negative developer/stop bath/fixer?
I asked a question here How can Walter Mitty examine the negatives of photos in the bright sunny day?
Commonly known, there are three steps using chemical baths to bring out the images of negatives:
...
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Is there a flame which doesn't produce smoke?
I read a book where it states the following:
There are many types of flame and there are even flames which don't produce smoke.
After reading it, it just got stuck in my mind. Is there a flame ...
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What makes scorpions glow under UV light?
What substance (or class of substances) is responsible for the neon blue-colored fluorescence we observe when we shine UV light on scorpions?
Do note, I want to know what substance makes them glow ...
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What is the chemical basis for superglues?
There are a variety of different types of glues, some derived from animal or natural materials and some designed by chemists. Some glues need to be activated before they harden and stick (many epoxies,...
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What is the difference between wet paint, dry paint, and in between those stages?
A day after painting a closet, I set a piece of wood on the wall of the closet that was painted a day ago as well. Within minutes, both of their layers of paint fused together (please correct me if ...
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How to dissolve steel without affecting aluminium alloy
Disclaimer: I have very limited knowledge of chemistry
My problem is the following: I have motorcycle part made from some sort of Aluminium alloy - most probably 6005, 6061-T6 or 7005. And inside of ...
