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.
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Why is NaCl so abundant in the ocean [closed]
Why is sodium chloride far and away the most abundant salt dissolved in ocean water. Its two constituent ions do have a very high frequency in the crust of the earth but they are far from the most ...
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Hydrogen Peroxide & Vinegar Film reversal, can someone help me understand this reaction?
I'm interested in DIY photo development and I came across a reversal process that uses chemicals easily available at the grocery store. The purpose of a reversal process is to take a partially ...
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Why is milk not sold in food-grade stainless steel bottles? [closed]
I have grown up in a country where milk is stored in a steel container in the fridge at home. That’s what makes me wonder why milk is not sold that way?
Nowadays the steel container single wall is ...
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Is it possible to make Dipotassium Phosphate from Mono-potassium phosphate and potassium hydroxide?
Having fertilizer formulated and asked for 100% Dipotassium phosphate, the formulator says its reacting mono-potassium phosphate with potassium hydroxide to make it. Just wanted to double check and ...
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Can color-changing leuco dyes be used to indicate when a certain molecule binds to another in a textile fabric?
Thermochromic leuco dyes change color when the temperature changes. I want to use leuco dyes to make a color-changing fabric. However, instead of using temperature to induce color changes, I want the ...
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The pH of tap water changes with time [closed]
My following questions are related to $\mathrm{pH}$ values in irrigation water in plants.
I got a $\mathrm{pH}$ meter and I am measuring the tap water and I get an value about 8.
My first question: ...
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Does burning plastic completely disintegrate it? Accidentally melted some plastic in a BBQ, wondering if pyrolytic cleaning is an option
I accidentally barbecued some plastic today, making quite a mess. It's a cushion for a lawn chair, so I imagine probably some sort of plastic or polyurethane.
Rather than cleaning melted plastic ...
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Alcohol (ethanol) distillation: mystery congener
I regularly home-distil small amounts of potable alcohol (ethanol), mainly from fermented sugar(s) solutions (the 'wash').
My still is a box standard, $4.5\mathrm{L}$ electrically heated (safety!), ...
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A solution is cloudy at lower concentration and becomes clear at higher concentration. Why?
This might be just an "everyday life science" question. I am a university professor but not in chemistry so please educate me. Today I was adding some floor cleaner formula to water as ...
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Hair styling gels and 'liquid gels' - effect of formulation / composition on viscosity and performance [closed]
[Disclaimer: I am aware that this is a very 'first-world problem', 'light-hearted' kind of question, given the health crisis we are still going through. Just to avoid offending anyone, here's an easy ...
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Is there a practical re-use value gained by grinding up activated carbon that is spent/saturated?
I want to buy bulk activated carbon for use in a DIY air-filtration set-up, like this, to improve air quality in my bedroom.
From what I understand, the relatively larger sizes of carbon media on the ...
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About the acidity of Sultiame [closed]
Why is sulthiam base even hough sulfur can accept the electron by resonance from nitrogen
like carbonyl group do?
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About the acidity of phenytoin
Can you explain why phenitoin is weak acid even though nitrogen is base?
Does carbonyl group always make structure acid?
If this structure doesn't have carbonyl group, would it be base not acid?
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Calculate half-life from decay [closed]
I need to calculate the half-life in hours and I got the decay constant in min, how do I do? Which formula do I use? Is it just ln2/decay constant in minutes?
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Oxygen manufacturing on Mars
I was reading about the Perseverance lander on Mars and was surprised to find that it has an oxygen manufacturing instrument on board. The oxygen is needed as a part of a binary rocket fuel to get ...
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Turning oil into solid for candles [closed]
I added stearic acid to hot vegetable oil and saw it turned to a sludgy, slush material in about 1.5 hours. Is there any other natural additive that I can add to make it more solid in the same amount ...
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Zinc screw turning black [closed]
I tried one experiment. I started with ordinal yellow zinc screws.
The screws were sumberged in bath of two parts of $4.7\%$ solution of $\ce{NaClO}$ and one part $\ce{NaOH}$. The screws turned ...
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properties of solution [duplicate]
I had homework with the following question, Eugenol is the active ingredient in the oil of cloves used to relieve toothache. Calculate the boiling point of a solution in which 0.17 grams of eugenol, (...
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Diffusion of multiple gases at once
Graham’s law of diffusion states the rate of diffusion between two gases is inversely proportional to their molar masses. Now, this is helpful when we are focused on two gases. But that is rarely the ...
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Substances with high physical expansive property/expansion after reaction
I want to know if there is a substance/mixture of substances that expands more on some chemical or physical change, than what I've already seen.
Elephant toothpaste is a good example, a small amount ...
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Why is chloride measurment 0 [closed]
In class we did an experiment to measure chloride in different water sources, including a lake. We used Ion-selective electrode of Ag/AgCl technique.
We did the calibration curve and all steps and ...
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Glycerin yield upon saponification of beeswax
I am making a custom grease (castor oil & sodium stearate) that will be suspended in beeswax. I have found that saponifying some beeswax for use in the grease results in higher operating ...
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What is left over when water and sodium hypochorate decompose, i.e. household bleach? [duplicate]
I am having some confusion in understanding the decompostion of household bleach. One website says bleach decomposes to salt and sodium chlorate, simple enough.
Orther wedsites say bleach decomposes ...
user95145
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Why do green bell peppers become bitter when cooked?
Why do green bell peppers taste sweet raw, but become bitter when cooked (steamed)?
What chemical process is responsible for this? I don't believe the temperatures are high enough for the Maillard ...
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Exceeding CPVC in exterior roof coatings
We have a kynar coated metal roof that was primed with an acrylic primer and then coated with a dark blue acrylic elastomeric paint. It was coated during spring with moderate weather. The roof ...
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Why can you sanitize paper money notes with a Clothes Iron?
I have some Canadian and British bank notes. The first issue is that I don't know if they're paper or plastic.
Second, I don't understand this answer. Why's it safe to iron paper bills? Won't the ...
user7952
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Does baking soda permanently eliminate nutritional properties of vitamin C?
(Please forgive me for asking this if it's obvious, but it's not obvious to me.)
EDIT: I am easily confused by chemistry, so please give me a very simple answer, followed by any lengthy further ...
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Does the anti-rust properties of bluing carbon steel disappear at a certain temperature?
Yesterday I blued my new carbon steel wok over a very high (200K BTU) burner which is capable of getting the wok to 1000+ degrees with ease.
I understand that bluing adds a rust-resistant layer which ...
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Universal symbols for molar mass, molarity, and molality
This is a really basic (perhaps trivial) question, but I just want to confirm:
What are the SI symbols for molar mass, molarity, and molality? For molality and molarity, there is a difference, but I’...
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How do I calculate weight percent of BaCl2
A $\pu{0.1036 g}$ sample containing only $\ce{BaCl2}$ and $\ce{NaCl}$ is dissolved in $\pu{50 mL}$ of distilled water. Titrating with $\pu{0.07916 M}$ $\ce{AgNO3}$ requires $\pu{19.46 mL}$ to reach ...
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Is Polyethylene Glycol always derived from Ethylene Glycol? If not, how does it differ?
I have heard Polyethylene Glycol is derived from Ethylene Glycol, so was doing some research to see how they differ and found this.
Now this states that:
Polyethylene glycol is produced from the ...
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Why does Cody use Litharge? [closed]
In many of the precious metal refining videos Cody (Cody's Lab) takes the sample with the precious metal and puts Litharge into it. After heating it in the furnace, while pouring it out the molten ...
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Can potassium carbonate be used to calibrate hygrometers?
Context:
In the process of trying to calibrate a number of hygrometers, with Sensirion MEMS electronic sensors, I came across the method of using wet salt: an airtight container will stabilize at a ...
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Solvent + Photopolymer Waste Disposal
I have a 3L jug of SLA printer-related waste that's been sitting under my desk for a while now and I'd really like to finally figure out how to get rid of it. It contains:
Ethanol (primarily) and ...
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Adsorbable Organic Halides (AOXs) in bleach residue
I have a question regarding using household bleach, and wonder if someone knowledgeable can help, please?
I have used household bleach (sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide, coco alkyldimethyl, ...
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Do water filters expire even if underused? [closed]
This filter rates a 3 month lifespan with 1210 liter capacity, but I expect to filter only 300 liters in 3 months. Is it still expired after 3 months - if so, why? What degrades a filter while it's ...
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Betaine HCl solution at neutral pH
I was trying to make a $2\text{M}$ solution at $\text{pH}\, 7.5$ of Betaine $\ce {HCl}$.
I started by weighing out the appropriate amount of Betaine $\ce {HCl}$, added some water and started stirring. ...
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Why does whey protein powder make porridge much less viscous?
When I mix whey protein powder into warm porridge (that I cooked in the microwave), the thick porridge becomes much less thick.
I searched this, and I found several forum threads discussing this too ...
user30492
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Calcium chloride as a drying agent for solutions
I'm aware of the reaction Calcium chloride has with water vapour and how it can therefore be used as a good and inexpensive drying agent but could that be applicable for solutions?
For example if ...
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Hazard and precautionary statements
Is there a scientific database where one can find all the H and P statements for all chemicals? I would like to avoid using wikipedia but I can't find a database from a trusted source.
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Chemical Volcano- Experiment
In a science exhibition in 2011 , I and my friend made a volcano that used vinegar and baking soda for the 'effects'. There was another group that made volcano too and they had brought their own ...
user102687
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Removing wood stain from a ceramic surface
I have a bathtub that I accidentally poured wood stain into. Now the stain is all over the white ceramic surface of the tub. I tried using bleach but it didn't do anything. I'm curious if there is a ...
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Does partially/completely removing solid shift the equilibrium?
For the reaction: $$\ce{P4(s) + 5O2(g) <=> P4O10(s)}$$
Let's say the reaction is at equilibrium, and SOME $\ce{P4O10(s)}$ is removed from the reaction. Will that affect equilibrium? My ...
user105067
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Why does dissolved oxygen concentration decrease with increasing atomic number of metals?
I am looking at how metal ions ($\ce{Fe^2+}$, $\ce{Ni^2+}$, $\ce{Cu^2+}$, $\ce{Zn^2+}$, and $\ce{Ag+}$) affect the biochemical oxygen demand in water and used the Winkler's method to find out the ...
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How do we know orbitals of atoms and elements exist? [duplicate]
How would we know if we have never experimentally seen them?
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What spectrum of light does penetrate fog?
I am wondering about what spectrum of light does penetrate fog the best. I would like to know if IR light penetrate fog better than UV light and why is that. Thank you for answers.
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Chemistry Precise [closed]
What would be more precise to find the volume of a cube of metal and why?
1: Measuring cube with a ruler and calculating volume
2: Calculating the water displacement of the cube with a graduated ...
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Why is isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol) used in rubbing alcohol instead of 'regular' propanol?
Is isopropanol (or 2-propanol) a better solvent than ordinary propanol (or n-propanol, or 1-propanol)? This is strongly implied from what I have read, but I can't seem to find a place that distinctly ...
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Effects of dispersed nitrous oxide on the body
I'm not sure if this question would be more appropriate in Biology SE, but I wanted to know if the euphoric effects of $\ce{N2O}$ are limited to when it is concentrated in the gaseous phase, or ...
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Can freezing temperatures cause chalk to fragment?
I am a physics student, with little experience in chemistry. I am researching for a project which involves freezing and its capabilities on humans and different minerals like chalk.
I have been ...
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