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.
237 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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DIY hand sanitiser solution forms spongy substance
I am trying to make my own hand sanitiser since it’s sold out everywhere. The formula I use is 1 part aloe vera gel in 2 parts 100% isopropyl alcohol. The problem is when mixing the two, the solution ...
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Storing alcohol in a thermos bottle
My thermos bottle's instructions say:
Füllen Sie keine kohlensäurehaltigen Flüssigkeiten oder Trockeneis in das Produkt. Füllen Sie keine alkoholischen oder öligen Flüssigkeiten in das Produkt.
...
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About Smoke Grenades and Sugar Rockets
The most common formula for smoke grenades and sugar rocket fuel is $60\%\ \ce{KNO3}$ (potassium nitrate) and $40\%\ \ce{C12H22O11}$ (sugar). This is a 3:2 ratio, but I've also seen 2:1 and 5:3 with ...
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Are all humectants sticky?
While using a topical lotion based on ethanol, water and propylene glycol, I noticed that it becomes sticky while drying. Propylene glycol is a humectant and is used for this purpose in ...
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How to dissolve slime jelly?
Suppose I have a small kid that had two cans of slime jelly (a Jelly made of water, glycerin, thickeners, dispersant, flavorings and pigments).
And that two cans were inside a backpack, and somehow ...
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How to dissolve a strong resin in difficult situation?
The resin is made up from two components:
Component A: silicic acid, sodium salt (less than 10% sodium silicate)
Component B: Diphenylmethane-4,4'-Diisocyanate, isomers and homologs (MDI,Polymer-MDI)...
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How much oxygen is used up by the browning of an apple?
This is inspired by a recent popular question on Cooking.
Let's assume that I take some apples, cut them up, and place them in a hermetically sealed container. Then the container goes into the fridge. ...
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Is there an adhesive that is not dissolved by acetone?
I am trying to glue glass sheets together to make a sealed 13" x 13" x 13" box. Inside this box there would be acetone gas used to melt 3D printed parts to make them more durable. Acetone will remove ...
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Reaction of Rubidium with vacuum system viewport
I have a vacuum system ($<1\times10^{-7}$ mbar) filled with Rubidium ($^{87}$Rb) vapour, at room temperature.
We also have a viewport near the Rubidium source, made of a stainless steel flange ...
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What makes "Color-Safe Bleach" color safe?
The ability of bleach ($\ce{NaOCl}$) to change the color of garments and introduce "bleach stains" is a well-known issue. In this question:
Does bleach turn a substance white or colorless?, the ...
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What were the crystals I saw in a package of caffeinated mints?
I opened a package of caffeinated mints this morning, and I noticed that they seemed to sparkle in the light. When I examined it closely, I saw that the "empty space" in the package was full ...
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Why do vessels get a better shine when tea-leaves are soaked overnight in it before washing?
The other day I dumped consumed tea leaves into a brass utensil because I needed the tea-pan urgently. The vessel with the tea leaves didn't get around for cleaning until the next day. Ergo, the tea ...
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Why wouldn't a standard addition fluorometric method return the same starting concentration of a solution used to make the standards?
I am trying out a new standard addition method and having some very basic problems. I am hoping someone could point me in the right direction.
I am using a fluorometric method to quantify ammonium in ...
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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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How to align povidone-iodine molecules in order to look for optical polarization
In this answer I mention how early polarizing filters (e.g. sunglasses) were made by doping a polymer with iodine atoms and then stretching the film to orient the polymer molecules.
Electrons donated ...
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Waterproofing and recycling paper
I've recently begun studying about waterproofing paper. Through what I learned is that the reason why paper absorbs water so easily is mainly because of it's material composition. Paper is generally ...
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Which (carbonaceous) fuels produce more or less soot in a diffusion flame, and how to predict that?
From what I've read, the production of soot in a flame is still an open research topic. But some hydrocarbon fuels produce much more soot than others. Are there (simple) rules that tell which fuels ...
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How can I test fruits and vegetables for certain insecticides?
I live in Turkey and I don't feel safe eating the fruits and vegetables that I enjoy that are plentiful here. After reading this article, I have been washing all fruits and vegetables with water and ...
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Remove redness in copper-nickel coin
I had a silver-looking coin (not valuable, don't worry) that was heavily covered in black. I thought it could be silver, so I cleaned it with the electrolysis method (salt + sodium bicarbonate ...
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Cat litter crystals causing toxic smell upon rubbing and pouring out of the package, safe?
I am under-educated in terms of chemistry hence the question and assumptions.
Basically, for our cats, we are using what seems to be the latest scientific achievement in litter sand - the litter ...
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Brewing tea with deionized water
I am wondering what efect brewing tea (let us assume for the sake of simplicity it is green tea, brewed at about 80 °C) in deionized water might have on the product.
Will the lack of ions in the ...
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What layer is formed on Titanium when soaked in Hydrogen Peroxide?
A few pieces of TI-6AL -4V ELI ASTM F136 Titanium jewelry were left to soak in a small cup of 3% household Hydrogen Peroxide.
After about a week of soaking, all of the Titanium had acquired a smooth, ...
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Action of Fuller's Earth on Marble and Limestone
Using Fuller's earth is a very common and harmless way to treat marble and limestone that has been damaged/corroded by atmostpheric pollutants such as PM2.5/PM10 carbon particles (Soot) , Oxides of ...
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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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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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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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How can I solubilize fragrance oil into polyvinyl acetate/clear glue?
I'm a high school student who makes slime for fun, using polyvinyl acetate (PVA) glue and borax as my main ingredients.
Earlier, I had the idea of adding fragrance oils to clear glue. However, because ...
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Cleaning silicone molds
I am a musician who wears custom-molded in-ear monitors made of silicone. They are rather expensive so I need to constantly clean them and carefully. I was told not to use isopropyl alcohol (96%) ...
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Formic acid and carbon monoxide outgassing from latex mattress
Formic acid is used as a coagulant to turn rubber tree sap into latex, formic acid also decomposes to carbon monoxide. Does this mean things like latex mattresses have the potential to off-gas carbon ...
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What does it mean "polyester doesn't breathe"?
Often people say buy a cotton shirt because cotton "breathes" but polyester doesn't. (i.e. it makes you hot sweaty).
What is the scientific meaning behind this? How does polyester trap the heat more ...
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Why does chewing gum get hardened after drinking water?
Why does chewing gum get hardened after drinking water? This is a basic question, but please don't say temperature change, because I've tried that, and it never gets back to same elasticity. There ...
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Why do certain mixtures foam and others don't? How to predict if a mixture will yield a foam?
I recently acquainted myself with the skill of whipping a mixture of sugar, fresh brewed/ hydrated instant coffee into a pale, fluffy, stiff and stable foam. This, as some might know, is known as Café ...
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"Non-stick" action on ceramic-coated pans
I understand how PTFE, or Teflon as it is commonly called, prevents anything from sticking to pans; apparently, anything coming into contact with the PTFE coating has ignorably tiny van der Waals ...
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Can fat make rubber gloves stiff?
Sometimes I use dishwashing gloves when carving cooked duck, which is very fatty. I have noticed that over time my dishwashing gloves seem to be shrinking a little bit and getting stiff. Could this be ...
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Carbon footprint rules of thumb
Could someone perhaps check the rules of thumb that I use for estimating the carbon footprint of hydrocarbon fossil fuels- I'm using schoolboy chemistry theory, and possibly falling into schoolboy ...
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Gel in water machine
I have a hot and cold water dispensing machine from my water company. I use 5 gallon water jugs delivered ever 3-4 weeks. The machine has a tank in it where water is kept cold until dispensed by ...
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Heat and Sugar Syrup Consistency
I make my own sugar syrups and have been observing how heating the syrup to different degrees results in syrups of radically different consistencies, I wonder why. Heating up syrups (4:3 Sugar:Water) ...
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What causes steel rubbing on wood to leave grey or black marks?
In my own experience, running or rubbing a high-carbon steel on wood leaves a pencil-like trail. Is this simply carbon rubbing off, or is it a more complex reaction involving tannins in the wood, like ...
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What is Hydroxy Methylbutyrate-Ca and what is it's relation to butyric acid
First of all, I am nowhere near familiar with chemistry. But I really need help with this question. A certain product contains "Hydroxy Methylbutyrate-Ca" and I need to translate this ingredient in ...
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Kitchen Counter Endothermy?
I am not a chemist. But I am curious...
This evening I was making ingredients for a "lemonade bar", where people mix various flavors into a lemonade base to create custom flavors (mint + cucumber is ...
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How to make a placebo drink taste convincing?
I'm trying to make a placebo alcoholic drink - something strong (cognac, whiskey or vodka). Is it possible to make a drink containing absolutely no alcohol taste like it's got 30 or 40% alcohol? What ...
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Any way to guess what these crystals are?
Is there any way to guess from these crystals what minerals formed them? They came from ordinary tap water.
I was cleaning out a room humidifier which hasn't been used since last year when I ...
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Sand Under Pool Turned Gold in Color
I'm removing an above-ground chlorine pool installed years ago by a previous owner of my house. Looking underneath the pool, I found that the sand on which it's resting is a gold/bronze color with a ...
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Can the properties in a tomato help make hair curl?
Is it possible for the active properties of a tomato to turn your hair from straight to curly? And what are the active ones that do this and why?
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Laser cutting polyurethane
I have a laser cutting machine and have always read that PVC (or types of vinyl in general) are very dangerous to cut because it releases chlorine gas. Chlorine gas = toxic (plus the $\ce{HCl}$ thing),...
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Mystery crystals exuded from eastern redcedar heartwood
A dead eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) was recently cut and the wood saved for later woodworking. From the chainsawn face, a rime of acicular radii appeared only on the colored heartwood over ...
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Is it possible to electroplate iron onto nickel in a sodium chloride solution?
Over the years I have salvaged many laptop and power tool batteries and collected a lot of metal strips, but I don't know if they are made of nickel or nickel-plated steel.
I have a piece that I know ...
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Is cleaning silverware with tinfoil and salt dangerous?
Premise: I'm not a chemist and I've already had a look at this and this but they don't fully answer my question.
I have read that you can clean silverware using tinfoil, salt and water, though from ...
user133482
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How are gravimetric analyses of particulate matter performed, in order to determine particulate matter concentration in air?
I've been surfing Google Scholar a bit and learned that a common and comparatively less expensive method of measuring particulate matter concentration in air was analysis through gravimetric methods. ...
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protecting copper with benzotriazole
I was told years ago that benzotriazole ("slightly soluble in alcohol"), when applied to a copper surface, will protect the surface from corrosion from the air ("forms a monomolecular ...
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