Bonus: Do dead leaves smell like tea? (and other questions)
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist.
Jam:And I'm not. And welcome
Melissa:to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life, bonus edition.
Melissa:Yay. I'm so excited. I love bonus editions. I felt like the last 2 seemed so far apart, but these 2 feel close together, so it's kinda fun.
Jam:Yeah. Totally. Totally. Very much so. They're also fun.
Jam:I like them too, and I'm here for it.
Melissa:And the bonus edition last time is how we ended up with the chocolate series, so that's been kind of really fun. So
Jam:Nice. Yeah. That's cool.
Melissa:And if you wrote in with some of those ideas that seem like they could be full episode ideas, that's what's going on. We're trying to work them into full episodes. We've already Hit a couple of them, the ebonized wood and chocolate, but there were other really good ones, so we're working them in.
Jam:Nice. Yep. Sometimes the question's too good. You know? It can't just be a q and r.
Jam:Question's gotta be a full app.
Melissa:That's exactly right. I can't just Do it so quick. I need to really invest some research into it. And if I'm gonna research, it's gonna be a real episode.
Jam:Okay. Are you ready?
Melissa:I'm ready.
Jam:Okay. This question's from Nicole p, and she asks, What are some tips on doing electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions?
Melissa:This is an Ochem tip, so way to go, Nicole. I'm gonna go ahead and plug on YouTube. I do some practice problem videos. I've uploaded a lot of them also to the chemistry for your life YouTube, but they're also on my own YouTube channel just so that I have an official avenue for my teaching Then my students don't think I'm just trying to plug this podcast all the time. So that's chapter 15.
Melissa:And for the book that I'm using, so it'd be labeled under that. And I love electrophilic aromatic substitution. For those of you in OKAM 2, I think the aromatic section is some of the easier ones if you've been having a hard time because it's not as connected to the things around it. But when you're learning those, I say learn the mechanisms. And then they're all the similar mechanism where you create a superelectrophile And then you lose your aromaticity when the Benzene attacks the nucleophile, and then you regain your aromaticity.
Melissa:Losing aromaticity is always the slowest step. Jam is just like, what are you saying? His face is checked out.
Jam:Even just reading the phrase electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions was, like, Quiet. I was like, I think I know some of those words, but not when they put together like that.
Melissa:Well, all those All those reactions follow that same basic mechanism. It's just with different reagents. So I would say learn those steps as they apply to all the different Reagents, the nitration, sulfonation, all that stuff. I always am a proponent for learning that mechanism over memorizing unless you're really, really desperate And you're already in. You're just trying to pass the class.
Melissa:I get it. Sometimes we have to do that, but I always would rather you learn than just memorize. And then for the electron withdrawing groups and the electron donating groups, they really direct where new things come in, so learn about those and learn about why those resonant structures are almost always on the exam. So feel free to check those out as well. So I think those are my big tips for that that section, and you can definitely go.
Melissa:I have a video where I literally just sit and solve practice problems. My students seem to love those. I thought they were gonna think they were boring because I'm just solving problems Mhmm. By myself on a screen. But I think they like that they can pause and rewind and check all that stuff out.
Melissa:So if you're a student and you wanna watch me just Literally solve and explain why I'm doing what I'm doing? Feel free to go look at those videos. I'm pretty sure they're on our chemistry for your life YouTube also. I tried to make an Ochem practice problems section in there.
Jam:Nice. Nice.
Melissa:And if you have topical requests, Nicole actually submitted a request for me to do a video on greenyard reagents. You can do that, and I'll try to make a little video that's more geared towards you're an Ochem student, then, like, the podcast is. Nice.
Jam:So this and she said, I'm looking for some hands on labs that my chemistry students can do around the country to explore redox reactions to do at home.
Melissa:So she asked specifically about using the vinegar and dissolving that steel wool. And I don't know if there's anything you could put in there that the steel wool would basically redeposit itself on, But I'm pretty sure we did that chemistry at home episode where you put a copper penny in vinegar and the penny turned blue. Yeah. And I think If you submerge aluminum in that vinegar, the copper can deposit onto the aluminum. We didn't recreate that on our own.
Melissa:There's a few resources, like, from the American Chemistry Society that had or the American Chemical Society that had that as an option, but we kind of didn't have time. So we didn't really explore that further, but I think that would be something you could do pretty easily. So check that out. You can just Google cop your penny redox reaction. But I would say that would probably be the easiest one because everybody has a penny.
Melissa:I also did have to yeah. I rescued Jam and brought him a few pennies.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. And then doctor Moon also sent us something saying that Tannins are the reason that fall leaves are brown. We talked about tannins recently. She said they're the final degradation product in leaves, but That's why sometimes when you're walking around and crunching leaves, maybe it smells a little bit like tea.
Melissa:Well, I don't drink tea very much, so I didn't notice that smell. But I will say sometimes when I'm drinking tea, it smells like old leaves to me. That is so funny. Well, I
Jam:actually thought about that whenever I was we did that leaves soaking In that can I show your home episode or whatever? Yeah. I actually thought about how they smelled a little bit like tea. So I just didn't observe that. I don't think I said that in the video.
Jam:But, anyway, that makes sense now that I think about it.
Melissa:And when she says they're the final degradation product, I think she that can mean one of 2 things, either that it's the last thing left that hasn't degraded yet because I think some tannins occur naturally in leaves. Mhmm. But it might also mean as a product, it could be The product of things that break down create tannins. So either of those is a possible interpretation of that. I didn't have a chance to email her and ask her, but I think either one of those is Realistic.
Jam:Yeah. Okay.
Melissa:And then also, I wanted to say a friend of ours, Tabby, Sent me a video message asking me why something happened to her. So she just asked me she said she had a mug that she was drinking Coffee or tea out of. Mhmm. And she usually only drinks water out of it because it's the one that, like, seals shut. You know?
Melissa:Mhmm. Mhmm. And so she but she didn't have anything else available, so she just used that one, and then she closed it. When she came back to it, she couldn't open it. It had really sealed itself shut.
Melissa:And then a few days later, she came back, and it worked. And she was able to open it. And she asked me if I knew why that had happened, and I have 2 guesses. One main guess Uh-huh. Is that the tea bathe the air inside that was a hot environment.
Melissa:The It's a vacuum insulated, like, mug type of thing, water bottle. And so I think it was hot inside of that water bottle. And then it was kind of cool when she asked me that. And so I think it very likely just cooled down after it was sealed So that the air basically shrunk up a little bit and created a vacuum. So it Gotcha.
Melissa:It sort of sealed itself because there was almost a negative pressure in there.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:But usually, those seals aren't perfect, so I suspect that over the course of the next several days when it was just sitting out at room temperature or maybe it was even warmer. Maybe it had been in her car where it was cold, and then it came inside or something Mhmm. That it e evened out. The pressure went back to normal, and then she was able to open it.
Jam:Yeah. Interesting. That's crazy.
Melissa:My other idea was just that she got some honey stuck, I don't know how she would have gotten rid of that unless she ran it under hot water. So that was my other theory. Right.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:I wasn't there with her when it happened. I just only took her Little bits of info. So Mhmm. So thanks, Tabby. That was a really fun one.
Jam:This next question is from Bram, And he asked, what's the most flexible chemistry degree?
Melissa:So for that, I that's a tough one. I'm not a 100% sure what he means. If he means bachelor, masters, PhD type, which one's the most flexible?
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Or if it's analytical, organic, Inorganic polymer, what your specialization is would be in for your PhD.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:But I will say many people who get a Bachelor of science in chemistry. Everybody's parents say go into something like chemistry so that you'll be guaranteed to get a job. Well, you're not guaranteed to get a really good job unless you an advanced degree in chemistry, so that's a little bit of a lie. So a lot of people who get an undergrad degree in chemistry can make a solid living, but not a super great one doing, like, QA work. So it's usually not the most mentally stimulating, and I found that a lot of people who get a bachelor's degree in chemistry Would rather have more stimulating work.
Melissa:So I don't know if that's gonna be your most flexible option. A master's degree does allow you to work in industry, but also would allow you to teach at the community college level or to teach high school. Also, bachelor's will let you teach high school. Either of those would be true in the United States. Mhmm.
Melissa:So that's a pretty flexible option. If you're a PhD, you're sort of overqualified for some things, so that can make it harder to get a job in some areas. But if you're going for your PhD and you're interested in a lot of Variety of fields. Mhmm. Analytical's a good option because you get a lot of data analysis.
Melissa:You can do a lot of Lab stuff for organic chemistry, you know, development and research development type stuff. Mhmm. And I don't know much about the other areas. Computational is a new division of chemistry that's really picking up. And then the field I'm in is chemistry education, and not many people know about that.
Melissa:But it is a chemistry degree where you study how people are learning chemistry. Mhmm. And it actually qualifies you for a really diverse set of Things you can do, you can either keep doing research in that area, or you can get jobs like working for the government, doing data analysis because you have to do so much data for that, and you get a lot of experience working in data analyzing for the software and stuff like that. You learn a lot about statistics, So you can get jobs doing that. You can get jobs helping develop curriculum.
Melissa:You can get jobs as a teacher. There's a lot of options for PhDs with chemistry education research. So I'm just gonna plug that one and say if you're interested, we have a great program at the University of North Texas. Nice. Or you can email me and ask about other programs that might be a better fit for you.
Melissa:There are just a few around the country, and it's a really close knit community. So Definitely keep an open mind to that. So I would say those are a lot of different options for your chemistry degrees.
Jam:Nice. Nice. Great question.
Melissa:Yeah. That was a good question.
Jam:This next one is one that, maybe I could try to answer it and then see if it's the same memory you have.
Melissa:Okay. Yeah. Go for it.
Jam:So doctor Moon asked, how did Melissa and Jam meet? So my memory of this is that at least the most significant amount of time that we were, Like, around each other was on a kind of like this trip conference combination thing that Yeah. Melissa and I both went to while we were in college. Were at different universities, but in the Dallas area, both in our undergrad, and it was this, like, College ministry training conference thing we went to, and so we both were there for, like, what is, like, a week and a half or two Weeks up in Yeah.
Melissa:I think it's, like, 10 days or something.
Jam:Yeah. Up in we you spend a little bit of time in Seattle. Most of the time you spend is up in Bellingham, Washington.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And so we were we didn't I don't think we had met before. If we had, it must have been very, very brief. And the most time we really got to spend around each other and, like, get to know each other was that which was in 2012, I believe. June of 2012.
Melissa:Yeah. That sounds right. Yeah. I have a terrible memory. So I couldn't remember the first moment we met.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:It sort of more felt like we have just known each other for a long time. Mhmm. Mhmm. And I don't Super remember us particularly hanging out on that trip, but I do remember hanging out with 1 of your very closest friends. Mhmm.
Melissa:Us engage. Yes. Yep.
Jam:And I was we were almost always together, and so I was probably there for a lot of that.
Melissa:Well and I know I did meet you then because I knew you after that. Yeah.
Jam:You know
Melissa:what I mean? Totally. Totally. I just don't have a super clear memory of the exact time we met, and I don't have any distinct memories of us chatting or talking, but that's just my brain doesn't hold on to memories like that. I suspect it's because I didn't sleep enough in high school, and I've probably damaged my memory somehow.
Melissa:But so I don't have any distinct memories of that exactly.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Do you have any of those from that time?
Jam:No. I think the the one I remember the closest with is not really even a lot of detail, but I remember us being at some ice cream place Near one of, like, the park too and on, like, a little walker hike on and, in. And I feel like I remember Austin and me and you and your friend Sarah, Talking while at that ice cream place. And
Melissa:Okay. I believe it. Yeah. I'm
Jam:I'm pretty sure that Austin told one of his many really good stories that are very embarrassing, but
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Make for great, great stories. So
Melissa:I do remember those stories from that trip. I remember laughing a lot at those insane Stories. 1 particularly involving skittles. It was great.
Jam:So gosh. It's a good one. So that is how we met.
Melissa:Good job. I'm glad you remember that. I'm sorry, though. I don't and maybe this can be a message to all of my friends. If I don't remember the exact moment we met, it's Truly because I have a terrible memory.
Melissa:My current roommate, I met him probably 3 times or 4 times. And then Mhmm. He said, we've already met 4 times. And after that, I did remember him. So Yeah.
Jam:That is funny. This next question is from Chelsea. She asks, what Was your favorite Easter candy as a kid?
Melissa:Okay. I had to think about that, but I think my favorite one was remember those, like, chocolate oranges?
Jam:Yes. I do. But I have a totally different association with them, but go on.
Melissa:We got those a few times in our Easter baskets, and I would eat them 1 piece at a time slowly because I love to savor my chocolate, and I think that's the answer. But I don't know. There's no particular Easter candy that I am about. Like, Peeps weren't ever really my thing.
Jam:Oh, yeah.
Melissa:I was always disappointed by the desiccated coconut all over the cakes. Like, why would you do that to a cake? Why would you put something dry that sticks on your tongue on a cake?
Jam:Yeah. And I don't like the yep. Ugh. I don't
Melissa:Egg shaped Jell O thing was kinda cool. You know, if you got the molds and you made Jell O the shape, I guess.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:But, yeah, I can't remember any other, like like, the Reese's eggs. I like Reese's minis better because of the peanut butter to chocolate ratio. So there's Those little robin eggs looking things, I think, that had, like, a malt ball in the center were kinda cool, but Mhmm. None of those really nothing really stands out to me About Easter candy, except 1 time or 2 times, we'd get those oranges in our past.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I would pick the oranges if I ever got this for Easter, but we always got this for Christmas in our stockings. So it's so funny to hear you say that, because I'm like, that's a, that's a Christmas treat treat or whatever.
Jam:But it's obviously not, and they're so good. But I cannot in good conscience say that because it was never associated with Easter for me. Unfortunately, I would have taken it any holiday, honestly.
Melissa:Oh, yeah. Definitely.
Jam:So I think I always I didn't have Reese's eggs growing up, but I remember trying them at some point being like, oh, these are great. I like them. And they're not like my I think I like them more than the others, but I do like that it's just different
Melissa:than
Jam:than the standard Reese's. And I just like Reese's, so it's hard to complain. But I think I never liked Peeps. Very, very overrated. And, scientifically, like, it's proven that's the case.
Jam:Definitely.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:I think I've discovered these kind of late, but I'll still use it as my answer because I still love them to this day, and they're very specifically Easter is, or at least they were originally, is the starburst Jelly beans.
Melissa:Nice.
Jam:Those are so good. I always look forward to them. Like, I I I think you can get them year round, actually. But they feature them very prominently for Easter. It's probably why they're created, the 1st time around or whatever.
Jam:And it used to be harder to find them, and you can always find them at Easter. But I always look forward to it. I always get a few bags and then kinda let that be my little sweet treat. Like, I'll go grab, like, 5 jelly beans. Mhmm.
Jam:And just kinda ties me over if I'm having a sweet tooth moment. And so I bought 2 bags. I mean, I do this almost every year, but I bought 2 bags Back in, like, late February, would they go ahead and start just having Easter stuff everywhere?
Melissa:Just going for it.
Jam:And slowly kind of Went went through them and then finished the 2nd bag actually before Easter, so I got a little out
Melissa:of them.
Jam:But So much better than other jelly beans. Like, amazingly better. Other jelly beans to me have, like, at least half the flavors are,
Melissa:like, horrible. Oh, 100%. Yeah.
Jam:At least half. Maybe more. But Yeah. Strawberry jelly beans, even though I don't like the purple ones really, I'm still fine with it because usually put a couple in the mouth at a time anyway, and it yeah. They're all so much better.
Jam:They actually have good Flavors. So
Melissa:Once you said that the chocolate oranges were for Christmas, I started to get scared that that is when we got them. So I'll I'll also add this that the the candy In particular, it was never the thing that I was always the most excited about, but, I mean, I love chocolate. I just indiscriminately love candy. But Mhmm. There was always an Easter egg at our family's Easter egg hunt on my dad's side that was bigger, that was filled with A ton of candy and a $20 bill, and I coveted that thing.
Melissa:And I never got it, but then they downgraded to a smaller one also with money in it. Like, There's, like, a few smaller ones with money, and I did get one of those. And I had it until a few years ago on my dresser at my parents' house, and then I gave it to my nephew, and he loves it. So
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:That thing was around for a very long time, and I was so excited when I finally got money on Easter. So
Jam:Nice. Very nice. Good question, Chelsea.
Melissa:That was a good question.
Jam:Sparked a lot of a lot of memories.
Melissa:Yeah. Nostalgia, Lane.
Jam:This next one is food related to from Harry b. He asked, what is our favorite topping on pancakes?
Melissa:This is also kind of nostalgia because my mom in a desperate attempt to give us fruits and veggies used to put bananas on top of our pancakes, and it was not the best Combination, but sometimes I just think about it.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:I don't know.
Jam:Save a vegetable when you said that. I'm like, keep the tomatoes on pancakes.
Melissa:But you're like, bananas are basically just sugar, so I think that shows how desperate Richie was to just get us anything, you know, as children, picky eaters, or whatever.
Jam:Well, I can go first to give you, like, a couple more minutes to think. But for me, I I'm not super crazy about, like, going nuts with pancakes, or any like, pancakes or waffles. They're already good to me, They're already nice and sweetened, you know, kind of indulgent, so I don't go crazy about it. But I really do like putting some version of, like, whipped cream or cool whip on top of my pancakes or waffles, and then strawberries. Nice.
Jam:To me, that combo, it's, like, got the coolness to the cream, and mixed with strawberry. I don't know why. I just really like that. So it takes pancakes and waffles like another level for me.
Melissa:I think I'm just a good old fashioned butter and syrup kind of girl. Like, I want a good layer of butter and syrup. I do think I tend to go for waffles over pancakes because you can get a good amount of butter in the little wells in the waffles. Mhmm.
Jam:Yeah. And because it wasn't an ope. That's why You like them too?
Melissa:And because it wasn't up. Yeah. I wanna be her. You know? So Yeah.
Melissa:And then I put the maple syrup on top, and I've switched in my older age to real maple syrup. Mhmm. But I think I'm just a classic pancake Mhmm. Butter and syrup kinda girl. I think Oftentimes, I'll opt for a fancier French toast, you know, with a nice Yeah.
Melissa:Puree or something. If I'm gonna put some crazy things on it. I go more the French toast direction, or I'll get a nice indulgent cinnamon roll, but I don't usually go crazy with my pancakes. They're a classic option for
Jam:me. Totally. Totally. I forgot to say that that I implied, I guess, but without saying it that I also definitely put syrup still on my pancake.
Melissa:So Yeah. I figured. Yeah.
Jam:Yeah. I was like, oh, that Might need to say that because that's a must.
Melissa:Yes. Definitely.
Jam:Did yeah. That's that's I feel that way too. I mean, obviously, I said the The whipped cream and strawberry thing, but in general, I feel like, like I'd like, not being super indulgent. It's already pretty tasty you if you just get some good syrup and butter. But Yeah.
Jam:Yeah? Good question, Harry.
Melissa:Yeah. Always coming at us with those good Favorites questions. I love this. Mhmm.
Jam:What if Harry died doesn't even really listen to the commercial part?
Melissa:He's just like,
Jam:all about these. He's like, I just wanna hear what these guys like and what they Favorite movies, favorite books, that kind of stuff.
Melissa:Just another podcast with 2 people talking about nothing. Uh-huh.
Jam:The classic podcast way.
Melissa:Here's a little something that's not nothing, and that is someone sent us a meme. And I don't know where they sent it, and I can't find it again. But last q and r. Someone asked how air fryers work. The chemistry of air fryers.
Melissa:And then after that q and r episode, Someone sent a meme that was how air fryers really work, and then it had a picture of the avatar In his Avatar crazy mode, inside of an air fryer cooking the food with his airbending powers. Mhmm. Mhmm. And it was pretty hilarious. So I just wanted to shout out that person, although I can't remember who you are.
Melissa:You can message us again, and they'll shout you out next week.
Jam:Dude, I gotta see that. I did not find I did not see that meme, and then we couldn't find it again. And so I still have not seen it.
Melissa:And So you can send it again if you wanna share a set.
Jam:Yes, please. Please. That'd be great. And we wanna give a huge thank you and shout out to People who have donated to our over the past month. So thank you to Brenlyn b, Drea g, Christina g, Chelsea b and Robert.
Jam:Guys, thank you all so much for helping cover the costs of making the show and allowing it to Keep going and also keep the actual show itself free. So huge shout out to you guys.
Melissa:And Brendlyn gave A little gift for my birthday, which was sweet. Our birthdays are really close together, so she
Jam:sent me
Melissa:a little happy birthday message. And congratulations, Brenlyn. She's pregnant We're triplets. Woah. Dude.
Melissa:Brenlin, we're so excited for you. Yay.
Jam:Awesome. Three times the excitement, 3 times the thank you for supporting the show.
Melissa:And then for Christina g and Chelsea b, They are our first 2 recurring donors. So they'll be getting a little sticker that is custom made for the podcast. Put a sneak peek of that up in just a few days. That's made by local artist, Nikki Newell, that we also commissioned to make our Chemistry sweatshirts. You can check out her art on at thimble and brush co.
Melissa:So they'll be getting that little sticker. And Mason, my fiance, made us a little stamp so that we can custom stamp chemistry for your life On to our note cards, and I'm so excited. I think it's gonna be really cute. So we're so thankful for you, and you'll be getting a little thank you note and a sticker and everything in the mail for supporting us. Thank you guys so much.
Melissa:And if you would also like to receive a thank you note in a sticker, you can go to co Kofi, k o dash f i.com, and become a recurring donor at any amount. And we'll send you a little sticker and a thank you note. Yes.
Jam:Thank you all so much. We could not do the show without you guys, and we're excited to have our 1st recurring donors. So
Melissa:Yay.
Jam:Appreciate y'all so much. This episode of Chemistry for Your Life was created by Melissa Cooney and Jame Robinson. We'd like to give a special thanks to e Robinson who reviewed this episode.
