Melissa: 00:09

Hey. I'm Melissa.

Jam: 00:10

And I'm Jam.

Melissa: 00:11

And I'm a chemist.

Jam: 00:12

And I'm not. And welcome

Melissa: 00:13

to Chemistry For Your Life.

Jam: 00:15

The podcast helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life, bonus edition.

Melissa: 00:19

Bonus edition. That's right. We're going to do questions and responses today.

Jam: 00:25

From you guys.

Melissa: 00:26

From you guys. We're just gonna answer your questions. Back to you. And in case anyone was wondering, for our bonus episodes, We don't look at references. I don't study up.

Melissa: 00:36

I don't usually look into anything. I just answer the questions. I can answer straight for my brain, and I just give you my real genuine response.

Jam: 00:44

Mhmm.

Melissa: 00:45

And for anything that has more meat to it, I save it For a full on episode.

Jam: 00:50

Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Because there's been many times that y'all's questions have become a full, Fully birthed, fully formed

Melissa: 00:59

Right.

Jam: 00:59

Episode.

Melissa: 01:00

Exactly. So if you have reached out to us and given us your Ideas, and we responded to you, but you've never heard them on a q and a. That's because I have them on a long list of ideas for episodes that will probably come into being At some point.

Jam: 01:15

Yes.

Melissa: 01:16

Whenever I sit down to start a new episode, I go look at that list.

Jam: 01:19

And it's awesome, and do not stop doing that. I mean, like, there's several other episodes already that we've said, yeah. This was from this question or from this suggestion from somebody. So keep them coming.

Melissa: 01:29

Yes. Please do. Really helps me out a lot.

Jam: 01:32

Yeah. And it's chemistry for your life, so it's for your life.

Melissa: 01:36

Yeah. It's for you.

Jam: 01:37

Yeah. It's for

Melissa: 01:37

you guys.

Jam: 01:38

Okay. So are you ready for the questions?

Melissa: 01:40

I'm ready.

Jam: 01:41

Question number 1 comes from Anthony c. Do does cool really exist? I thought it was just the absence of heat.

Melissa: 01:53

That's a great question, Anthony. I you know, what does it even mean for something to exist? If we can feel cool, you know, great. But, yes, scientifically, we talk about the presence and absence of heat. We don't really talk about I mean, we talk about heating and cooling, but cooling is to remove heat.

Jam: 02:09

Mhmm. Mhmm. And

Melissa: 02:10

that will come up even more. We've got an episode coming up about hand warmers.

Jam: 02:14

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

Melissa: 02:15

So there's gonna be some some talk about the absence and entrance of heat when things heat up and cool down.

Jam: 02:21

So what you're saying is, basically, it's kinda like glass half Full glass of empty kind of thing. You could be negative if if you want and talk about cool, or you could talk about heat.

Melissa: 02:30

Yeah. Exactly. Or you can be philosophical and say, what does it even really mean for something to exist?

Jam: 02:36

Mhmm. And how do we really know that we feel? Yeah. Great question, Anthony. The next question is from JD, and his question is this.

Jam: 02:48

Interesting fact about temperatures of water that pertains to my field is that the boat oh, it's JD on a boat, your your brother-in-law.

Melissa: 02:56

Yes. Jaydee on a boat. You can follow him on Instagram at jdee on a boat. He's a boat captain, and he takes cool pictures of wildlife.

Jam: 03:03

And here is his question, which it's helpful to know that he's a boat captain. Interesting fact about temperatures of water that pertain to my field is that the boat will sit Higher or lower in the water and go faster or slower depending on temperature. Colder water, it says higher and goes faster.

Melissa: 03:20

That's not really a question, but I may respond to it.

Jam: 03:22

Yes.

Melissa: 03:23

Super cool fact. I did not know that. But when water is colder, it has less Heat. So it's moving around less. We talked about that on the sea level rise episode, episode 25.

Melissa: 03:33

Mhmm. And so if it's colder, it's more dense. So I think that's why it sits up higher Oh. In the water. I don't know a lot about the physics of water displacement for boats.

Melissa: 03:42

Mhmm. But water that's colder is going to be more dense.

Jam: 03:45

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 03:46

And so I think that's why. So it takes up less volume. That, I think, is why it sits higher, and then it goes faster because it has less of the drag of the water on there.

Jam: 03:55

Oh, okay. That makes sense. I was gonna say, for some reason, I thought it'd be harder to move through cold water, but it's just it's it's up higher. It's on top of the water instead of in it As much? Mhmm.

Melissa: 04:04

Okay. Yeah. Interesting. From JD.

Jam: 04:07

Thanks, JD. This next question is from Mike d. I don't think it's the Mike d that's in the Beastie Boys. I think it's a different Mike what percent of sea level rise is due to thermal expansion as opposed to meltwater?

Melissa: 04:20

So this was a question that Mike, Not from Beastie Boys, Mike Dardoe. He's a real life friend of mine. Uh-huh. He's very cool. He worked with my sister at the C Lab in Alabama.

Jam: 04:30

Nice.

Melissa: 04:31

And So he asked that on Twitter. And then my sister, Renee, who is our guest on the sea level rise, she's an expert, not just my sister. Yep. Yep. She responded right there on Twitter.

Melissa: 04:43

So if you want, we're tagged in it. You can go find it. But she said, I'm not sure of the ratio right this minute, but while the pass has been dominated by thermal expansion. Moving forward, that will be switching to meltwater dominated.

Jam: 04:55

Okay. Interesting.

Melissa: 04:56

She does another percentage right off the top of her head.

Jam: 04:59

Mhmm.

Melissa: 04:59

But there but in historically, we've been dominated by thermal expansion, and now we're gonna be dominated by meltwater Interesting. To see level rise.

Jam: 05:07

Yeah. That's interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Crazy.

Melissa: 05:10

Crazy. And she's so smart.

Jam: 05:12

And if you haven't listened to that episode, Definitely go check it out. It'll make more sense what is even being asked in this in that question.

Melissa: 05:18

Yeah. So

Jam: 05:19

a lot of you just like that balance even more so, I think. Yeah. You might be confused, but But it's a cool episode. I could say that because a lot of the heavy lifting was not us. It was it was

Melissa: 05:30

Oh, yeah. It's a super cool episode, and it was We did base on basically did not do

Jam: 05:35

Yeah.

Melissa: 05:35

Much at all for it.

Jam: 05:37

This next question actually, there's 2 from Ellen c in Australia. Hey, Ellen. First question is regarding the actually, both of them are regarding, like, the boiling water episode.

Melissa: 05:47

Oh, yes.

Jam: 05:48

So is the vapor pressure Affected by whether the vapor is able to stay over the pot at all. Like, let's say you're blowing hot air across the surface of the water. I say hot air because I assume that that would help limit the cooling effect

Melissa: 06:02

Mhmm. The

Jam: 06:03

air would have on the water anyway. Would the water get hotter than a 100 degrees Celsius, 2 12 Fahrenheit, or whatever it is at that atmospheric pressure without boiling.

Melissa: 06:14

Okay. That's a tough question. I think the answer to that question is yes. It does affect whether the vapor is able to stay over the pot. Mhmm.

Melissa: 06:22

Because When we put a lid on a pot, we help build up that vapor pressure. Mhmm.

Jam: 06:27

So I

Melissa: 06:27

think if you were removing the vapor, you'd be removing the vapor pressure, so it'd have a harder time Meeting the vapor pressure.

Jam: 06:34

I see.

Melissa: 06:35

So I think the answer to that question is yes. But I don't know For sure. And that might be a good question for a physical chemist or someone who does more with thermodynamics.

Jam: 06:47

Yeah. Man, it's crazy to think about.

Melissa: 06:49

It is crazy that changing the vapor pressure well, changing the atmospheric pressure can change the boiling point of water.

Jam: 06:57

Yeah.

Melissa: 06:58

But I think if you're removing the vapor pressure, the vapor pressure is not gonna be able to match the atmospheric pressure, which is the definition of boiling.

Jam: 07:04

Right. Right. Which is just a little bit similar to, like, just not having a lid on there. Like Right. Thought about that be a little slower.

Jam: 07:12

It might might be, like, not super significant.

Melissa: 07:15

Right.

Jam: 07:15

But the vapor is able to dissipate and not stay there. Yeah. Wow. That's an interesting question.

Melissa: 07:21

That is an interesting question.

Jam: 07:22

This next one is also interesting. Ellen asks, if you were to heat water in conditions where it couldn't boil, Would it heat further and further and stay liquid indefinitely, or would some other process take place?

Melissa: 07:35

Okay. So I think, Ellen, you're asking, Like, if you just had an insane pressure, and so it's basically not possible for the water's vapor pressure to meet the atmospheric pressure, I think.

Jam: 07:49

Mhmm.

Melissa: 07:50

So if that's what you're asking, it would just keep heating and heating and not boil until it could finally meet pressure. So we talked about that Briefly, we were like, okay. We could make a bubble on the bottom of the ocean. Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa: 08:02

Yeah. At the bottom of the Marietta Trench or whatever. And we our bodies weren't experiencing any pressure, but the pot was experiencing and the water inside it was experiencing all the pressure. Mhmm.

Jam: 08:13

It

Melissa: 08:13

would be really hard to get that to boil, but the temperature would be very high.

Jam: 08:18

Yeah.

Melissa: 08:18

Because the boiling the vapor pressure would not be able to meet atmosphere pressure for a very long time. Mhmm. Then if you try to boil the same pot of water in outer space, There are other considerations, but it would be able to in a vacuum, water can boil very, very quickly.

Jam: 08:33

Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa: 08:34

So Yes.

Jam: 08:36

Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. I forgot that we did the whole, like, thought exercise about being in the bottom of the ocean.

Melissa: 08:41

Yeah. That was one of my favorite. I just have

Jam: 08:43

So I just stay liquid?

Melissa: 08:44

I have a fun

Jam: 08:45

It could be 212 or 100 Celsius and stay liquid.

Melissa: 08:50

I believe that's correct. I haven't reviewed The, basics of how that works since that episode, but that is my instinct. Yes. Yeah. And I love the image of us having a Pot and boiling it at the bottom of the ocean.

Melissa: 09:03

Yeah. I think it's so funny.

Jam: 09:04

Yeah.

Melissa: 09:05

I just, like, imagine little cartoon versions of us. It's pretty fun.

Jam: 09:10

Okay. We've got a few questions from our most avid questioner, Steven h.

Melissa: 09:17

Steven h, thanks for all you do.

Jam: 09:20

Okay. So, Steven's first question is this. Can smelling too many bad smells cause permanent damage, or is it merely unpleasant?

Melissa: 09:31

Okay. I don't actually know the answer to that question. My instinct is to think that it is merely unpleasant.

Jam: 09:38

Mhmm.

Melissa: 09:39

But I know for a fact that if you breathe in corrosive things, like, For example, hydrochloric acid is a vapor, I believe, but we get it dissolved in water. Mhmm. And so when you open the hydrochloric acid bottle, Unless you're doing it in a hood or which has, the airflow moving away from you Mhmm. You will get this strong hit of that corrosion Mhmm. Smell and and if you can feel the burn in your nose.

Melissa: 10:11

And will damage your mucous membranes, which I believe would damage also your sense of smell.

Jam: 10:16

Oh, wow.

Melissa: 10:17

I don't know for a fact

Jam: 10:19

Mhmm.

Melissa: 10:20

But I believe that that can cause damage. And, no, it can damage your mucus membranes, but I think it can also damage your sense of smell. But I don't No. For sure.

Jam: 10:29

Yeah.

Melissa: 10:30

And I would really be interested to study the nose sensory things that we have as opposed to the people who live in that town in New Zealand who are surrounded by the thial smell all the time.

Jam: 10:41

Oh, yeah. That's right. Yeah.

Melissa: 10:44

Does do they change so they're less sensitive?

Jam: 10:47

Mhmm. I

Melissa: 10:48

don't know.

Jam: 10:49

Yeah. That's interesting. One way you can damage yours into smell. If you smell fire a lot and get, like, really close to fire and just, like, sniff it a lot, that that can really supposedly damage your nose.

Melissa: 11:01

Do you mean if you catch your nose on fire?

Jam: 11:04

Yeah. That's yeah. That's yeah.

Melissa: 11:07

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Do not put fire in your face.

Jam: 11:12

Yeah. Inside of your nose.

Melissa: 11:13

I Strongly agree that will also cause damage.

Jam: 11:17

His next question is also smell related. Do all bad smells Come from thiols, even sewage, skunks, burning rubber, etcetera. It's such a boring question.

Melissa: 11:30

Yeah. I had a big yawn. Boring. It's not because it's a boring question. It's because I haven't been getting enough sleep.

Melissa: 11:38

I guess inspired by my yawn, Jim decided to pour a cup of coffee.

Jam: 11:42

Yeah. I was like, I don't wanna be caught yawning here in a second and have to eat those words.

Melissa: 11:48

So the answer to your question, Steven, is no. Not all bad smells come from thiols. 1 in particular bad smell is methane gas, And that does not have any thiols. It's a carbon with 4 hydrogens around it. Yeah.

Jam: 12:03

Interesting. Very common Elements in every other way.

Melissa: 12:07

Mhmm.

Jam: 12:08

Wow.

Melissa: 12:08

But for some reason, methane gas smells bad to us.

Jam: 12:11

That's so strange.

Melissa: 12:12

It is The smell of cow manure and

Jam: 12:15

Mhmm.

Melissa: 12:16

Flatulence.

Jam: 12:16

Yeah. So strange to hear it so good for you, but, like, it smells so bad to us. That's so

Melissa: 12:21

weird. So that's, that's one example of a bad smell that's not from a thio. That was a good question. I did not talk about So I don't wanna spread the misinformation that Yeah. It's only 1 kinda bad smell.

Melissa: 12:31

That was just the one that's been studied a lot that was easiest to talk about.

Jam: 12:35

Mhmm. Thing interesting.

Melissa: 12:38

Super interesting.

Jam: 12:39

His next question is regarding the hair, episode we have. We had 2 of those in a row. Do hair treatments like straightening or perming cause permanent damage to new hair that grows or just to existing hair? So he was saying, like

Melissa: 12:54

I think he's saying if you perm your hair and you damage your disulfide bonds, will the new hair that grow also be damaged?

Jam: 13:00

So, like, the yeah. This this part that's That's freshly coming out of your scalp kinda thing

Melissa: 13:05

after you get perm. I believe the answer is no. Because the chemical makeup of those should be untouched by the chemical treatments that you did to the things that were happening before that hair grew. But I don't know everything about hair. So there may be a way to damage the follicle that does damage the hair, but I don't know about that.

Melissa: 13:22

And I wanna say something about hair. We have gotten so many questions about hair. I have 6 questions about hair

Jam: 13:32

Oh, and?

Melissa: 13:32

That I don't have the answers to, so I'm gonna have to study and look into it. And then we'll do a whole either another episode about Hair or a q and r just about hair?

Jam: 13:43

Okay. That's awesome.

Melissa: 13:45

I received those messages loud and clear. Super interesting topic. I'm so glad you guys were excited about it.

Jam: 13:52

I have a this is not scientific. I have an anecdote, a story about hair damage that can just be added into the pile of hair related things.

Melissa: 14:02

Okay.

Jam: 14:03

A a former coworker of mine, good friend has a story that I don't know all the details too, and I don't know that he knows the science of it, but he was getting some thing dented to his hair. I don't know if it was a perm or what. And the person did something wrong. Either did too much of something or something like that. And it It caused very early balding for him.

Jam: 14:27

Like, not everywhere, but enough to where he just he shaves his head now.

Melissa: 14:31

Oh my gosh. That's crazy. I wonder if they damage something in the follicle.

Jam: 14:35

And that's what

Melissa: 14:35

I was thinking.

Jam: 14:36

Like, if you just isn't, like, way too intense of some chemical, if it could just Damage the follicles, but, I mean, the evidence is there he is bald.

Melissa: 14:44

That's interesting. So So you can damage The vocal, I guess. Yeah. But I think with this kind of especially heat treatment, I think that just damaged existing hair.

Jam: 14:53

Yeah.

Melissa: 14:54

Yeah. Also, Jim and I have a fun Another hair related anecdote. We were watching Parks and Recreation last night

Jam: 15:02

Oh, yeah.

Melissa: 15:02

After a a dinner club hangout. And Leslie Knope got half of her hair permed, but we never saw the chemicals being applied to Yeah.

Jam: 15:12

Just the curlers.

Melissa: 15:13

Yeah. We just saw the curlers. There was no Nothing to break the disulfide bonds or reform them, so I suspect that Leslie's nope, one half of her head was never actually permed.

Jam: 15:24

It's a conspiracy.

Melissa: 15:25

It's just exciting that something on parks and rec related to the podcast. Yeah. I was like, we about that.

Jam: 15:32

Yeah. Yeah. And super recently too. I was like, hey.

Melissa: 15:35

Yeah.

Jam: 15:36

Okay. Steven, the next question is not very scientific. It's kind of one of the cool, non science y questions that we get sometimes. Can you tell us how this podcast got started?

Melissa: 15:48

I was so Surprised when Steven asked this because he knows me personally. Yeah.

Jam: 15:53

But he didn't know how it started?

Melissa: 15:54

No. Wow. And then I realized I haven't told a lot of people. I've just told We had a few interviews. Yeah.

Melissa: 16:00

And that's about it.

Jam: 16:01

Yep. So Steven, the answer is, we cannot tell you.

Melissa: 16:06

That would be so mean. It's like all this buildup. And he asked, and I was like, I'll put that on the show. So, actually, the real answer is I'd been wanting to do a chemistry podcast or any kind of podcast forever because podcasts are my favorite thing. I mean, really, I think they're my number one hobby.

Melissa: 16:24

What?

Jam: 16:24

I just love that.

Melissa: 16:25

They really are. Yeah. They're my favorite thing. And so I had this idea for a long time, And I got my new adviser. I changed programs, and I'd been in the program for a semester.

Melissa: 16:34

And the summer came around, And she said, okay, Melissa. I think we've been resting on our laurels a little bit, which is fine. You're getting in the program. You're getting used to things. But it's time for you to start doing something, so you need to start making your podcast.

Melissa: 16:47

Mhmm. I've heard you talk about it forever. You need to just do it. Uh-huh. And I was like, Okay.

Melissa: 16:52

I can do it. Uh-huh. And then I went upstairs, and I was thinking to my office, and I was sitting in this very room.

Jam: 16:59

Oh, yeah.

Melissa: 17:00

And I was thinking, what would the format of that be? And I thought a good idea would be to have different people on every week and explain something about chemistry to them that I had talked to them about in real life.

Jam: 17:11

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa: 17:12

And so I texted Jam, and we still have the text from this. And I asked if he would ever wanna be a apart or on the show. I don't remember the exact word.

Jam: 17:20

Mhmm.

Melissa: 17:20

Thinking he would be a guest. And his response was like, Oh, I'm in. Do you remember what that experience was like for you?

Jam: 17:30

Yeah. I think well, I I actually think I remember think I was driving or and so I think I responded by dictating the messages using Siri or whatever. I was being very safe. I was not, trying to use my hands at all. But I think, in my excitement you said something about being on there, but I also Thought you were asking about how how to podcast?

Jam: 17:55

Like, a lot of the techy stuff behind it. That's in my memory. I don't remember if you Then did ask about that afterward or something. But I remember thinking mostly about you wanting to know how to podcast.

Melissa: 18:10

Yes. Well, I didn't know how to podcast. I had very rudimentary recording and editing skills that I thought could maybe get me through, but let's Just all agree that you're thankful that Jam is doing it, not me.

Jam: 18:23

I'm also thankful that I'm doing it. I like doing it. So I I that's what I remember is thinking like, oh, yeah. I know how to do this, and, like, I'd love to help. That sounds so fun.

Jam: 18:33

I loved And so I was thinking like, oh my gosh. Yes. I'd love to help. It's way fun, and it'll be nice to start, like, helping with this new podcast and prevent some kind of headaches, because I already have a little bit of knowledge about it. So that was kind of what got me excited about it.

Melissa: 19:02

And then I think we met in person later that day for some church related thing. And I said, would you wanna be a Co host instead of just a guest? And he said, do would do you let me? Would you want me to be? And then It all went from there.

Jam: 19:20

Yeah. That's so weird. It's kinda fuzzy for to me, honestly. I think I remember the texts better than the real life interaction because You have those on record?

Melissa: 19:28

I do. I took screenshots of our texts because I'm kind of a mushy person, and I felt like that was a monumental point in my life. So I have screenshots of those, and we will actually put them up so that you guys can look through our real life text messages. Yeah. So exciting.

Jam: 19:47

Is there anything on there that we should should read them or, like, That helps give better accuracy to the star?

Melissa: 19:54

No. That's exactly I said, listen. I have an idea. It's and I don't think it'd be fun to read on the podcast, But I said this, and he said we talked about coffee, about a episode on coffee, which enough, we still haven't been able to do.

Jam: 20:09

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa: 20:10

Yeah. And he said yes in all capital letters, which is, you know, Clear. So Jam talked to me about some coffee stuff. It wouldn't be fun to read these, but I asked Jam about some chemistry free life coffee Before chemistry for your life was even a thing, and he's offered so much stuff. But I forgot.

Melissa: 20:30

I lived at your house for a week while we started this. I was Crashing with you and Emily.

Jam: 20:35

Yeah. You're between places that your one lease was over and the other ones hadn't started yet.

Melissa: 20:39

Well, this will be fun. You guys can creep on our text messages and see And then see what what the beginning of chemistry for your life was like. Mhmm. So that's how this whole thing got started.

Jam: 20:51

Yeah. It's already kinda fun to look back at that. I think as we get more and more distance from the current to when we started it, it'll be kind of fun to revisit that. So good question, Steven.

Melissa: 21:01

That is a good question. Thanks, Steven. Well, I think that's all we have for you guys today in terms of questions, but we love these. We love answering the sciency ones. We love answering the nonsciency ones.

Melissa: 21:12

We love the questions that we turn into episodes later on. So please, please, please keep sending us messages. We'll keep posting on gram Mhmm. When it's that time. Yeah.

Melissa: 21:21

And I'd also like to thank our listeners who donated through. So Jam and I don't make Any money from this podcast, it actually still costs us to keep up with the hosting fees and everything for the show. Mhmm. So Those of you who have gone and helped by donating the cost of a cup of coffee to our that means so much to us. Yeah.

Melissa: 21:41

And this week, we'd like to thank Whitney s, who donated and left a super nice message about how she's a scientist. She was entering data

Jam: 21:49

Mhmm.

Melissa: 21:49

And listens to us while she enters her data. Whitney and I worked at the same lab. I did an internship 1 summer at a c lab, and so Yeah. That was a really fun thing to hear that she Liz was listening to us while she was putting in her data. Yeah.

Melissa: 22:02

And it means so much to us to be able to continue to do this and maybe even think about expanding the show and what it looks like To

Jam: 22:10

Mhmm.

Melissa: 22:11

Keep growing and and changing.

Jam: 22:13

So Yeah. Yeah. So thank you, Whitney. And thanks to all you in the past who have also donated at the cost of several cups of coffee. So we really, really appreciate it.

Jam: 22:20

It helps keep the show going. So thanks.

Melissa: 22:23

This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Collini and Jim Robinson. We'd like to give a special thanks to Robinson who reviewed this episode.