How does soap get things clean?
Hey, everyone. Welcome to the 1st episode of Chemistry For Your Life. I'm so excited. I'm Melissa. I am a Master's of chemistry, and I am currently still in school for trying to get my PhD in chemistry, which I question every day.
Melissa:You should probably cut that out. I'm trying to get my PhD in chemistry, and I absolutely love chemistry. And all I want to do with my life is to share that with people and make it accessible to people. And that's part of what this podcast is.
Jam:And I am Jam, and I do not know anything about chemistry. I like science, but more of what I bring to this podcast is Questions? Okay. I wanna understand. And also podcast experience because I have another podcast called Podcast For Your Life, that
Melissa:Shameless plug.
Jam:Shameless plug. But within the within that 4 year life family, this is a much more Educational, much more, learning podcast, whereas the other one is not at all that way. So, I'm excited to get to learn about Chemistry with you guys as listeners.
Melissa:Woo. Yeah. Chemistry. Okay. So the overall objective of this podcast is just to talk about the Chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:There's chemistry all around us, and I found that there are a lot of people in my life who think chemistry is scary or boring or doesn't apply to them or they can't understand it. And what I found is just that that's not true. There is chemistry everywhere. It's easy to understand if you have the right teacher or worth it to take the time to understand. And it's not scary.
Melissa:It's really cool, but I think you need someone to sort of help you see that. I had a really good high school teacher that did that for me that started opening that door. So
Jam:I guess I'm predisposed to like Science and want to want to like it, so maybe I'm not representing every listener. So I'm biased a little bit already, but I I do wanna understand it. So I'm not coming with, like, a assuming it already makes sense, that kind of thing. So
Melissa:Yeah. Okay. So today, we're gonna talk about how soap works, and this one is one that I love to tell people when I see soap bubbles flying around. I'm doing dishes, and my roommates are nearby. But before we start about that, I do wanna say something.
Melissa:So, technically, I'm, quote, an expert Uh-huh. Of chemistry. I have a master's degree in it. That makes me qualified to talk about it to some extent. I'm working towards a PhD in it.
Melissa:But I think what I thought before I was an expert And what not lots of non chemistry experts think is that chemistry experts know everything about chemistry. Mhmm. But it's not true at all. Yeah. So there are gonna be a lot of times I have to say, I don't know or I think or my best guess is this.
Melissa:And I just want everyone to know that an expert doesn't mean I know everything. It almost means that I know more of how much I don't know. Right. Yeah. But it does not mean that I know everything.
Melissa:So they're I'm not gonna be the, I won't know all the things. Yeah. Not the guru.
Jam:Yeah. That makes sense.
Melissa:Great. Okay. So how soap works. Okay. So I'm when I am talking about soap specifically, I'm not talking about antibacterial or any of that right now because I don't Okay.
Melissa:I'm not a biologist of any sort. But I I'm talking about, like, dish soap, grease soap, soap that gets your oily pan clean or whatever. Mhmm. So before we talk about soap, though, we have to talk about bonds. And before we talk about bonds, we have to talk about atoms.
Jam:Okay. How much
Melissa:do you know about atoms?
Jam:Okay. Here's what I know. So atoms are, like, the smallest, Like it's not small because they're made up of other particles. But, basically, the idea seems to me that, like, everything is made up of atoms that are Somehow stuck together
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:In some way. So, like, the table that all our stuff is on, it's, like, all pretty similar a lot of pretty similar items. Maybe, like, Makeup of different things because this is a plastic table, so maybe it's got a lot of stuff going on in there. But Mhmm. Essentially, they're stuck together, and they also are forming a solid, which allows us to put stuff on top of them.
Jam:And there's protons, neutrons, and electrons
Melissa:Yeah. In
Jam:an atom. And electrons are revolving around sort of
Melissa:something like that? Revolving around. So everything you said was true. That's a really good understanding of atoms. But the revolving around model that you've seen, it's like the thing at the center and then, like, the orbits around it, like what you see on Big Bang or They put it on, like, makeup bags and stuff.
Melissa:That's not a really good representation of an atom, actually. So it does have a positive center. It's got neutrons and, protons at the center.
Jam:And those are like I remember seeing that diagram where they're like, They've made, 1 of them 1 color, 1 of them the other. So they're kinda like a ball, then they're stuck together.
Melissa:Yeah. Okay. So they're those are at the center. Okay. Like, pretty close together, stuck in together, like, make a fist there.
Melissa:That's the center.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Then all around the center. So imagine you have, like, got your center, and then there's Cloud around it of electrons, basically.
Jam:I have heard that since since being in, like, school, like, grade school or
Melissa:whatever Yes.
Jam:That It's more like a cloud than it is like okay. Yeah. I I I think I had heard that, but when I was taught it as, like, a layman, it was It was orbiting or whatever.
Melissa:Yeah. So they don't have a specific orbit, but they do sort of hang out around the positive center, and electrons are negative.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it's like you've got a negative cloud Mhmm. Floating. It's got some specific shapes that it tends to take. That doesn't really matter for this conversation, but you've got an A negative cloud of electrons sort of surrounding a positive center. Okay.
Melissa:Okay. So that's an atom. Okay. So we need to talk about bonds. To talk about that, we've gotta talk about atoms.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So each atom has its own unique ability to pull the electrons Closer to it.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That's called electronegativity. So its ability to pull the electrons to it varies From atom to atom. Okay. Okay. So 2 atoms Uh-huh.
Melissa:That share electrons is a bond.
Jam:Okay. So those meaning, like, those atoms get, like, kinda stuck together?
Melissa:Mhmm. Okay. So and I think of it almost as they're holding hands. And so there's an ideal number of electrons that each atom wants to have around it.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So carbon wants 8. Right?
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So if it doesn't quite have 8, it can bond with other things to add up to 8
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Of its electrons. That part doesn't really matter a ton for this. It's more that just, you know, that they share electrons as bond.
Jam:Cool. I was gonna say, like, I have a lot of Not confident about my understanding of that. But as long as I know that they they want to share electrons that they don't have the number that they want. Right. That's why they sit together?
Melissa:Mhmm. They stick together because, basically, they want to have an ideal number of electrons in their outer
Jam:shell.
Melissa:So they get their ideal number of electrons by Sharing electrons between each other, and that's what holds them nearby one another.
Jam:And sharing is carrying. So we know that that's true even at the atomic level.
Melissa:Yes. Okay. Sharing is caring. And there are different types of bonds. The kind I'm describing to you is a covalent bond.
Melissa:It doesn't really matter what Other bonds there are for the purpose of our conversation today.
Jam:Okay. Sweet.
Melissa:But this type of bond is what we're looking at today. Okay. So the electrons are shared between 2 atoms. Yeah. And if those 2 atoms have the same amount of electronegativity, So the same ability to pull electrons towards it.
Melissa:Mhmm. If they have the same ability to pull electrons towards it, Then those electrons will be perfectly evenly shared between the 2. Mhmm. It's a totally neutral bond with 2 positive centers and a uniform electron density around it. Okay.
Melissa:So a good example of that is nitrogen. Nitrogen is usually actually in the Earth's atmosphere as in 2. Okay. 2 nitrogens bonded together. They have the same electronegativity because they're the same type of atom, and so it's just all equally shared between the 2.
Melissa:Okay. K. So in the tug of war of pulling for the electrons, they have the exact equal amount of strength. Okay. Okay.
Melissa:Sometimes 2 atoms with very different electronegativities We'll try to share electrons.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:When that happens, the one that's better at pulling the electrons towards it, the one with more electronegativity, We'll get more of the electron cloud on its side
Jam:of the
Melissa:bond, leaving the other side of the bond More positive exposed and not covered by negatives.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:You look like you have questions.
Jam:Well, I sorta do. I think I'm not getting it Quite yet. But so it sounds like it's out of balance in some way?
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Okay. Is that the main thing I should take away from that?
Melissa:Yes. So there's The perfectly neutral evenly shared bonds that are totally in balance.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And then there's bonds that aren't that way where part of the bond is Has a higher concentration of electrons and is therefore slightly more negative.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And the other part of the bond has an absence of electrons making it more positive.
Jam:Does that make it to where they have less strong of a connection anyway? Like, the other ones that were, like, equal, had equal desire for electrons and, like, made a really good pair. Is this how does that affect their, like, ability to stick together, so to speak?
Melissa:Think there's stick togetherness. So that's kinda that's an interesting question. I'm not sure I can answer that off the top of my head. I might have to go soap.
Jam:I don't know.
Melissa:Look into it. It's not super relevant because we're not breaking bonds with soap. Okay. But we just need to know that there's the unequal pull of the tug of war.
Jam:Okay. Tug of war. Got it.
Melissa:So the question you're asking is more about how the bonds would break and the energy it would take to break the bonds Uh-huh. The stick togetherness. We don't really need to get into that.
Jam:Okay. Sweet.
Melissa:It's a good question.
Jam:So in soap, it's a little bit out of balance is what You're No.
Melissa:You're jumping way Jumping ahead.
Jam:I'm trying to get my my, like, my tangent back on.
Melissa:Uh-huh. Back
Jam:on the line. I have But I haven't.
Melissa:You have not successfully and you've not successfully seen where this is going. Okay. So let's go back on our road map and make sure you're tracking with me. So we know about atoms. Mhmm.
Melissa:We know that each atom has a different ability to pull the cloud of electrons towards itself.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:And then atoms will share electrons.
Jam:Yep.
Melissa:And sometimes they'll share them perfectly evenly between the 2. Uh-huh. And when they share them perfectly evenly between the 2, there's not a negative or a positive side.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That's called a nonpolar Bond.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Then the other kind of bond we're talking about where the electron density will be pulled more to one side than the other Uh-huh. That's called a polar bond.
Jam:Got it. So one is positive or one's more positive, one's more negative.
Melissa:Yes. So usually a magnet? Mhmm. Exactly like a magnet. Got it.
Melissa:That's exactly right.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So there's a partial positive we call and a partial negative. It's not as if all the electrons are on that side and it's negatively charged, but it just has More negative on one side and more positive on the other.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And the reason for the positive is basically there's an atom that's lost some electron density Got it. Around it. That positive center is almost shining through.
Jam:The protons and neutrons that are part of that atom are less Surrounded. Yeah. Okay. There's less negative to make their positive negative.
Melissa:To make their positive neutral.
Jam:Neutral.
Melissa:Yeah. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:Sweet. Okay. So those are the 2 type of bonds, polar and non polar.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:Okay. So this is where we get into everyday life of things around
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Polar bonds and nonpolar bonds, if you have a polar bond on a molecule and a nonpolar bond on a molecule, they're not gonna interact with each other.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Non polar bonds like to interact with other non polar bonds.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So they'll sort of stick together. Polar bonds like to interact with other polar bonds. They'll sort of stick together.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So have you ever seen oil float on water?
Jam:Yes. I have.
Melissa:And that shiny rainbow if you see oil in the parking lot on water? That's because the oil and the water aren't mixing. Yeah. Can you guess why?
Jam:Because one is polar and one is not?
Melissa:Yes. Okay. Sounds like yes.
Jam:Do you
Melissa:have a guess about which one's polar and which one's not polar?
Jam:I have heard that this is, like, weird because I I think a lot of them I'm reaching back into, like, Learning from you in, like, middle school and high school. And who knows how many misunderstandings are there because I didn't ask a question in class or because I just
Melissa:Misremembering. Yeah.
Jam:But for some reason, I have a memory that water is polar.
Melissa:That's exactly right.
Jam:Cool. And then oil, I guess, in this case, isn't? I mean, like
Melissa:Oil is Almost always nonpolar.
Jam:Okay. Sweet.
Melissa:Okay. And in my experience, most nonpolar things have an oily feel to them. Ideally, you don't Just stick your fingers and things in the lab. But every once in a while, maybe I got something really non polar on my fingers, and it has that oily feel to it.
Jam:Oh, that actually kinda makes sense to me now. Because, like, water like, you can, like, shake it off your hand easy. Like, It's so evident even, like, in a drop a few
Melissa:drop of oil. That it doesn't like to stick together to itself. I think it's that you have this is speculation. Okay. I think it's that you have Oils on your fingers, and the oil that you get on your hand sticks to the oils on your fingers.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:You don't usually have water as part of your skin.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:I mean
Jam:I guess we do have water. But, like, Yeah. It always seems like even just visibly, like, the the water wants to be its one one, like, droplet thing and
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Hold on to itself.
Melissa:Because there's natural oils on your skin, and the water doesn't adhere to those oils.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Okay. So that what you're coming up into is a chemistry. I don't know if it's really an theory or a law or anything, but we just say like dissolves like.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So things that have like bonds or similar bonds will dissolve each other.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. And there's other types of bonds in water besides polar bonds. There's a special type called hydrogen bond. We don't really need to talk about that Okay. For understanding soap.
Melissa:It's not important. Just knowing that there are different types of bonds and that similar bonds like to dissolve other similar bonds.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So water and oil don't mix
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:Because of that. So here's the thing though. If water and oil don't mix and you have a dirty pan and you're trying to clean it, it seems like the only other option is to get more oil on it to make it go away. But then there's still oil on your pan.
Jam:Right. Yeah. That's weird. I've never really thought about it. I just know that water on its own doesn't really do anything.
Jam:It just, like Mhmm. Skates right over it.
Melissa:Skates right over it.
Jam:So, yeah, it's pretty annoying.
Melissa:Okay. So what soap does that's so incredible to me, and it's Even more incredible that they figured this out without knowing on a molecular reason why Mhmm. I think they used soap long before they knew the Molecular reasoning behind why it works. Uh-huh. But soap is a molecule that has one really long nonpolar chain.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:So almost like an oily type chain.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:And at the very end of that chain is a special group of atoms. Okay. It's called the functional group.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And that group is very polar.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So soap is made up of a nonpolar portion attached to a polar portion.
Jam:Oh, that is weird. It is weird. Don't people make soap out of, like, fat and stuff?
Melissa:Fat and Also, sodium hydroxide or lye or base, which causes the chemical reaction that makes that function group.
Jam:So it's not just like this natural occurring thing. No. It has to have been mixed with something. Because, like, makes sense to me that there's an oil that the oil likeness. So I've got used some sort of oil, the oil off.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And I've heard that it's made from fat, but then I'm like, yeah. I can't just take some animal fat. Just, like, Scrub it all over my pan.
Melissa:No. Yeah. That sounds pretty gross. Do that. I think that's the theory behind cast iron pans.
Melissa:But
Jam:Oh, okay.
Melissa:But yeah. So you'd it's Animal fat mixed with sodium hydroxide
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:That has, usually in heat and the chemical reaction takes away. So we have students actually Make soap in labs. Uh-huh. Almost every semester. I'm trying to think.
Melissa:I've taught a lot of different ones. We definitely did it in Jen Kim for non majors because it's just really cool for them to see soap. Yeah. And literally, what they did was take vegetable oil and a base. Mhmm.
Melissa:Maybe something else that I don't remember off the top of my head, and they just stirred it over heat until it became soap. And then they would take after the reaction happen. They would take some out and put it in a vial and shake it up with water, and they would see the bubbles. They literally made their own soap.
Jam:Interesting. Man, that would be fascinating.
Melissa:It's really cool.
Jam:That's crazy. So basic is, like, as simple as one thing is these these things just need to be combined. Like Yes. There's this nonpolar deal. It's already part of, like, fat and oils.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:And then if we can just get a little, like, polar thing on the end of that tail, Then we've got some soap going.
Melissa:Yes. Exactly. And in situ, when soap is actually working, pretty much what happens is You'll get a bunch of soap molecules that surround a pocket of grease, and so all of the little nonpolar tails surround it, surround it, surround it. All the Non polar tails are touching the oily part leaving basically a sphere of the part that likes water all sticking out.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So it Totally covers your your grease or your oil or your fat Uh-huh. With the non polar part leaving the polar part sticking out and ready for the water to just come and wash it away.
Jam:Interesting. I've noticed sometimes, like, this is kind of like I just do this for fun. So if I have a pan that's got some grease on it
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Like a little bit of water, and then you'll see that the greashers that kinda floats on top sometimes or whatever.
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:So I'll I'll put a drop of soap, just 1 drop in into that. And then, like, something immediately happens. Like, it's like a visual, like
Melissa:Yeah. And it
Jam:looks like like in movies when there's, like, Some nuclear explosion that happens. It looks like that bomb is very tiny way less significant scale, but it is still cool to watch. It's like the rainbow in this Kinda like just goes away. Yeah. And I've loved doing that for years years.
Jam:Not knowing why, but it's just, like, A little bit. It makes dish doing dishes, like, a little more fun.
Melissa:Yeah. And now you'll never be able to do that thing without thinking about how soap works on a molecular level.
Jam:Gosh. That is crazy. So is that is that all the way down? Did we get all the way down to the
Melissa:We got all the way down. So you learned about atoms, which make bonds, and those different types of bonds, the different types of atoms can make
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:Cause polarity and nonpolarity. And the way to bring polar things and nonpolar things together is to have something that's a little bit of both.
Jam:Man, that's crazy. Okay. So what if we try this? What if we see, if I understand it, by me doing, like, the layman's version that summarizes All that Okay. And see if I get it or not.
Melissa:I would love that.
Jam:Because, like, if I misunderstood something, we could correct it.
Melissa:So now you teach me about how soap works.
Jam:Yes. Yes. Which I've also heard that's, like, a thing that is, like, one of the theories in teaching is, like Mhmm. Teach a thing and then have people try to repeat it back in their own way or whatever. So Yeah.
Jam:Commits them into memory. So there are atoms. Atoms, like, sit together, because of a lot of different reasons. But sometimes
Melissa:A lot of different reasons. Mostly just wanting the right number of electrons.
Jam:Okay. It's wanting the right number of electrons. Sometimes they have the, pleasure of That being a very mutual friendship with other atoms.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Other times, it's a little bit not that way. Like, when you have a friend who borrows more things than they let you borrow.
Melissa:Yes. Exactly like
Jam:friends. Mhmm. But you you one of you is giving up more than the other most times. Mhmm. But totally fine.
Jam:So when it happens, there's polarity kinda like a magnet because Mhmm. One thing is giving up more electrons than the other. Mhmm. And so it just means it was just like a imbalance. Right.
Jam:But it's not like, man, that is, like, this incredibly strong, like, totally opposite. It's just that Right. Gets different Negativity or whatever.
Melissa:Mhmm. Just sort of like a spectrum. There can be slight differences or significant differences. So
Jam:Things that are polar, like water Mhmm. Have stick together well Mhmm. Or whatever. Mhmm. And then things that are nonpolar
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Don't stick together well, or they don't have as much like
Melissa:Okay. You're close. Can I should I interrupt right now, or should I let you keep talking?
Jam:Maybe let me keep talking and then see if I
Melissa:Get the rest of it. Okay. Okay.
Jam:So things that are nonpolar oh, dang it. This is harder than
Melissa:I expected. It's explaining atoms to be able to explain soap.
Jam:Because, like, in the in the situation of of soap, you've got some grease on a thing. That grease is nonpolar.
Melissa:Mhmm. And
Jam:you're putting water on it, and the water is polar.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And so it's not doing anything because they don't really interact well. Like, they can't just affect each other on their own Mhmm. Because they're just They're different.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:So they that's why we see them separate. Mhmm. It's not that they're like, hate each other. It's just that they don't have a way at the moment of interacting.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Something like that?
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Okay. And so soap is this magical thing Mhmm. That scientists figured out. Like to say the same scientists. It makes it sound like people in a room that are always, like, working on this stuff.
Melissa:That's what scientists are. That's all we do. We only wear lab Good. And stay in the lab.
Jam:Yeah. Right. Because I somebody's gotta figure this stuff out. Right.
Melissa:They don't get to have lives.
Jam:So some, some person somewhere sometime figured out They took some version of a non polar Mhmm. Like oil or grease from a animal or whatever and mixed it with something that is Polar, specifically, that would work with it. Like like, in this case, you said sodium chloride?
Melissa:Hydroxide. Hydroxide? Mhmm.
Jam:Very different. Sodium hydroxide.
Melissa:You don't know it. All of those are different. Yeah.
Jam:No. Oh, sodium chloride salt, isn't it?
Melissa:Yes. It is.
Jam:That's probably why it came up.
Melissa:There's a great reference to that in The West Wing where she's really excited when she figures out that sodium chloride is table salt. That's sort of a tangent.
Jam:So the if if you can have something like sodium hydroxide that mixes with the oil. It it can allow the crazy weirdness of that of a non polar chain that has a polar piece on it.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:So, like, at that very basic, like, if you could look at it in a microscope, it'd probably look funky. Right?
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Like, especially if you compare it to the polar Molecules of water Yeah. And oil.
Melissa:It basically looks like a long chain of something sort of like spaghetti with, Attached to a really, really different group of atoms. So it's a bunch of carbons and hydrogens, and at the very end, it's attached to, like, oxygens. Where where did that come from in a pretty unique arrangement? But it does look pretty funky if you're not used to seeing that kind of thing.
Jam:And so that is the key because Mhmm. It can actually allow the water and the oil to Interact at that point?
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Because it has both things in it.
Melissa:That is a pretty good understanding. I feel like if there are scientists listening right now and they hate me because I'm personifying or allowing the personification of atoms Uh-huh. That's their problem. Scientists really hate that, but I liked what you said about I don't hate that. I use that a lot.
Melissa:I liked what you said about how they're Friends, and there's an unequal friendship. They're still friends. They're still bonded, but it's sometimes not all friendships are the same. Not all bonds are the same. So I really liked that.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That was a great understanding of different types of bonds. Okay. So that's a good understanding of the different types of bonds. The thing that you kinda mixed up
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Was about polar and nonpolar. Okay. So an atom is one thing. A molecule is a group of atoms.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:So a group of atoms Made up of a nonpolar bond Uh-huh. Wants to interact with another group of atoms made up of a nonpolar bond.
Jam:So they just like
Melissa:Each other.
Jam:Each other.
Melissa:So it's not that oil doesn't Stick together. It said oil sticks to other oil.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Non polar things stick to other non polar things. And with polar things like water, Water likes to stick to other watery things.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Polar likes to stick to polar. So it's like dissolves like. So there's Like interacts with like.
Jam:Yeah. Just not looking for each other. They're like, oh, I'm sorry. I'm looking for more water.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:And the oil's like, no. No. Sorry. I can't I'm not looking for more oil.
Melissa:Yeah. Exactly. And then there's a Something that brings the 2 together. They don't actually interact with each other.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:But it's like all the Nonpolar tales of the soap are holding hands. So imagine a big group of nonpolar People. Uh-huh. K. So then and then there's a big group of polar people.
Melissa:Uh-huh. And there's a group of people that are half polar and half nonpolar. Okay. So there's a group of polar people.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:There's a group of nonpolar people. Mhmm. They only hold hands with others that are them.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So the one that's half and half, half polar, half nonpolar
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:It can hold hands with all the nonpolar people on its nonpolar half. So imagine a ring of nonpolar people surrounded by a ring of half and half people. Mhmm. So their Non polar half is pointing in, and their polar half is pointing out.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Then allowing them to hold hands with Polar people.
Jam:So it's almost like a converter kinda thing. We're like Mhmm. Yeah. I'm allowed to take in one type of thing on this Part in Mhmm. Another part another thing on this part, like a power conversion kinda thing to travel overseas or, like, I don't know, any Kind of converted like the things we're using to plug the computer into.
Melissa:Right. Exactly.
Jam:Okay. That makes sense. And so then suddenly, you've got this piece that allows these 2 things that didn't wanna interact before To, like, interact.
Melissa:Yes. It's like a a nice barrier that allows these 2 things to interact. So now your nonpolar bonds are totally covered with polar bonds allowing the water, which is also polar, to wash them away.
Jam:Man. Okay.
Melissa:And now your pan is clean.
Jam:That is fascinating, and it makes a lot of sense. It actually
Melissa:A lot of science does make a lot of sense.
Jam:Actually it's like, okay. Yeah. Duh. I've everybody witnessed, like, oil and water not mixing. And everybody's, like, witnessed, oh, yeah.
Jam:I've gotta have soap in this.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:It's like we know that it is Coming between and allowing this thing that we need to happen, cleaning it Mhmm. To happen.
Melissa:Yeah. And we know
Jam:it doesn't happen without it. Not just because soap smells good, But because it's like, you're not gonna get anywhere. You can put water all over that thing all day Yes. And it's not gonna, like, get it clean.
Melissa:Uh-huh. I think in my spatula, it's like, coats with oil. Uh-huh. Because I used it on butter or whatever, and then I put a little bit of dish soap, and then it gets the squeaky feel. The squeaky clean feel.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:We what's funny too is that we did, not at all with the same objective at all. We did an episode about soap, Odd Podcast For Your Life. But just kinda talking about The idea of it and some of the stuff that's, like it's obviously cultural, and there's like
Melissa:Mhmm. But
Jam:we had a lot of questions that we we couldn't answer. Like, I think at one point, one of us said something about it being just like this. I don't think we realized how manufactured it was or how much it needed to be. I was like, Man, do we do we just find soap somewhere in in the Earth and then, like, started realizing like, wow. You just throw this thing in there, and it starts getting things clean.
Jam:So I don't
Melissa:I and that's one thing I don't know. I don't know how they discovered soap. I didn't look into that at all. Mhmm. I know that people were using soap, Lie and animal fat Uh-huh.
Melissa:Long, long before I guess, I don't know for sure long, long before
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I should track back and say, I assume that people figured out that you can mix lye. What they call lye is sodium hydroxide Uh-huh. And animal fat and make soap long before Scientists figured out the intermolecular forces and everything that was going on throughout that.
Jam:It's gotta be.
Melissa:Possible.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I don't know how that happened. I also I don't know for sure if you said this. I think you might have. But when you were explaining it back to me, Sodium hydroxide reacts with this so with the nonpolar groups, like the oil and stuff to make a new thing. Did you say that?
Melissa:At first, it seemed like you thought it just, like, attached, but it doesn't.
Jam:So it reacts, and that's and Then that forms soap.
Melissa:It reacts and forms a new thing, which is soap.
Jam:Which is soap.
Melissa:Okay. Cool. The reaction is actually called saponification.
Jam:Woah. That's why it's called
Melissa:Saponification. I know I think I I actually wonder if maybe the soap came first and then saponification came after.
Jam:Got it. Okay. So here's a question.
Melissa:Maybe I should have looked into the history, but that would have made this way longer, I think.
Jam:Yeah. That would make it longer. And I think there's there's history things. This history podcast and depending on the thing, it could take so much more time. Whereas, like, really just explaining it, like, now I'm like, woah.
Jam:Every time I use soap, I'm not gonna like you said, I'm gonna be able to not think about
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:The the what the chemistry is going on in my sink.
Melissa:Every time you do the
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:You'll have to remember what I just told you.
Jam:I guess it's not weird even to say that it's, like, a little bit like an atomic bomb because there is an atomic thing What's
Melissa:going on? Yeah. It's all chemical reactions. Everything is chemical reactions. Your soap, atomic bomb Yeah.
Melissa:You're a real atomic bomb Yeah. Wants significantly more energy. Everything is atoms interacting and energy either being taken in or released. That's a broad thing to say. I'm not 100% sure I can back it up, but I'm pretty confident.
Melissa:Yeah. Hey. Wow.
Jam:That's soap. That's soap. Very cool. Anything I missed or anything else I need to understand about it?
Melissa:No. I think you got it. I think you understood what happens. I think you have a good understanding of soap. Okay.
Melissa:So we finished. That's soap. That's how soap works.
Jam:Awesome.
Melissa:You learned something new today?
Jam:Yes. A lot of things, I think.
Melissa:A lot of things. What was your favorite thing that you learned? Or what did you like most? What's mo what's most satisfying about this experience?
Jam:I think the the way that you then explained it, like, What if you have people who are half polar, half non polar, and they're holding hands, it kinda made me like, I like I'm very Techie. It's the idea of a converter then came to mind. And so I think that unlocked it for me a little bit more strongly. Yeah. And so that was that stood out to me.
Jam:It's like, oh, yeah. Like, there's a little bit of like
Melissa:that Mhmm.
Jam:Kind of a moment of like, okay. Yeah. That makes sense.
Melissa:Yeah. And that's the key. So that's the thing I hope people can take away is it's great for you to learn about bonds and everything. But if you don't understand why they impact what you're working with Mhmm. Then You still don't really know Yeah.
Melissa:How the everyday application is. So I really hope that helped other people to unlock it too.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks everyone for joining us for the very first episode of chemistry for your life.
Melissa:Yeah. We've got a lot of ideas for other episodes that we wanna do other chemistry in everyday life that we wanna talk about, but we also wanna hear from you. So if you guys have any ideas about Things that you wanna hear about the chemistry of explained in your everyday life, please reach out to us. We are on Twitter and Instagram atchem for your life. So that's Kim, f o r, your life.
Melissa:And we're also on Gmail at Kim for your life at Gmail dot com. We don't have a Facebook right now This Jam and I both are not on Facebook, but we're working on that.
Jam:Very soon.
Melissa:Very soon. So we'd love to hear from you. Please reach out and let us know what you think.
Jam:Awesome. Thanks, guys.
Melissa:Thanks. This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Killaney and Jam Robinson. J. M. Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to Autumn Kiewissong who reviewed this episode.
