What are LEDs and how do they light up?
Hey. I'm Melissa.
Jam:I'm Jam.
Melissa:And I'm a chemist.
Jam:And I'm not.
Melissa:And welcome to chemistry for your life.
Jam:The podcast is up to understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Okay, Jim. Happy Christmas Eve.
Jam:Yep. It's Christmas Eve, but don't worry, guys. We are not spending our Christmas Eve actually Recording. We're taking some time to hang with families and time off, and we record this early.
Melissa:That's exactly right. So we're actually recording this on December 2nd.
Jam:But I am feeling in the Christmas spirit for sure.
Melissa:I am feeling in the Christmas spirit too, and so is this episode.
Jam:Oh, really? Nice.
Melissa:This episode is in the Christmas spirit because we decorated for Christmas right after Thanksgiving and it got me in the Christmas spirit, and I'm very excited. So Nice. This episode is in the Christmas spirit, but it applies to you no matter what holiday you celebrate or even if you just like twinkly lights. It's gonna be up your alley.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:Before we get started, I wanna preface it by saying that this might be a longer episode and maybe a little bit of a harder lesson than normal. But because it's a holiday and a lot of people have a break from work and a lot of people are just hanging out, chilling, going on long drives, I figured this be a good opportunity to dig into something a little bit more challenging.
Jam:And maybe if you're not and you're, like, even busier or you're already with family and doing stuff or whatever for the holidays, then you can park longer episode for a time another time, maybe.
Melissa:Yeah. We'll just give you that warning straight up ahead. This is not a 20 minute episode. Okay. So this past weekend, we Decorated for Christmas.
Melissa:We went to a Christmas tree farm for the first time ever. It was really exciting.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:And when we were putting the tree the lights on the tree, I said, shouldn't you check and make sure that those lights are still good before you put them all on the thing so we can change the bulbs or whatever? And my roommate said, These are LED lights. They never go out, which isn't exactly true
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:But did make me immediately start to wonder, what are LEDs?
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And I knew that LEDs were chemistry because I know some people doing research on organic LEDs. Those are called OLEDs or OLEDs sometimes. Mhmm. Mhmm. I knew that they were chemistry, but I didn't really know much beyond that.
Melissa:So that's what we're gonna talk about today. What the heck are LEDs?
Jam:Nice. Very cool. Interesting. I'm ready. I like this already.
Melissa:You you do? I figured you would because you like technology and techy stuff.
Jam:Mhmm. Yeah. My phone's screen is OLED, I believe.
Melissa:Oh, really? Organic? Mhmm. Oh, that's exciting. I love science and organic, especially.
Jam:Yeah. I think, like, Maybe 1 or 2 phones ago, they started making them OLEDs. So probably whatever phone you get next, we it will already be that.
Melissa:Oh, wow. That's really cool. Yeah. Well, do you know what LED stands for? If o stands for organic, do you know the LEDs?
Jam:I do because I'm a nerd. It is, I believe, light emitting diode.
Melissa:That is exactly right. It is a light emitting diode. Okay. So
Jam:Which begs the question, what the heck is a diode?
Melissa:Oh, we're gonna talk about that jam.
Jam:Okay. Cool. I was like, I know what light is. I know what emitting is, But diode.
Melissa:Well, first, let's talk about light because I know you know what light is, but let's just do a quick review.
Jam:Okay. Sounds good.
Melissa:So we've talked about when we talked about glow sticks, when we talked about green fire, we talked about how electrons will be absorb energy and they become excited, and then they release that energy and fall back down to a lower energy level. And sometimes when that happens, they emit light. They always are emitting energy, but sometimes they emit light. Mhmm. So it's just a visible form of energy.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So that's the basis of what an LED is. It's something absorbing energy and then releasing the energy.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:K. But let's dig into how they do it. So these are semiconductors, and a semiconductor is exactly what it sounds like. Things that let Energy and heat and electrons flow through them more easily is what's known as a conductor.
Jam:Okay. Got it.
Melissa:It conducts things easily through the that substance.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Something that's an insulator is something that doesn't easily let electrons flow through it. That's an insulator.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Semiconductors Sometimes conduct and sometimes insulate.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:They're exactly what they sound like. They have some conductance, but not everything. Semiconducting.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Now I'm gonna go 1 step deeper into things that conduct and things that don't.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Things that conduct, the reason the electrons can move through them and bring with them energy as they move through is because the electrons are hanging out at an energy level that's very close to another empty energy level. So imagine in your mind if you're trying to climb a tree and there's a perfect climbing tree, And you can very easily just get higher and higher and higher and come back down. All the branches are easily accessible to you for your height. They're just perfect.
Jam:Okay. Gotcha. I see what you're saying. Yes.
Melissa:That's the way a conductor's electrons are able to move. They have energy levels that are very close to each other so they can hop the electrons can easily hop up and down, and it's not that big of a deal.
Jam:Okay. I see what you're saying. Got it. Got it.
Melissa:Now insulators don't have that. Imagine a tree where the branches are really, really high, and no matter what you do, you cannot get up there.
Jam:Right. Yeah. Definitely one of my neighbors has a tree like that. It's a big old pine tree, and there's not a branch in sight unreachable. Yep.
Jam:Like, reach for a while. Like, you'd not even the tallest basketball player could could reach. It just there's not a branch for, like, 20 feet
Melissa:That's like that. Exactly right. So that would be a good picture in your mind of an insulator.
Jam:Okay. K.
Melissa:Now semiconductors would be Something that has an empty level nearby ish. So you would need a really good jump, The right amount of energy to be able to get there or maybe some assistance.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So some things are naturally semiconducting. So they have energy levels naturally that are nearby. When they're really cold, the electrons don't have enough energy to hop up there. When they're really warm, the left ones have enough energy to make the leap, but it's, like, barely. You have to sometimes you're able to jump that high, And sometimes you're tired or whatever.
Melissa:You just can't quite reach that branch.
Jam:Got it. Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:So that's Naturally occurring semiconductors that just have that property.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Sometimes they need a little assistance. It's almost as if you're gonna build an additional branch that makes it easier to get up there.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:The way you build an extra branch is by mixing in with your substance Another substance that has lower hanging energy levels.
Jam:Got it. So you've got the semiconductor substance of some kind, And you add in a different substance mixed in there.
Melissa:Yes. And I think that can work with things that aren't naturally semiconducting. You can create a semiconducting property by putting some, really, impurities into the substance.
Jam:Okay. Interesting.
Melissa:So you've got your conductors that just conduct, and Electricity or heat can just flow right through them.
Jam:Mhmm. You've
Melissa:got your insulators where that's not gonna happen, the super tall pine tree. And then you have your semiconductors, which either by adding something to it or by its natural property, Can't quite reach those energy levels unless there's enough energy in put into the system to let them jump up to there. Mhmm. So sometimes conducting. Sometimes conducting, semiconducting.
Melissa:So those k. Impurities that we put in to make it sometimes conducting to create the semiconductors, That's known as doping.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:And you can dope in 2 ways. You can add Extra electrons that have more ability to move around, or You can take away electrons. So the adding more electrons is known as in doping because it makes it more negative because electrons are negative.
Jam:Right. Okay.
Melissa:Taking electrons away is known as p doping because electrons are negative. Taking them away makes things positive.
Jam:Okay. Got
Melissa:it. So that's a pretty simple description, but I think that's the best way to keep in your mind is n doping makes something more negative, and p doping makes it more positive.
Jam:K.
Melissa:So there's extra electrons in n doping, And there's holes. There's empty spaces in p doping, and those empty spaces are positive.
Jam:Okay. Okay. This might be, like, a really dumb question or it might be answered here a little bit. But is there a reason that we would want semiconductors instead of just getting conductors in the 1st place that have all the branches we want?
Melissa:Yes. And it's because you can more easily control the energy that flows through it, I think, would be my answer.
Jam:Got it. Okay. Cool. So we like it being we like being in control of what how many branches are to climb kinda thing instead of it just being, like, Super easy.
Melissa:I think so. And I think we'll talk about some of the benefits of LEDs over Traditional light bulbs here at the end. But I think because of some of the things that we benefit from with LEDs, that translates over to a lot of different electronics, and that shows the desirability of LEDs.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So we'll kinda talk about that later.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So now let's talk about your first question, And that is what is a diode. Okay. If you put an n doped Semiconductor next to a p doped semiconductor. There's 2 things, di, that's a diode. Okay.
Melissa:The ODE comes from, like, anode cathode. It's, I think Mhmm. A point of Trical conduction, I'm not sure what the definition of those things are,
Jam:but
Melissa:I think because there's 2 points where it can flow, that's why it's a diode.
Jam:Gotcha. Gotcha.
Melissa:That's but the dye definitely comes from the fact that we have P type and n type semiconductor together.
Jam:Oh, that's why I I think I'm getting now why you picked this one for Christmas time, like, the holiday time.
Melissa:Oh, yeah.
Jam:What's that? Well, because diodes in, like, the time of year where we'll sing to songs like Ode to Joy. So Oh,
Melissa:Oh, no. Oh, dear.
Jam:So you got 2 odes to joy, basically, this time of year.
Melissa:I picked it For the true meaning of Christmas and all holidays everywhere, and that's sparkly lights outside. Okay. So That's a diode. Now that we're done with our jokes, walk down joke, Ally. Little bit of holiday fun.
Melissa:Diodes Our 2 semiconductors next to each other. And now Yes. In your mind, I want you to imagine a waterfall without the water just for a second.
Jam:Okay. So it's just a dry
Melissa:Kinda like a dry cliff.
Jam:Cliff. Mhmm. Cliff. Okay.
Melissa:Got it. A space for the water to go down in there.
Jam:Okay. Got it.
Melissa:So you have a higher level and a lower level. Right?
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:Now the higher level would be your in doped. And your lower level is gonna be your p doped. The higher level has extra electrons, And the lower level has spaces where electrons can go, positive spaces.
Jam:Okay. Okay. Got it.
Melissa:Okay. And it's dry. So there's nothing really happening, nothing really moving. It's just dry.
Jam:Got it. Okay.
Melissa:If you poured a huge amount of water in that dry waterfall bed, you would see the water go from the top level Down and subtle at the bottom level. Right?
Jam:Right.
Melissa:That is a perfect example of the flow of electrons in A diode.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So you have a space with the extra electrons and a space that's missing electrons.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And if there's no potential or current applied, it's reached an equilibrium, and they're just hanging out, and no electricity is flowing.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:But as soon as you apply a current or add an extra electrons, they will start to move And they will fall down over the gap just like a waterfall and fall into those holes of that positive space where they need to go
Jam:Or we
Melissa:have to go.
Jam:Because there's room there, but the cliff, the in doped Already has lots of electrons.
Melissa:Yep.
Jam:And so if you're adding something in, naturally, it's gonna wanna go where there is room for it Right. Be? Okay.
Melissa:Mhmm. And as it falls, just like the waterfall falls, energy is given off. Mhmm. It's falling from a higher energy level to a lower energy level, and that makes what, Jam?
Jam:Light.
Melissa:In this case, it gives off light.
Jam:That's right. Not every time, but, yeah, in this case, gives off light.
Melissa:In this case, it gives off light. So we have, In your LEDs, there is n type and p type semiconductor that are Next to each other. And when the potential, the current is applied Mhmm. The electrons will fall into the holes on the p type. It's not exactly a falling, but I think that's a good way to imagine it.
Melissa:It goes from the higher levels to the lower levels. It fills in those positive charges Uh-huh. And that emits light. And that is what's happening when you see your LEDs.
Jam:Interesting. Mhmm. So it's really that that's happening over and over because we're seeing a light that's kind of continuous. Just like once.
Melissa:Okay.
Jam:Kinda like just pouring 1 cup of water, maybe. It settles.
Melissa:It's like a waterfall because it keeps happening.
Jam:Yeah. So it keeps happening. That keeps being new stuff pumped in.
Melissa:Yes. Cool. And I believe there's new stuff pumped out also. They talk about applying a negative potential and a positive potential
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:On the other side. So More things are flowing in, and there's a space for things to flow out too.
Jam:Got it. Got it. Okay.
Melissa:I I'm not very good at electronics, So this is all straight from my inorganic chemistry textbook. So if I have a misconception there, I would love to learn about it and make a correction. You know? I love mistakes and Correcting them. So
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:So they allow for the electrons to flow out of the one end just like a river. The electrons are leaving, And then they flow in from the other side. The water's coming in and going down the waterfall. But when there's no potential being applied, when there's no flowing through. They reach an equilibrium almost like a dry or maybe a frozen
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Waterfall.
Jam:Got it. So this would be yeah. So, like, electricity, We're used to that flowing to things that we use all the time. So what's unique about this is the way they've set up that Those 2 different things that will have the electricity flow between them, the In doped in the p doped clip. That was different between this and, like, a standard light bulb, I guess.
Melissa:Yeah. So a standard light bulb and I actually just learned this, but it basically is a filament that Mhmm. Heats up. And when it gets really hot, it goes off light, and that's all that it does.
Jam:That's what you said. Regular old conductor.
Melissa:I think it's just a regular old conductor. I didn't look a ton into how regular light bulbs work, but I think it's A thin piece of metal that just heats up, and as it gets really hot, it starts to glow.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:I Think. I haven't confirmed with any scientific sources, but that it's tungsten as the filament. Mhmm. And that filament, If it's tungsten, that should be a good conductor of electricity, and that that will let the electricity flow through it, and it will heat up And give off light as it heats up more and more. That is what I think.
Melissa:Although, I did not look into that. Maybe we could do another episode on regular old light bulbs. Yeah.
Jam:Got it. Got it. Okay. Cool. So, yeah, that makes sense to me.
Jam:Just the the slight distinction of just the fact that that would be Just electricity flowing through a thing, and this one has a waterfall.
Melissa:Yeah. I think that's a good way to think about it. It's Okay. It's just a different, more efficient way of moving those electrons
Jam:around. Okay. Got it.
Melissa:Do you wanna take a stab now that you've got that question answered? Do you wanna take a stab at explaining it back?
Jam:I would love to. I feel like There's almost no way for me to think of a better analogy, but I'm glad that you have one already because I think it would have been so hard for me to understand Without there already being an analogy built in to this lesson because it really gets in an area where it's hard to visualize stuff Because Yes. We're talking about, you know, electrons moving. And if we don't go ahead and characterize how they move and stuff, When things bite with some relatable thing, it just at least for, I think, me and probably a lot of non chemists, like, it's so Unrelatable.
Melissa:Yeah. I think it's really important to connect the weird abstract parts of chemistry to things that we know And we can visualize. So I was a little hesitant to steal an analogy from you, but I also feel like sometimes that's the easiest way to teach something is by looking at something we already know.
Jam:Totally. And, yeah, something in this abstract that I don't have really something to go ahead and connect it to. Anyway, it's so foreign. I mean, it's already so complicated too. Electronics, Even though we use them all the time, it's, yeah, it's most of us have no idea what's going on in those even though we use them all
Melissa:the time. Moment There's a moment while I was writing this episode that I thought, do I even know what electricity is?
Jam:You know,
Melissa:it can just get in your brain. You're Thinking, what is happening? I don't know, actually. Yeah. So I definitely think it's an abstract type of thought process.
Jam:Yeah. Okay. So let me give it a shot. So you get your LED of some kind. Let's go with, you know, a string of lights that We kinda started talking at the beginning.
Jam:You you plug it in to electricity, and in this super fast Fraction of a second, electricity starts flowing into this string. So I pretend that we could slow it way down and observe it.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:It's flowing through. I would guess that a lot of the wire is the same as a lot of other things that we've we use electricity wise. But
Melissa:This helps electricity flow. Probably is a good conductor, the wire, surrounded by an insulator so that you don't get electricity into your hands.
Jam:Right. Ahead on that before
Melissa:Oh, yeah.
Jam:Selling lights to all of us. And When it gets to the point, it's going on the the wire. When it gets to the point of a light, one of the LEDs that we're talking about this time, And a lot way, way, way more holiday lights are LED than they used to be, for sure. Like, pretty hard to find non LED ones, I think, these days.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Yeah. When it gets to that point, that little spot, there are 2 semiconductors present next to each other. 2 of them meaning so die, ode, and they are different. One of them has been intentionally made more negative, meaning it has more electrons.
Melissa:That's right.
Jam:The other one has been intentionally made More positive. Fewer electrons has room on purpose to take on more electrons, has space for electrons.
Melissa:That's right.
Jam:So the electricity is coming in. It's flowing in. It's coming in hot like a Russian river. Kinda like that seen Lord of the Rings where Arwen says that spell, and the river gets, like
Melissa:Oh, yeah.
Jam:Starts flowing like crazy. You know?
Melissa:Yes. Definitely.
Jam:So it's coming. And as it comes in, it's going to flow from Higher like a waterfall, but really, in this case, not actually higher. It's more electrons are gonna flow down to where there are fewer electrons, where there's room for electrons to go?
Melissa:That's right. And it is higher energy levels
Jam:Right.
Melissa:That those excess electrons are hanging out in because the lower ones are filled up, so they have extra electrons in the higher energy levels. So they are higher energy levels, but it's not a physically higher space.
Jam:Right. Right. Right. But just like yeah. Right.
Jam:Right. And in the case of the back to the water analogy, it's always gonna flat flow from high to low. Water just does that automatically, And energy wants to do the same thing. We see kind of that, I guess, happen everywhere. Things wanna flow Mhmm.
Jam:From high to low. And, whether it's physically high or just energetically what's I was supposed to say, energetically. Genetically. Well, that's not a word.
Melissa:Energetically?
Jam:Yeah. Energy high to low.
Melissa:So right.
Jam:It comes in. And then as it flows down from a higher energy level to a lower energy level, as it's Coming down, it is releasing, emitting that energy
Melissa:That's right.
Jam:In the form of Light. The energy is is a wavelength that we can see.
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:And then it keeps going To the next light. It does the same thing. So it'd be kinda like one of those super cool water fountains that are sometimes, like, Chinese restaurants and stuff when I was a kid that Take water up, and they flow down and down and down and down and out all these different waterfalls and then go back up.
Melissa:That's exactly right. And I think a a good way to think about it is then if you turn that waterfall off, it reaches an equilibrium. That's why when you unplug it Mhmm. You don't see the light happening and the electrons aren't flowing anymore because it settles out. Mhmm.
Melissa:And there's It's already the ones that can combine will, and there's not enough energy for the rest of them to move over, so they just pause. Mhmm. And then if you plug it in, the water starts flowing again. Yeah. Electricity starts flowing again.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:For me and I can see why depending on the person, like, a very science y person would would Not love maybe not love the waterfall analogy, but for me, it makes so much sense. It really, really helped me not View the string of lights is such a foreign, understandable concept that, like, really helped me.
Melissa:You can just zoom in to all your little light bulbs and see inside them a bunch of teeny tiny electricity shaped Electricity made up waterfalls. Nice. That's what's going on.
Jam:And the the brightness is interesting. I think some people, don't know a lot about this, but people say that it can be brighter or that you can just kind of control. The brightness of LEDs is better, but, yes, because you can You can make choices about the semiconductors that you pick. And and you said it's more efficient too. Why is that?
Jam:Or is it easy to explain?
Melissa:So I think the efficiency comes from it not losing all that heat that you do when you heat a tungsten light You know, they get really hot.
Jam:Woah. Yeah.
Melissa:That's a really good thought process. So the different gaps that you can do, Those, different gaps between the different levels, like the higher the waterfall or lower the waterfall, it can change The color and then so we can have different colored LEDs.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Because we've talked about different wavelengths, we'll give off Different energy levels amounts will give off different colors of light. Mhmm. And, also, the benefits Other than that of LEDs, they give off less heat. So that's less of a fire hazard, but also they're not just losing energy. Heat is losing energy.
Melissa:Read one thing that said that only 5% of traditional tungsten light bulbs, their energy is actually going to lighting the filament. Most of it has just lost his heat, I think.
Jam:Interesting. That's crazy.
Melissa:They can they can last longer. My roommate was right about that. They can last up to tens of 1,000 hours longer than a traditional light bulb.
Jam:Wow. That's crazy.
Melissa:It is crazy. And they don't give off a
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:They are less fragile
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:In terms because that filament doesn't It's not, oh, if the filament breaks, it's all over. You know? So it's less fragile. It's more shock resistant.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So all of that makes LED's better and more efficient. Lights that it's easier to keep around your home.
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm. Interesting. Dude, that's cool. I mean, I I'm I was already a fan of them based on just not known science, but just the basic things people said.
Jam:But it's way cool knowing the the reasons why And how it works.
Melissa:Right. And they say that the light quality isn't as good. I read a 2018 article that talked about them working on fixing some of the light to make it look more like the sun's light, more like natural light.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:But I also found an article from 2010 that talked about how they're much more Expensive and Mhmm. The cost of production is going down, but, you know, LEDs are the light of the future. And now here we We are in 2020, and LEDs really are the light of the future. Like, we're here in the future. Yeah.
Melissa:Our my Christmas tree is covered in LED lights. So that was really cool.
Jam:I remember 5 years ago, shooting my final project about or I it's a little more than 5 years ago, but whatever. My final project when I was in school, getting my degree. And we were trying to do a A documentary, and we were wanting we're a 2 man group. Just me and my my my man, Jay. And We picked using the LED light kit at the time.
Jam:It was so expensive, but so small, so easy to move around. And Mhmm. But way less intense light wise. It was not nearly as hot, which is a good and bad thing. We had to, like, position them way closer and stuff, but I remember thinking, like, oh, this would be so cool, and this is more common.
Jam:And that was just just Almost, you know, 6 years ago when we were doing that.
Melissa:That's crazy.
Jam:And I remember that being told very specifically that how expensive that kit was and stuff. And it just feels like I would I've not checked, but I feel like that exact kind of kit, not better really, would be probably way cheaper now. But I I felt like it was the future 1000000. When I was using it. I was like, oh, this little just a little panel.
Jam:Because for
Melissa:Well, it is the future.
Jam:Yeah. For other classes and stuff, I'd always used they're really hot. You we have to wear gloves And be really careful around lights. And it was like, I'm just holding a square of light.
Melissa:That is so cool.
Jam:It was very weird.
Melissa:Well, that's it. That is the LED lights that you're probably gonna see all over the place this holiday season. You'll see them On buildings, on Christmas trees, you'll see them everywhere. And even if you're not somewhere, there's a lot of holiday lights, you'll you probably are using them in all kinds of things already.
Jam:So Mhmm.
Melissa:Here's one more fun fact.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:I'm not gonna say how, But this same type of waterfall semiconductor technology is possibly what is powering some of your solar things like your solar calculator or if you have a solar watch or whatever.
Jam:Oh, woah. Interesting.
Melissa:That for a later episode.
Jam:Nice. That's crazy. A little teaser.
Melissa:A little teaser. Okay. So to wrap up our Christmas episode, we hope all of you are having Christmas or if you're not celebrating Christmas, if you're Festivus, if you're Hanukkah, if you're Kwanzaa, if you're whatever, that's great with us. We just hope you're having a good week and everything's going well, but I think I'm gonna talk about something really Christmassy because I love this season, and my family's always celebrating Christmas.
Jam:Nice. I'm so glad you included Festivus in that list.
Melissa:That's the holiday for the rest of us. Right?
Jam:Mhmm. It's a yeah. It's for it's a Seinfeld reference. Did you know that?
Melissa:Yes. I I didn't learn about it from Seinfeld first, but then I learned that it was from Seinfeld from you, but I still haven't seen that episode. So Nice. Nice. Nice.
Jam:Nice. Nice.
Melissa:So my I've I've talked about it a little already, but my happy thing for this week is that we did go to the Christmas tree farm, and that was really fun. I'll post Pictures of that. And then we came home, and so I went with, my boyfriend and my roommates. And my roommates are a married couple, and we didn't know that The guys got together and planned a surprise, and they got stuff to make gingerbread houses.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:It was so fun. I've never made gingerbread houses. I was supposed to in the 6th grade, and then I got the flu. And then after that, you just take finals. You don't get to do fun stuff the week before Christmas when you're in 7th grade anymore.
Melissa:So
Jam:Right. Right.
Melissa:Then there was a few other plans that fell through, and so I just never was able to make it. And so I've always wanted to, and it was very exciting and very fun. And I'll post Pictures of those too. So it was a really good Christmassy weekend, and I'm definitely in the Christmas spirit now. And I'm so excited.
Melissa:Our house is all lit up every time I come home. There's the lights on outside, and
Jam:it's just really nice. Awesome. That's very cool. Well, we we have I can only match that per se because The only thing we've done here is decorate, and I have to confess I was involved 0. I did 0 decorate.
Jam:Did Oh, no. Decoration help. One, I don't like doing it. I like the result, but I am never a person to have fun decorating something.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:This particular weekend that it was happening, my wife, Em, and our roommate one of our roommates, Miriam, Probably the ones who did all of that work. And they were doing that. And I was trying to fix a problem with my wife's car that ended up basically taking me 3 different days. Not like the whole day, but, you know, it's like, I had a chance. I'm gonna try to fix this, and it didn't work Three different days and finally fixed it later.
Jam:But all to say, I was not involved in that. But one thing that I'm looking very much forward to that I have not done yet, but by the time you guys hear this, I will almost certainly have done, is I love to make wassail.
Melissa:Yes. I love your wassail.
Jam:It's so fun. I love, I'm already, like, huge into, like, drinks. Like, I have love coffee, obviously, and I had a huge kombucha phase a couple years ago.
Melissa:Waus Yeah. Definitely.
Jam:Waussel's so fun to make. I like tweaking the recipe a little bit, looking for other recipes and see if I wanna steal something from it. I always start with The recipe I did last year and decide if I wanna add or change something with it. And so I'm very excited about making Wassail this year. Also, our town typically has a tree lighting, like, ceremony kinda thing, at the Denton Square with followed by Wausau Fest, which I'm sure is not happening in any format, the wassail part
Melissa:definitely not.
Jam:This year. And so I'm gonna be really missing getting to go do that and trial this different kind of wassail. So I'm definitely gonna be making at least 1 batch of Wassail, and my roommates and I will be drinking it. So I'm excited about doing that.
Melissa:Well, that was a good wintery drink and story. I appreciate that hearing about how you tinker with and make the best waffle recipe you can. I've had some of that waffle, and it is good.
Jam:If anyone wants the recipe, just message us. I'll gladly give it. It's nothing that I invented. I just combine stuff. So free to anybody.
Melissa:Well, that is very exciting. And in the holiday spirit, I'm gonna wrap this episode up, and I'm gonna go home and eat some chili because it's cold outside, and I love chili when it's cold. So?
Jam:Amen. And wrapping something up is a very holiday thing, like a present.
Melissa:Oh, I didn't even notice it. Oh, that was good. Well, thanks, Jim, so much for coming and for learning about LEDs and for sharing your fun wassal story. And Thanks to all of you listeners for coming and listening. You can share your fun holiday activities with us if you want to.
Melissa:We'd love to hear it. I love getting pictures and Stories from you guys on Instagram. So anything you wanna share, we'd love it. And I hope you all have a great, safe holiday season.
Jam:Yes. And thank you, Melissa, for teaching us and for giving us a very interesting topic episode that obviously applies to holidays, but is interesting Anytime of the year because LEAs are all around us everywhere. And so many of the good ideas are things that are all around us everywhere every day that either we come up with here and Melissa teaches us or that you guys send in your questions and ideas. So please don't hesitate To send us your ideas, you can reach out to us on Gmail or Twitter or Instagram or Facebook at chem for your life. That's Kim, f o r, your life to share your thoughts and ideas.
Jam:If you like to help us keep our show going and contribute to cover the cost of making it, go to kodashfi.com/chem for your life and don't at the cost of a cup of coffee. If you're not able to donate, you can still help us by subscribing on your favorite podcast app and rating and writing our review on Apple Podcasts. Also helps us be able to share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Colini and J. M. Robinson. References for this episode can be found in our show notes or on our website. Jim Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to a Hefner and Inhul who reviewed this episode.
