Why does water form droplets?
Okay, Jam. For this month's rerelease Mhmm. We are going to continue our water theme from last episode, and we're gonna ask why does water form droplets?
Jam:Oh, yeah. Okay.
Melissa:All about the intermolecular forces. This is one of our very first episodes from the first few months we're around.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And, if you're if you have already heard it and you don't wanna listen to it again, guess what? We have a nice new fun secret podcast just for supporters, subscribers on either Patreon or on Apple Podcasts.
Jam:That's right.
Jam:And that one's gonna be Totally new convo that's non chemistry, plus, and I. But this one's super cool, the water droplets one. I remember this one being, like, On the surface, pun intended, thinking like, okay. I mean, that just does. You know?
Jam:But, like Mhmm. Getting really into, like, the you know, why does it wanna form into these things of what is happening in the in the intermolecular forces of water. Yeah. It's interesting. And, I mean, we're all dealing with water every day.
Jam:In fact, most of us are glad it turned into droplets because we shower and stuff.
Jam:You know?
Melissa:It's true. So we hope you enjoy this throwback episode. And like we said, if you want more content, new content, if you've branched all of our episodes multiple times and you're like, I need more. You can listen to non chemistry episodes if you subscribe on Apple Podcasts or if you are Patreon. And, also, you can hear us eat freeze dried candy.
Melissa:Don't worry. We got cut the eating sounds out.
Jam:Yeah. We talk about it, though.
Melissa:And you can hear Jam share a little bit about his hair.
Jam:Mhmm. That's right. We'll be back next week with the new episode.
Melissa:Yay, chemistry.
Jam:Yay, chemistry.
Melissa:Bye. 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 helps you understand the chemistry of your everyday life.
Melissa:Jam, you're back in the United States.
Jam:I know. I'm back.
Melissa:I'm so happy.
Jam:I didn't pull an audible and just stay in New Zealand forever. Like, there was a pretty good chance of happening. So
Melissa:and listeners, I know that you didn't get a break in content, but Jam and I have not been together recording our podcast for a month. Yeah.
Jam:It's been a while. It's weird. We're used to doing some version of recording, either recording 1 or 2 or whatever, at least every single week. So the at the same rate basically that you guys hear it. So, It's weird to have had that much of a break.
Melissa:Yes. But it's it's very nice to be back.
Jam:Yep. Absolutely.
Melissa:So are you ready to hear about what you're gonna learn today?
Jam:Yes. I'm very ready.
Melissa:So these are Steven h's questions.
Jam:Steven who sends questions to our q and r pickle
Melissa:on? Time. Okay. Okay.
Jam:Got it. I like him.
Melissa:Yes. Steven, I think, is our most prolific question asker.
Jam:Nice.
Melissa:And Steven has a very cute, small baby who also listens to the podcast. Yeah. So, Steven, ask some questions. I'm not gonna tell you them now because they're a little bit of a spoiler, I guess.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:But I will tell you what they are at the end.
Jam:Okay. That sounds good.
Melissa:So today, we're gonna talk about why water forms droplets.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So have you ever seen water fall on something like wax paper or freshly waxed car, and it's nice and round.
Jam:Yes. It is.
Melissa:But then you've spilled water, like, maybe on the counter or on the floor, and it all spreads out?
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. Actually, yeah. Like, more puddle like in that scenario, but Mhmm. In wax or wax car or wax paper or some other surfaces, It's like always beat it up or whatever.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Do you know why that happens?
Jam:Is it something to do with, like, the polarity of water or with viscosity? Both things we've kind of talked about in the past with Different substances?
Melissa:Not viscosity, but polarity is pretty close.
Jam:Okay. Oh, sweet.
Melissa:Good job. So we're gonna talk about about that, about what those underlying things are that cause it to form droplets or not form droplets. Uh-huh. You're gonna explain it back to me, then we're gonna talk some about the implications of that. So the easiest answer for why waters forms droplets is are you ready?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:The return of intermolecular forces.
Jam:It's even in the water. Mhmm.
Melissa:I told you it's be in everything. Wow. So quick reminder for those of you listening, we talked about intermolecular forces before. We talked about intermolecular forces on both the Gecko episode and in the sticky episode. And then in the sticky episode, we also talked about how intermolecular forces are responsible for adhesion and cohesion.
Melissa:Mhmm. Mhmm. Adhesion is between 2 different molecules. Cohesion intermolecular forces between the same molecules. Mhmm.
Melissa:Now to explain how this applies to really any liquid, we're gonna focus on water today. Okay.
Jam:I'm
Melissa:gonna have you start by imagining a water drop.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So imagine it's suspended in the air. It's not touching any surface.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Maybe freeze or raindrop or something. So it's pretty much a sphere. It might be slightly oblong due to gravity and the force of falling, but it's pretty much a sphere. Right?
Jam:Mhmm. Mhmm.
Melissa:And it's made a sphere of water is made up of lots of little tiny molecules of water. Uh-huh. So you can imagine that almost as a sphere made up of a lot of tiny, smaller spheres.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That's not exactly right for the shape of of the water molecule, but it's good enough for what we're talking about today. Yeah. So can you picture that in your mind?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:Okay. So you've got a sphere made up of lots of little spheres. And remember, molecules are always vibrating and moving around. Uh-huh. And they have interaction together, intermolecular forces
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Forces between molecules. Those same 2 water molecules. The because they're the same molecules, their intermolecular forces are called cohesive forces. Uh-huh. So they have their cohesive forces between 2 molecules.
Melissa:And they are interacting with all the molecules around them equally. Okay. So those forces, those cohesive forces are applied between each molecule. Another way to think of this that might make a little bit more sense than just spheres pulling on each other is if you had a group of children all sort of tugging at each other's shirts or something.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So they're all experiencing intermolecular forces with each other or tugging with each other, these cohesive forces, because they're the same molecules. Okay.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:So for most of these molecules inside the sphere so zoom in if you can Mhmm. On a a sphere at the very middle of your drop of water.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That is experiencing the same amount of pull from all the molecules around it.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:It's surrounded by molecules. Yeah. So it's getting pulled on from each of these other molecules around it.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Your child who's at the middle of the group is getting tugged on by all the children around it. Mhmm. Mhmm. Okay. So it's getting pulled equally in all directions, so it's not sort of moving one way or the other.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:But if you go outside outside of the sphere, the layer of water molecules that makes up the very surface. Uh-huh. The layer of molecules that are touching the air and the water. Uh-huh. Those are only getting tugged on from one side.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:Does that can you picture that?
Jam:Yes. I can. So kid in the middle, getting pulled from all sides.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Kids on the outside will be kinda more like if you had a if you had kids hold the hands in a circle, something like that, where they'd be like they'd keep their place in a lot of ways because they're only being pulled In, let's just say, half the directions of the one in the middle because it's only left and right and down or whatever.
Melissa:Yes. Exactly. So if you have that where they're just getting pulled on one side, they're naturally going to sort of take a spherical shape
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Both in the molecules and in the kids. Most groups of kids stand kind of in circles.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:They're being pulled inward into a nice circular shape.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:So same is true with water molecules. When they're isolated in a drop, not interacting with anything else, they will naturally form a spherical shape. Mhmm. So you're with me on that.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:See how that happens. Yeah. You can picture that in your mind.
Jam:Yeah. That makes sense so far.
Melissa:Great. Well, that's the big reason about why water forms circular drops.
Jam:Okay. Okay.
Melissa:But there's a lot more about water than just it floating in the middle of the air and not having any other forces on it. Uh-huh. Right?
Jam:Right.
Melissa:We don't usually see water like that.
Jam:Right. Right. Right. It's moving or it's being Poured
Melissa:Yeah. And we're not gonna talk about all of that. Mhmm. But we are gonna talk about what it's like in a large body of water and then how it interacts with other things. Okay.
Melissa:So in a large body of water, this weird pull on the water side that's not on the air side
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:That creates the surface layer of water getting pulled tight, almost like a skin or like a tight rubber
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Film.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:It's pulled tight or taut. You can see that in the water droplet. It also has that skin or film that forms the sphere. Mhmm. But in larger bodies, it's across the whole body of water.
Melissa:Okay. The that concept of the skin sort of, this surface layer, is defined as something many of us have heard before but not many people can define.
Jam:Service tension?
Melissa:Service tension. Yes.
Jam:You know what that reminds me of? What? When you have a, like, a cheese dip, and the top of the cheese dip, Even if it hasn't been out on the table very long
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:We'll always get a little bit more stuck together probably because it's drying. But really, it
Melissa:When you're dunking your chip in, it doesn't Right.
Jam:You know, it it seems to be just a layer that has kind of Stuck together more.
Melissa:Yes. Which reminds
Jam:me of what you're talking about.
Melissa:Its chemistry is different on the surface.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Yeah. And that's that's a good point. I've often wondered if that's because it's getting cooler faster, if it's because it's being oxidized or if it's because it's something else.
Jam:It might have in my mind, why I thought of it wasn't because I expect it to be the same reasoning Right. But because it seems the same visually.
Melissa:This Right. It is the same visually.
Jam:They're sticking together more Mhmm. In a in a more wanting to stay together layer
Melissa:kind of way. Visual.
Jam:Yes. Not in a yeah. Sorry. That was kinda confusing.
Melissa:No. It I gotcha. I just always wondered why that happened to that top layer, like, of the queso dip. Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:So that is that is a great visual aid for that. Okay. So the scientific definition of surface tension is defined as the energy required to increase the surface area of a liquid by a specific amount. So the energy required to stretch the surface area of a liquid by a certain amount. I don't think that definition is super important to nonscientists to know.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:I don't have that just in my mind.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:But it is important to know that water has a higher surface tension than many other liquids. Uh-huh. Due to the cohesion of the water molecules, which is very strong as a result of the intermolecular forces, the hydrogen bonding that we talked about
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:In our earlier episodes.
Jam:Because it's hydrogen and oxygen.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:So they're gonna have really strong bonds. Correct?
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Good memory. Sweet. So because water has that very high surface tension, what that basically translates to is it takes more force to break the surface of water than some other liquids.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:Okay. Are you with me?
Jam:Yeah. I am.
Melissa:I actually feel that you've explained back to me already, so I don't think we need to
Jam:Oh, yeah. That's interesting. I could always do, like, a just, like, the captain to
Melissa:get into it.
Jam:Rather than a full summary or whatever.
Melissa:Yeah. So because of that high surface tension Mhmm. This explains things that you've definitely seen in your everyday life. Okay. Are you ready?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:Have you ever filled a cup of water too full, but it didn't spill out?
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:You've seen that?
Jam:Yeah. It's it's a little bit over the lip of whatever glass, but not enough to fully spill over.
Melissa:That's because of surface tension.
Jam:Okay. That's nice. That's definitely saved me a few times.
Melissa:Mhmm. From spilling all over. Also, have you seen the way those water bugs skate sort of along the surface of water.
Jam:Yes.
Melissa:They are distributing their weight on their legs in a way that doesn't apply the force strong enough to break through that top surface layer of water.
Jam:As soon as you said that, This, like, picture came to my mind that was, like, in my catacombs of my brain of my science book Talking about surface tension. It Mhmm. It
Melissa:probably wasn't going into a lot
Jam:of detail, but showing the water bug thing as an example of that. Yes. Because it's so easily visual. You can obviously see something that is taking advantage of it instead of just showing a droplet.
Melissa:Right. But I
Jam:remember them using that, and I don't who knows what grade that was?
Melissa:But I would say that
Jam:They didn't come to mind until you said it, and I was like, woah. Oh.
Melissa:Well, that is an iconic picture. Uh-huh. I think every science textbook I have ever had
Jam:For 1st ever since then?
Melissa:Every gen chem textbook I've ever looked at has that picture in it.
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:And we can put I think we could do this legally. We can put a picture of the textbook Uh-huh. On there so that you guys can see that. But that is an iconic application to real life picture that is in every Gen Chem textbook I've ever seen.
Jam:That's so funny.
Melissa:And that was one of Steven's questions. So his question was, do water beetles that float on the water have a similar intermolecular force superpower as geckos? And not quite.
Jam:Right. Because they're not creating it. Right? They're just taking advantage of it?
Melissa:They're taking advantage of it. They do distribute their weight wisely.
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:And they probably have very little intermolecular forces between their legs and the water. But Okay. They're not breaking the surface tension, and they're not bond bonding or interacting in much way with the water. Steven's other question was, is cohesion what caused surface tension? So I didn't wanna spoil spoil it.
Jam:Because he That is true. Mhmm.
Melissa:But yeah. Yes. Well And
Jam:it kinda give you the answer a little bit to some degree.
Melissa:Exactly. So I didn't wanna trick you. So surface tension and cohesion are stronger strongly related, the force of the intermolecular forces directly relates to the force of the surface tension.
Jam:Yeah. Dang, Steven. Look. That guy.
Melissa:I know he didn't even he's not even a chemistry person.
Jam:Now he is.
Melissa:He's a he's a scientist in his heart. I think he's a computer scientist, Although Yeah. I don't know for a fact.
Jam:Do you guys consider them scientists?
Melissa:I plead the 5th.
Jam:I'll steal.
Melissa:Okay. Here one other application of this that I'm gonna try to do today so that we can post a video of it is it's possible Because the surface tension of water is so strong for you to float a paperclip or a needle that's denser than water, should sink in water on top of the water due to how strong the surface tension is. Wow. I don't know how necessarily to execute that, but I want us to try today. Yeah.
Melissa:So thus far, we've talked mostly water and the way it interacts with itself and the air if there's if it's not touching much else. Uh-huh. We talked about the droplet of water. We talked about a large body of water. Mhmm.
Melissa:So then we have this other phenomenon where water interacts with other things. Mhmm. A droplet of water on the ground, a droplet of water on a piece of wax paper
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:On top of my coffee mug. So sometimes the water stays in its droplet form on those surfaces and sometimes it doesn't.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Can you think about why it might stay on it in its chocolate form and why it might not. And listeners at home, I want you to think too.
Jam:Could it be be I mean, I would guess that it have so much to do with the surface that it's on. Mhmm. And so Could it be that the surface is on is such that it can have Adhesion
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:With the surface?
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Or if it's a surface that happens to also have water In it somehow or whatever, that would be cohesion. Could it be water again?
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Say, like, when it rains, the ground is also just wet in general, so it doesn't really Droplet up or whatever.
Melissa:If it hit another water, that would be more cohesion. Yeah. Yeah. The adhesion, that's exactly right.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:So if it hits a surface. If a water droplet comes into a contact with the surface Uh-huh. With which it can interact molecularly, there are intermolecular forces between the two that are strong enough.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:It will leave its droplet form and adhere Mhmm. Molecularly speaking to the surface. So water and glass have a pretty strong adhesion. Mhmm. So if I put a drop of water in my glass, it usually spreads out.
Jam:Oh, okay. Got it. So it just kind of like wow. So it just kind of it abandons that shape altogether? I didn't even think about that.
Jam:But
Melissa:Because no longer are the cohesive forces stronger than the adhesive forces.
Jam:Got it. So it just Will flatten out all the way, or if it's a lot of water, it'll
Melissa:Well and there's actually some degrees of difference. Some things interact more strongly Mhmm. With water intermolecularly. So in that case, the water will spread out completely.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:Some things, it sort of spreads, but not a 100%. Uh-huh. So we are semi waterproof. Yeah. But there are other things in nature that are perfectly waterproof.
Melissa:Mhmm. Or as close to perfectly waterproof, I guess, as you can be. Mhmm. So let's talk about those. These are some implications in nature.
Melissa:Okay. So in nature, we see naturally waterproof things. Lotus leaves are considered to be incredibly waterproof. Water just floats around on them. So there's another plant that's less well known.
Melissa:It's edible. I don't know much about it, but I did find that it is extremely waterproof called plant.
Jam:Mhmm. So both plants so far, it's kinda interesting.
Melissa:Maybe Nasturtium. Nasturtium plant.
Jam:Nusferatu. Both
Melissa:of those our waterproof. Also, the wings of a certain type of butterfly are considered to be very waterproof.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:There are very waterproof materials in nature, and then scientists often When they don't know how to do something or wanna learn how to do something, look at nature and try to imitate it. Okay. That is a very biomimicry is very common Mhmm. In science. Biomimicry means to imitate nature.
Melissa:Mhmm. So people are currently studying this, scientists Mhmm. Asking how are these things so waterproof, and how can we make waterproof substances that we can everyday life.
Jam:Oh my gosh. That'd be so awesome.
Melissa:Isn't that amazing?
Jam:Yeah. It does seem like the things that we have access to that are waterproof, Many of them are only so waterproof.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:The rain jacket I have, for instance, it wasn't a super nice one. It's not super waterproof. Mhmm. And many times, I'm like,
Jam:dang it.
Melissa:Chemistry is bringing you better raincoats.
Jam:If only I could be a.
Melissa:A lotus plant.
Jam:Yeah. A lotus plant. Exactly.
Melissa:I actually did read something. I can't confirm this. That said that lotus plants have pockets of air, and those pockets of air are very hydrophobic. They don't have any interaction with the water.
Jam:Wow. Mhmm. Weird. Plants and animals, and then we're we're humans, and we're looking to some plants and some Aureus insects that already can do this, just already can do it.
Melissa:And we'll talk about that too when we get to solar cells and how people get solar energy.
Jam:Woah.
Melissa:We're imitating there too. It's that's a pretty common theme in scientific research is how can we do what nature already does very well.
Jam:Yeah. Yeah.
Melissa:How can we imitate that and use it for our own purposes? Yeah.
Jam:So What if all those plants that can already do that stuff or Animals or whatever were sauced to it and like, wow. Real original.
Melissa:We already knew that. I think they probably. I don't know how capable they are of thinking, but I think probably they would have a lot of thoughts on how we treat the world.
Jam:Where they'd be like, oh, the water's just, like, Not even sticking to me? I didn't even notice.
Melissa:Well and also, humans are somewhat waterproof. Water doesn't soak up into our skin in the same way that it does into, say, a paper towel.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:So we are a level of waterproof or the science word for waterproof is hydrophobic, afraid of water. So which I think is a funny word. But
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:So we are some level of waterproof, but we're not as waterproof as a litmus plant where it just rolls right off us. Right. You know? So Yeah. So that's pretty much it.
Jam:Okay.
Melissa:That is an overview of why water droplets
Jam:Uh-huh.
Melissa:Are formed and why they interact differently with the surface with interacting with other things.
Jam:So the a water molecule
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Has intermolecular forces with Other water molecules in a droplet
Melissa:Yes.
Jam:Or in a large amount of water, whatever it is. Mhmm. And so if you have a droplet, it will Try to form a sphere depending on its conditions.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:But because all the molecules are having the same amount of intermolecular forces on the molecules around it. Mhmm. And so depending on where The molecule is in the droplet.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Say it's in the middle or on the outside. It would obviously have different other molecules tugging on it. Mhmm. Just like if you're on the edge of the crowd in a concert versus in the very middle.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:And so the ones on the edge stay there on the edge because they're only being pulled and vibrated or whatever by the ones in inside Mhmm. The droplet and next to it. But if there is a surface that so that creates that surface tension Mhmm. Whether it's in a droplet or at the very top of A glass of water Yes. Or whatever.
Melissa:I do wanna break in and say one thing. Mhmm. All that sounded good. Molecules vibrate independently
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:And then these horses sort of tug on them. So they'll be vibrating anyway. No matter what. Their overall force? Where is it being pulled in or out?
Melissa:That's what you're describing. Yeah. So you described it well, but
Jam:The tugging is the Mhmm. Like you said, the kids with the shirts Yes. Taking to the church. Okay.
Melissa:So because all kids move constantly on their own. Right? They're always, like
Jam:Yeah.
Melissa:Jumping around doing crazy stuff. And all that kills her just like that. That all we do, we can't get them to stop.
Jam:Okay. So
Melissa:That creates surface tension.
Jam:Surface tension. And so if you have the water on a surface that it can have Intermolecular forces with
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Adhesion or cohesion.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:If the surface is also water, it can have cohesion with that. Mhmm. Or if the surface is something it could have adhesion with.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:Just whatever. I guess there's a lot of Possibilities there, but it could be less droplet like and be a little flatter
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:If it can interact with those molecules and have some tugging with it. Mhmm. Or if it's On other water, it can have complete cohesion Mhmm. Like a droplet falling into a puddle
Melissa:Right.
Jam:Disappearing, being co becoming part of it because it can have complete Cohesion with it.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:So then things that are waterproof, The reason they can be that way is because they have no way for the water droplet or multiple droplets or amount of water to Have any amount of adhesion or cohesion with it at all? Like, it's
Melissa:Yeah. There's very little. So there there's always very, very weak intermolecular forces at play Uh-huh. Dispersion forces.
Jam:Right.
Melissa:We talked about those in the Gecko episode, but the cohesion is so much stronger than whatever intermolecular force is going on there that it won't leave its droplet. And I should say there's 100% waterproof thing where water doesn't interact at all, and then there's sort of a gradient of how strongly, the intermolecular forces, the adhesion between water and another surface can be.
Jam:Got it.
Melissa:So those are 2 things I realized I should probably touch it's not that there's absolutely no Mhmm. Intermolecular forces. Anytime 2 substances are ever near each other, there is going to be dispersion.
Jam:Got it. Okay.
Melissa:But it's so insignificant compared to how strong the intermolecular forces are in the water and that surface tension that needs a serious force to break it
Jam:Mhmm. That
Melissa:it's not going to let the water interact in any significant way.
Jam:The strength of the Marella, air forces are drastically different enough. Mhmm. 1 is so much stronger that it's the other one is just not at all significant
Melissa:Right.
Jam:To to be able to to have any, to put a dent in the the cohesion of the water.
Melissa:That's perfect.
Jam:Interesting.
Melissa:So you got it. Now you know why water forms droplets and why sometimes it soaks up and sometimes it rolls off.
Jam:That's crazy. And I really now I'm thinking like, man, it'd be so cool to see a paper clip just sticking on top of some water.
Melissa:So Well, let's try to do it. I'm excited to try
Jam:to do that. That sounds like it just it would kind of seem fake. It'd it'd be hard to, like, take a photo of it, and it looked like it's actually there.
Melissa:Mhmm. We should probably try video and see. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Jam:That's true.
Melissa:I don't know if we're gonna be able to do it. It seems like it's gonna be hard. I'm excited.
Jam:I feel like a paper clip unless you found a really small one, but there's if the ones I am used to using seem like they're They'd weigh enough? I don't know.
Melissa:But it's all about the surface tension. So it does weigh more than the water. So Yeah. Normally, it would stay stink. Normally, it would sink.
Melissa:But Sorry. If it can be placed without breaking the surface tension, it will be supported. Mhmm. But I think what will be hard is placing it to where we don't ever break the surface of the water.
Jam:So it makes a difference to do it really, really gently. Mhmm. Okay.
Melissa:Because you can't break we have enough force to break that surface tension anytime we want. Uh-huh. But the weight of the paper clip doesn't if you dispersed properly.
Jam:Or if you dropped it from
Melissa:A height.
Jam:A height and it had some momentum, it could break it too or could Mhmm. Break it yes. Rather than just being very gently placed.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:That's interesting. So you can just kinda bust through it like Red Rover. Yeah. Once you come through strong enough,
Melissa:Then you can break the transmission. Yeah. That's a great all the time. That's a great great analogy. Okay.
Melissa:So that's it. Do you wanna wrap it up with a quick how are things?
Jam:Yeah. So we got back from our trip
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:To New Zealand. Yeah. It was awesome. So many beautiful. Yeah.
Jam:So many photos that they don't do it justice, but, basically, we took Tons of photos of everything. Way too many. Mhmm. Everything was beautiful. Everything was amazing.
Melissa:Yeah. What was 1 thing that you really loved? Just pick 1 thing that you really loved to talk about.
Jam:I loved all the lord of the ring stuff.
Melissa:Oh, yeah. Tell us about that. What did you do?
Jam:Sorry. I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan. I've read the books, seen the movies many, many times. So we saw several sites for the film stuff, Including the most iconic ones like Mordor area stuff Yeah. And Hobbiton where they they still have the set up there.
Jam:They when they built it again for The Hobbit, they made it permanent this time. So
Melissa:Could you go inside?
Jam:Most of the Hobbit holes don't have any interior. Some of them have a little bit because they it was the Hobbit holes of characters that they knew were gonna either enter or exit their home.
Melissa:Right.
Jam:So it needed to just the part you see through the door Mhmm. While they're leaving or coming back or coming outside or whatever needed to Seemed like a home. But all the interiors, they had to shoot on a sound stage
Melissa:Right.
Jam:And stuff because it's just it doesn't make any sense to to spend a lot of money digging it. And then also, you have the problem of where do you put the camera Right. When you're in
Melissa:a bubble. Hobbit hole. Yeah.
Jam:When you're in a hole.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:So, There was one that we went in part of that they had it was the one that had the most interior space.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:And then Bag End, the one that Frodo and Bobo Live at, that one has a little bit of interior space because you see them coming in and out of
Melissa:the Yeah.
Jam:The most of all of them. So, But the one place that did have the most interior space was the Green Dragon, the pub.
Melissa:Oh, right.
Jam:Yeah. That you can go anywhere in the Green Dragon. A fully functioning Oh. Pub, basically.
Melissa:That's so cool.
Jam:It doesn't have any food, but it does have drinks and stuff.
Melissa:Wow. So you
Jam:can actually go hang out and drink the green dragon. So
Melissa:That is awesome.
Jam:It was way cool. It was there's so much more to tell, but that's a big highlight. Mhmm. And just as a wrap up of that, if you have ever wanted to go to New Zealand, or you haven't, You should be on your list either way. Let me just say that.
Melissa:It's on my list for sure. Good.
Jam:And that
Jam:goes for you guys too.
Melissa:So while you were gone Uh-huh. I just got so much schoolwork done, and I did my ice skating, and that was pretty much it. If you didn't say ask anything, I was gonna be like, wow. I feel so sorry for you. No.
Jam:I was cool work.
Melissa:It was a nice restful time. October was a sprint. We were getting all of our episodes recorded, edited, ready to go. I had so many assignments due. I had just a lot of stuff happen in October that I felt like I had to work constantly.
Melissa:Mhmm. I was so behind in October. And then on Halloween, I had a nice relaxing night. I sort of wrapped up October, and November was almost a month of recoup where I mean, I was still doing my homework and working and all of that, but it wasn't a mad sprint toward deadlines. It was a just work.
Melissa:Just get your work done. And so it was October was constantly working, and November was a little bit more restful and work life balance and you know? Yeah. So I really I enjoyed my time while you're away. I think it would have been more fun if I was in New Zealand, but I think most things would be.
Jam:Yeah. That's true.
Melissa:So it was a good it was a good month, but I really missed you and Emily quite a bit.
Jam:Yeah. We it was weird. It's weird, leaving your life for any chunk of time Right. Like, 2 or 3 weeks or whatever.
Melissa:Mhmm.
Jam:That's strange.
Melissa:Yeah.
Jam:No matter how cold place you're going to, there is the feeling that you're missing out on that chunk of Right. Your own life and the lives of other people. So that was definitely a downside. But
Melissa:Well, we're glad you're back.
Jam:Yes. We are too.
Melissa:So into my references, we got some feedback that maybe the reading of references was unnecessary. I really enjoy it as a scientist saying whose work contributed to my work. It's sort of ingrained in us. So I'm always going to make sure that I have my references written down, and Jam will always include them in our show notes.
Jam:Mhmm.
Melissa:But just to see what you guys want us to do, we're going to do an Instagram poll on who wants me to read my references on the end or not, and we'll make a decision about how to proceed moving forward with that. But for this week, my references are an article from the Scientific American called lotus leaf inspires waterproofing scheme, general chemistry, principles, patterns, and applications from the Saylor Foundation, and chemistry, 2nd edition from Flowers, Theopold, Langley, and Robinson. Thank you so much for those resources, and thank you guys so much for listening.
Jam:Well, listen. I have a lot of ideas for topics of chemistry in everyday life, but we wanna hear from you. So if you have questions or ideas, you can reach out to us at Gmail, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook at chem for your life. That's Kim, f o r, your life to share your thoughts and ideas. If you enjoy this podcast, you can subscribe on your favorite podcast app.
Jam:And if you really like it, you can write a review on Apple Podcasts. That helps us to be able to share chemistry with even more people.
Melissa:This episode of chemistry for your life was created by Melissa Coleenie and Jame Robinson. Jam Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to Vy Garza who reviewed this episode.
