Colour, Aroma, & Explosions

Watermelons are a popular, refreshing summer fruit. There’s also a lot of intriguing chemistry behind them, from the colour of their flesh and the complexity of their aroma, to the tales of explodingwatermelons in China, and even the claims that they can have a viagra-like effect. This post ...

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A number of chemical materials are used in the manufacture of the Brazuca, the World Cup football. The majority of these materials are polymers; these are very long molecules built up from many smaller component molecules. A simple, everyday example is polyethene, used to make some plastic bags. ...

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Kunststoff ist überall in unserem täglichen Leben - aber natürlich ist "Kunststoff" nur ein Sammelbegriff für eine Reihe verschiedener chemischer Substanzen. Diese Grafik zeigt einige der gängigsten Kunststoffe, denen wir regelmäßig begegnen, und beleuchtet deren chemische Strukturen. Im ...

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For objects that essentially look like thin plastic films, there’s a surprising amount of chemistry behind contact lenses. This chemistry is designed to maximise comfort whilst they are being worn, and as such it’s also been constantly evolving and improving. Today’s post takes a look at some of ...

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Ever wondered what compounds help kitchen cleaners keep your kitchen surfaces bacteria free? Or about the compounds that help antiseptic creams do their job? In this graphic, we take a look at some of the compounds used for antisepsis and disinfection, and where they’re commonly used.

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This year’s European Championships are now well under way in France, and there’s already been some great football on show. It might surprise you to learn that some chemistry has also been taking centre-stage! TheEURO 2016ball is a triumph of materials science, and in this post we take a look at ...

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Most of us, chemists or otherwise, have probably come across pH indicators at one point or another. I’d be surprised if there’s anyone out there who hasn’t, back in school, carried out the standard experiment of adding universal indicator to a variety of household liquids to identify them as ...

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Dispelling Misconceptions

The term ‘chemophobia’ has been used on social media amongst chemists with increasing regularity over the past year. Defined as ‘a fear of chemicals’, more specifically it refers to the growing tendency for the public to be suspicious and critical of the presence of any man-made (synthetic) ...

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A functional group in chemistry is the part of the molecule that gives it its particular reactivity; simple molecules that contain the same functional group in their structure can be expected to react in similar ways. More complicated chemical molecules may contain more than one functional group ...

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Today’s post is a quick one with a look at alcohol oxidation reactions. This graphic tries to provide a basic summary of the reagents used, equipment required, and ways of identifying the products formed. A prominence is given to sodium and potassium dichromate as oxidising agents, despite the ...

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