Even if you’re not a chemist, you’ll doubtless remember learning about acids back in school. They’re routinely described as strong or weak, concentrated or dilute. But what’s the difference between a strong acid and a concentrated acid? Explaining that is a little trickier than it sounds; in this ...

mehr

The Chemistry of Fake Tan

We’re all well versed in the dangers of spending too much time in the sun. A goldentan after a few weeks away in the sun is everyone’s aspiration, but no-one wants to come back from a holidayred as a cooked lobster, hence the need for sunscreen (which we looked at in a previous post). However, ...

mehr

The pH scale is something we’re all familiar with; most people will remember it from school chemistry lessons. It’s the scale used to rank how strong an acid (or alkali) a solution is. The colours associated with each number correspond to the colour that universal indicator turns in solutions of ...

mehr

Next week, the winners of this year’s batch of Nobel Prizes will be announced. Every winner receives a Nobel Prize medal, featuring a portrait of the founder of the prizes, Albert Nobel. This graphic takes a look at the composition of these medals – and how chemistrywas once used to make them ...

mehr

The Chemistry of Avocados

Anyone who’s ever purchased an avocado willtestify that, after taking several days to reach the point of perfect ripeness, they remain at that point for an incredibly short amount of time before morphing into a brown, sludgy mess. As if to confound this problem, if you do catch them at the ...

mehr

The Chemistry of Jam-Making

If you’ve ever tried your hand at jam-making, you’ll know that it’s something of a tricky process. A number of factors need to be just right to achieve a perfectly set jam – and chemistry can help explain why. There are three key chemical entities that go into jam-making: sugar, pectin, and ...

mehr

There are few things better than an ice cold beer on a hot day. Chances are, when you crack open a beer this summer, you probably won’t be thinking much about chemistry – but it’s the particular chemicals in beer, produced inthe brewing process, that give beer both its bitterness and ...

mehr

It’s the middle of summer, and hopefully, if you’re heading out in the sun, you’re taking the precaution of applying sun cream beforehand. Sometimes, however, you can end up with sunburn despite your best efforts to prevent it. After sun and moisturisers can help to soothe the burn – here, we ...

mehr

The Chemistry of Beetroot

The latest of the food science graphics looks at the chemistry of beetroot. An unusual effect of beetroot is that it can cause ‘beeturia’, or a red colouration to the urine, after ingestion. This is a condition that only affects an estimated 10-14% of the population, so what are the chemical ...

mehr

Fett ist ein wichtiger Nährstoff in unserer Ernährung, es wird aber viel über verschiedene Arten von Fetten gesprochen und darüber, ob diese für unsere Gesundheit nützlich oder schädlich sind. Diese unterschiedlichen Fettklassifikationen haben ihre Wurzeln in der Chemie - und auch die Chemie kann ...

mehr