Tag everyday science

TGIF: Food related “Periodic videos”

I believe most chemists are familiar with the “periodic videos” from the University of Nottingham, covering all the known chemical elements. The series features professor Martyn Poliakoff who’s grey hair is really worthy of a professor! They have now covered…

Accelerated aging of wine

Can the natural process of aging wine in corked bottles be accelerated? I recently found an interesting article on how an electric field can be used for maturation of wine (New Scientist news coverage of the article). Applying a AC…

Speeding up the Maillard reaction

Ever thought about how pretzels and salt sticks get their nice brown color? The products of the Maillard reaction provide tastes, smells and colors that are much desired and lend their charachteristics to a variety of foods. In this post…

Soda fountain science explained

Picture by Michael Murphy (CC-BY-SA) The soda fountain (Diet Coke + Mentos) has been around the net for quite a while with some spectacular videos available, and it has even made it into a news paper cartoon. People go crazy…

Wonders of extraction: Ethanol

Extraction of cherries with ~45% ethanol in water Ethanol is a molecule with both a polar and a non-polar end, so it’s properties are somewhat in between those of water and oil (which will be the topic of the next…

Wonders of extraction: Water

Extraction of peppermint leaves with hot water Water is a polar molecule, meaning that one end has a small negative charge and the other a small positive charge. Because of this water is a very good solvent for other polar…

Osmosis in the kitchen

Lettuce should be fresh and crisp but upon storage water will eventually evaporate. The pressure inside the cells drops and the leaves shrink and become less appetizing. The simple yet effective remedy is to immerse the lettuce leaves in plain,…