What do you think when the word Chemistry comes to your mind? I think most people think about the difficult chemistry experiments happening in the Chemistry lab. This is one of the main reasons that people consider Chemistry as a difficult and dry subject. But besides in the lab, there are a lot of experiments and reactions occurring around us which we never notice. These reactions or chemicals involved in them not only make our work easy but also timely. Here, I am going to discuss the most common chemical reactions involved in our life.
The chemistry inside a pressure cooker
Nowadays, almost everyone used pressure to make the food early and properly cooked. But we never try to think that why food is cooked timely in a pressure cooker. Chemistry tells the answer and also the reason that why it happens. In a pressure cooker, due to the sealed chamber, steam generated by the heating increases the external pressure, and thus boiling point increases. As more heat is absorbed, so food is cooked quickly and properly.
Tears by cutting onions
Tears during onion cutting are one of the best examples of chemistry in our daily life. Onions contain sulfate that converts into sulfuric acid when we cut the onion. The Sulfuric acid produces Syn-propanethial S-oxide, an eye-irritant, which causes irritation and stimulates tear production.
Chemistry in the baking process
Have you ever noticed that why baking soda cause foods to rise? Chemistry can help you to understand the process of baking. For baking, when we add baking soda to food items than it causes the production of Carbon dioxide which is responsible for the foods to rise. This process is called Leavening, and baking soda is called a leavening agent.
Chemistry of soap
All of us wash our hands before or after taking food. We used different soaps for cleaning oil molecules on our hands. The chemistry of soaps is simple. Soaps are made of salts of fatty acids and act as emulsifying agents. They interact with the oil and dirt molecules on our hands and hence clean our hands.
Sunscreen
Sunscreen is used as protection against harmful radiations from the Sun, such as UV radiations. These UV radiations cause darkness in our complexion. Sunscreen contains the compounds such as Titanium Dioxide that act as a protector and thus prevent the UV rays to penetrate the skin.
Chemistry of emotions
Emotions inside us such as sadness, happiness, anger, and relaxation are a result of chemical changes that take place inside our bodies. Chemical messenger such as neurotransmitters are produced that create different emotions. Also, different hormones are responsible for mood changes.
Rusting of iron
We have seen iron rusting, but we have never tried to understand the reason. Chemistry gives us the reason and also interprets the chemical reaction involved in rusting. Rusting of iron is an oxidation reaction. Iron(Fe) by the air exposure undergo rusting. Air contains oxygen and moisture that react with iron to form iron oxide (Fe2O3) which is known as Rust.
Chemistry of Surfactants
For washing clothes, we use different detergents and surfactants. Surfactants are used to remove different types of stains from clothes. They are made of compounds containing hydrophobic and hydrophilic ends. When surfactants are added to water, they decrease the surface tension of water and thus the stains from the clothes.
You must be logged in to post a comment.