The chemistry behind your day
24 everyday moments, each modeled atom by atom. Watch bonds break and form in 3D, follow the energy, then see which AP and IB units it belongs to.
- In the kitchen
What happens in a gas stove flame
Combustion of methane
Every blue flame on a gas stove is turning one invisible gas into two others.
ΔH -802 kJAP 4AP 6 - In the kitchen
Why baking soda and vinegar fizz
Acid–carbonate neutralization
The foam from baking soda and vinegar is the same gas that makes pancakes fluffy, and the cup actually gets colder.
ΔH +31 kJAP 4AP 6AP 8 - In the kitchen
What makes bread dough rise
Alcoholic fermentation of glucose
Every slice of bread is full of holes blown by yeast exhaling carbon dioxide, and the dough briefly contains alcohol.
ΔH -100 kJAP 4AP 6 - In the kitchen
Where fruity smells come from
Fischer esterification
Mix the acid in vinegar with the alcohol in wine, add a catalyst, and you get the smell of pears.
ΔH -3 kJAP 4AP 7 - In your body
Where your body's energy comes from
Aerobic cellular respiration
Your cells burn sugar with the same overall equation as a campfire, just in dozens of controlled steps.
ΔH -2812 kJAP 4AP 6AP 9 - In your body
How an antacid calms heartburn
Neutralization of stomach acid by calcium carbonate
A chewable antacid is essentially chalk, and it fights stomach acid by turning it into water and a burp.
ΔH -15 kJAP 4AP 8 - In your body
Why hydrogen peroxide fizzes on a cut
Decomposition of hydrogen peroxide
The foam on a scraped knee is oxygen gas, produced by one of the fastest enzymes in your body.
ΔH -189 kJAP 4AP 5AP 6 - In your body
How an instant cold pack gets cold
Dissolution of ammonium nitrate
An instant cold pack has no ice and no battery; a dissolving salt pulls heat out of the water around it.
ΔH +28 kJAP 3AP 6AP 9 - Around the house
Why hand warmers get hot
Oxidation of iron
A hand warmer is a packet of rust-in-a-hurry: the same reaction that eats bridges, sped up to keep your fingers warm.
ΔH -1648 kJAP 4AP 6AP 9 - Around the house
Why silver turns black
Tarnishing of silver
Silver doesn't rust, but a whiff of sulfur from a boiled egg is enough to start turning a spoon black.
ΔH -596 kJAP 4AP 9 - Around the house
Why you must never mix bleach and ammonia
Formation of monochloramine
Two ordinary cleaning products, mixed in a small bathroom, can make a gas that sends people to hospital.
AP 4 - Around the house
How lime mortar hardens
Carbonation of calcium hydroxide
Old brick walls set by slowly breathing in carbon dioxide and turning back into limestone.
ΔH -113 kJAP 4AP 6AP 8 - Air, water and Earth
Why the oceans are becoming more acidic
Acid ionization of dissolved carbon dioxide
The ocean has soaked up about a quarter of our CO2 emissions, and shell-building animals are paying for it.
ΔH +7.6 kJAP 7AP 8 - Air, water and Earth
What makes rain acidic
Oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfuric acid
Sulfur in coal once fell back to earth as sulfuric acid, dissolving statues and emptying lakes of fish.
ΔH -463 kJAP 4AP 6AP 8 - Air, water and Earth
How CFCs thin the ozone layer
Chlorine-catalysed ozone destruction
One chlorine atom from an old spray can could destroy thousands of ozone molecules before being caught.
ΔH -163 kJAP 4AP 5 - Air, water and Earth
What a car's catalytic converter does
Catalytic reduction of nitric oxide by carbon monoxide
A few grams of platinum, palladium and rhodium under a car turn two poisons into the gases you breathe out and breathe in.
ΔH -746 kJAP 4AP 5AP 6 - Industry and technology
How we make fertilizer from air
Haber–Bosch ammonia synthesis
Roughly half the nitrogen atoms in your body passed through an ammonia factory first.
ΔH -92 kJAP 5AP 6AP 7 - Industry and technology
Why cement plants release so much CO2
Thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate
Even with perfectly clean fuel, making cement releases CO2, because the gas comes out of the rock itself.
ΔH +178 kJAP 6AP 7AP 9 - Industry and technology
How iron is made from rock
Reduction of iron ore by carbon monoxide
Every steel paperclip started as red rock that had its oxygen pulled out by carbon monoxide.
ΔH -25 kJAP 4AP 6 - Industry and technology
How a hydrogen fuel cell makes electricity
Hydrogen–oxygen fuel cell reaction
A fuel cell car runs on hydrogen and its only exhaust is water clean enough that Apollo astronauts drank it.
ΔH -572 kJAP 4AP 6AP 9 - Fire, light and energy
What powers a backyard gas grill
Combustion of propane
The rotten-egg smell of a gas grill is added on purpose; propane itself has no smell at all.
ΔH -2044 kJAP 4AP 6 - Fire, light and energy
Why flares and flashbulbs burn so bright
Combustion of magnesium
Burning magnesium is so hot and bright that old cameras used it as a flash.
ΔH -1203 kJAP 1AP 4AP 6 - Fire, light and energy
How train rails are welded on site
Thermite reaction
Aluminium powder and rust, lit with a fuse, pour out liquid iron hot enough to weld railway tracks.
ΔH -852 kJAP 4AP 6 - Fire, light and energy
How lightning fertilizes the soil
Nitrogen fixation by lightning
A lightning bolt is hot enough to make the air itself react, turning nitrogen into plant food.
ΔH +180.5 kJAP 6AP 7