Chemistry For Your Life

How do you turn a weird cloudy liquid into something stronger than steel? This week we’re telling the story of Kevlar: the chemistry breakthrough that led to bulletproof vests, firefighter gear, reinforced tires, and so much more. Along the way we talk polymers, hydrogen bonding, accidental discoveries, and the chemist who almost went to medical school instead. Support this podcast on Patreon Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife Timestamps 0:00 – Story time setup: bulletproof gear and the chemistry behind it 1:30 – Meet Stephanie Kwolek, the chemist behind Kevlar 4:00 – DuPont, polymers, and the early days of synthetic fibers 6:30 – Why Stephanie stayed in chemistry instead of medical school 8:30 – The gas shortage problem that sparked the search for Kevlar 9:50 – What polymers actually are 10:20 – Benzene rings, resonance, and rigid molecular structures 11:30 – The strange watery solution that almost got ignored 13:30 – The accidental breakthrough that created Kevlar fibers 14:20 – Why Kevlar is so unusually strong 16:30 – Hydrogen bonding and “molecular Velcro” 18:40 – How Kevlar chains organize into massive strong sheets 21:30 – Why Kevlar behaves almost like a metal 24:00 – Stronger than steel, lighter than steel 26:30 – Melissa’s theory about the mysterious cloudy solution 27:00 – How Kevlar became bulletproof vests 28:00 – Why “detours” in life aren’t always failures 32:30 – Other surprising uses for Kevlar 35:00 – “Mistakes” that turned into good things (personal stories) 44:00 – Wrap-up + chemistry storytime appreciation Support this podcast on Patreon Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife References from the Episode: Thanks to our monthly supporters Kelly D. Bri Summer Alden Amanda Raymond Kyle McCray Justine Ash Vince W Julie S. Heather Ragusa Autoclave Dorien VD Scott Beyer Jessie Reder J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Venus Rebholz Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon Support this podcast on Patreon Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#038 Rebroadcast Helium is all fun and games right? High voice, super funny, no worries right? Or is there a serious shortage of helium? This week, Melissa and Jam answer this question. References from this episode Helium: Its Discovery and Applications – Locker We Discovered Helium 150 Years Ago. Are We Running Out? - Greshko Introductory Physics I - Brown Helium beer: prank or possible? - American Chemical Society Organic Chemistry, Edition 11 - Solomon Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Email us at [email protected] And check out our chill, simple little website at https://chemforyourlife.transistor.fm/ Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon Support this podcast on Patreon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#053 Rebroadcast This week, Melissa and Jam revisit one of their fav episodes on the topic of mosquitos. What is DEET? What part does it play in repelling mosquitos? How do repellants repel mosquitos in the first place? Is it just straight witchcraft? Let's do it. Support this podcast on Patreon Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife References from this episode Staph Retreat - Radiolab - WYNC https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/rachel-carson-silent-spring.html https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/reregistration/fs_PC-080301_1-Apr-98.pdf https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-it-true-that-the-deet/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24892824/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11693870/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26827259/ https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31167-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219311674%3Fshowall%3Dtrue https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31167-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982219311674%3Fshowall%3Dtrue https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/biochemistry/does-DEET-fend-off-malaria/97/web/2019/10     Thanks to our monthly supporters Amanda Raymond Emily Morrison Kyle McCray Justine Emily Hardy Ash Vince W Julie S. Heather Ragusa Autoclave Dorien VD Scott Beyer Jessie Reder J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Venus Rebholz Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon Support this podcast on Patreon Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#052 Rebroadcast This week, Melissa and Jam continue the topic of mosquitos (If you missed last week's, listen to it first). It's time to answer the age-old, every-summer question. Why do some people get bitten by mosquitos more than other people? Or maybe, does this really happen in the first place? If so why? What factors do mosquitos look for, compare, and choose by? Let's get to the bottom of this.   References from this episode https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(10)60044-6/pdf http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/why-mosquitoes-like-you-the-most/ https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/stories/world-deadliest-animal.html https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28639690/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1127358/ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/content/part/JAMCA/JAMCA_V18_N2_P091-096.pdf https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-mosquitoes-bite-some-people-more-than-others/ https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1186/1744-8069-4-29 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10921468/ Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com Watch our episodes on YouTube Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Want to start your own podcast? Use Transistor and you'll have the best podcast platform available. We use it and we are totally in love with it.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#002 Many of us have been in a situation where we are near a body of water (lake, ocean, pool etc), and you may have noticed that no matter what the temperature is outside, the water and the land can feel like super different temperatures, like the sand being hot and the ocean being cold. Why is that? Well it's because of something called specific heat, and we're going to talk about it right now. How to start a podcast. <- Check this out if you've got a podcast idea you want to make happen! Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Email us at [email protected] And check out our chill, simple little website at https://chemforyourlife.transistor.fm/ And seriously, we love using Transistor. Check it out to be sure your podcast makes a bang. Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

#031 Rebroadcast How does bleach bleach stuff? Oh and also, what even is color? This week Melissa and Jam investigate these questions. What's the molecular makeup of color and then how does bleach alter that? How does bleach have enough power to ruin that hoodie you just bought? How could you have been foolish enough to handle bleach while wearing your new hoodie? How to start a podcast. <- Check this out if you've got a podcast idea you want to make happen! References from this episode The Chemical Origins of Color - Mary Virginia Orna Chemistry, Color, and Art - Mary Virginia Orna The chemistry of Bleaching and Oxidizing Agents - Gustaf Holst Conjugation And Color (+ How Bleach Works) - James Ashenhurst How does bleach whiten clothes and why does it ruin clothes if too much is applied? - UCSB Scienceline Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife. Email us at [email protected] And check out our chill, simple little website at https://chemforyourlife.transistor.fm/ And seriously, we love using Transistor. Check it out to be sure your podcast makes a bang. Thanks to our monthly supporters Ciara Linville J0HNTR0Y Jeannette Napoleon Cullyn R Erica Bee Elizabeth P Sarah Moar Rachel Reina Letila Katrina Barnum-Huckins Suzanne Phillips Nelly Silva Venus Rebholz Lyn Stubblefield Jacob Taber Brian Kimball Emerson Woodhall Kristina Gotfredsen Timothy Parker Steven Boyles Chris Skupien Chelsea B Bri McAllister Avishai Barnoy Hunter Reardon ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.