The Use of Chemistry in Daily Life

Chemistry is a big part of your everyday life. You find chemistry in daily life in the foods you eat, the air you breathe, cleaning chemicals, your emotions and literally every object you can see or touch. Here's a look at 10 examples of everyday chemistry. Some common chemistry may be obvious, but others might surprise you.

1.      Elements in the Human Body

Your body is made up of chemical compounds, which are combinations of elements. While you probably know your body is mostly water, which is hydrogen and oxygen, can you name the other elements that make you ... you?

What Are the Elements in the Human Body?

Answer: Most of the human body is made up of water, H₂O, with cells consisting of 65-90% water by weight. Therefore, it isn't surprising that most of a human body's mass is oxygen. Carbon, the basic unit for organic molecules, comes in second. 99% of the mass of the human body is made up of just six elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus.

You may also wish to view the element composition of an average human body by mass.

1. Oxygen (65%)

1. Carbon (18%)

1. Hydrogen (10%)

1. Nitrogen (3%)

1. Calcium (1.5%)

1. Phosphorus (1.0%)

1. Potassium (0.35%)

1. Sulfur (0.25%)

1. Sodium (0.15%)

1. Magnesium (0.05%)

1. Copper, Zinc, Selenium, Molybdenum, Fluorine, Chlorine, Iodine, Manganese, Cobalt, Iron (0.70%)

1. Lithium, Strontium, Aluminum, Silicon, Lead, Vanadium, Arsenic, Bromine (trace amounts)

Have you ever wondered how much the elements in your body are worth? First, let's take a look at the elements from which you are made.

Your body is made of:

• 65% Oxygen

• 18% Carbon

• 10% Hydrogen

• 3% Nitrogen

• 1.5% Calcium

• 1% Phosphorous

• 0.35% Potassium

• 0.25% Sulfur

• 0.15% Sodium

• 0.15% Chlorine

• 0.05% Magnesium

• 0.0004% Iron

• 0.00004% Iodine

2.      Chemistry of Love

The emotions that you feel are a result of chemical messengers, primarily neurotransmitters. Love, jealousy, envy, infatuation and infidelity all share a basis in chemistry.

Is There Really a Chemistry of Love?

Answer: Scientists haven't developed any magic love potions that you can use to make someone fall in love, but chemistry does play an important role in how a relationship progresses.

Chemistry and Stages of Love

First, there's attraction. Nonverbal communication plays a big part in initial attraction and some of this communication may involve pheromones, a form of chemical communication.

Did you know that raw lust is characterized by high levels of testosterone? The sweaty palms and pounding heart of infatuation are caused by higher than normal levels of norepinepherine. Meanwhile, the 'high' of being in love is due to a rush of phenylethylamine and dopamine.

All is not lost once the honeymoon is over. Lasting love confers chemical benefits in the form of stabilized production of serotonin and oxytocin. Can infidelity be blamed on chemistry? Perhaps in part. Researchers have found that suppression of vasopressin can cause males (voles, anyway) to abandon their love nest and seek new mates. Hey, you gotta have chemistry!

3.  How Soap Cleans

Soap is a chemical that mankind has been making for a very long time. You can form a crude soap by mixing ashes and animal fat. How can something so nasty actually make you cleaner? The answer has to do with the way soap interacts with oil-based grease and grime. 

Soaps are sodium or potassium fatty acids salts, produced from the hydrolysis of fats in a chemical reaction called saponification. Each soap molecule has a long hydrocarbon chain, sometimes called its 'tail', with a carboxylate 'head'. In water, the sodium or potassium ions float free, leaving a negatively-charged head.

Soap is an excellent cleanser because of its ability to act as an emulsifying agent.

An emulsifier is capable of dispersing one liquid into another immiscible liquid. This means that while oil (which attracts dirt) doesn't naturally mix with water, soap can suspend oil/dirt in such a way that it can be removed.

The organic part of a natural soap is a negatively-charged, polar molecule. Its hydrophilic (water-loving) carboxylate group (-CO₂) interacts with water molecules via ion-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding. The hydrophobic (water-fearing) part of a soap molecule, its long, nonpolar hydrocarbon chain, does not interact with water molecules. The hydrocarbon chains are attracted to each other by dispersion forces and cluster together, forming structures called micelles. In these micelles, the carboxylate groups form a negatively-charged spherical surface, with the hydrocarbon chains inside the sphere. Because they are negatively charged, soap micelles repel each other and remain dispersed in water.

Grease and oil are nonpolar and insoluble in water. When soap and soiling oils are mixed, the nonpolar hydrocarbon portion of the micelles break up the nonpolar oil molecules. A different type of micelle then forms, with nonpolar soiling molecules in the center. Thus, grease and oil and the 'dirt' attached to them are caught inside the micelle and can be rinsed away.

Although soaps are excellent cleansers, they do have disadvantages. As salts of weak acids, they are converted by mineral acids into free fatty acids:

CH₃(CH₂)₁₆CO₂^-Na⁺ + HCl → CH₃(CH₂)₁₆CO₂H + Na⁺ + Cl^-

These fatty acids are less soluble than the sodium or potassium salts and form a precipitate or soap scum. Because of this, soaps are ineffective in acidic water. Also, soaps form insoluble salts in hard water, such as water containing magnesium, calcium, or iron.

2 CH₃(CH₂)₁₆CO₂^-Na⁺ + Mg²⁺ → [CH₃(CH₂)₁₆CO₂^-]₂Mg²⁺ + 2 Na⁺

The insoluble salts form bathtub rings, leave films that reduce hair luster, and gray/roughen textiles after repeated washings. Synthetic detergents, however, may be soluble in both acidic and alkaline solutions and don't form insoluble precipitates in hard water.

4.    Is It Okay To Use Laundry Detergent in the Dishwasher?

You can apply chemistry to decide when and where to use household chemicals. While you might think detergent is detergent, so it's interchangeable from one application to another, there are some good reasons why laundry detergent should stay in the washing machine.

Yes, you could put laundry detergent in your dishwasher. Should you? Probably not. Here's why.

Modern laundry detergents tend not to produce mountains of bubbles, but there are other good reasons to not substitute laundry detergent for dishwashing detergent.

One reason is that you likely void the warranty on the appliance if you use a product not made for dishwashers. You may be exposing yourself to toxins, too. The detergent itself may be the same from one product to the other, but laundry detergents may contain brighteners, fragrances, stain removers, and anti-soiling chemicals that you don't really need volatilized by the heat of your dishwasher so that you breathe them. The ingredients in laundry detergent might not rinse completely from your dishes.

If you are desperate for a way to wash your dishes, you can try cleaning them in the sink using other types of soap or detergent. You could try bar soap, liquid soap, or bath gel. Shampoo might leave a residue on your dishes. Laundry detergent might leave a residue, too, but at least you would have more control over rinsing in the sink compared with the dishwasher.

5. Why Ice Floats

Can you imagine how different the world around you would be if ice sank? For one thing, lakes would freeze from the bottom. Chemistry holds the explanation for why ice floats, while most substances sink when they freeze.
 

There are two parts to the answer for this question. First, let's take a look at why anything floats. Then, let's examine why ice floats on top of liquid water, instead of sinking to the bottom.

Why Ice Floats

A substance floats if it is less dense, or has less mass per unit volume, than other components in a mixture. For example, if you toss a handful of rocks into a bucket of water, the rocks, which are dense compared to the water, will sink.

The water, which is less dense than the rocks, will float. Basically, the rocks push the water out of the way or displace it. For an object to be able to float, it has to displace a weight of fluid equal to its own weight.

Water reaches its maximum density at 4 C (40 F). As it cools further and freezes into ice, it actually becomes less dense. On the other hand, most substances are most dense in their solid (frozen) state than in their liquid state. Water is different because of hydrogen bonding.

A water molecule is made from one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms, strongly joined to each other with covalent bonds. Water molecules are also attracted to each other by weaker chemical bonds (hydrogen bonds) between the positively-charged hydrogen atoms and the negatively-charged oxygen atoms of neighboring water molecules. As water cools below 4 C, the hydrogen bonds adjust to hold the negatively charged oxygen atoms apart.

This produces a crystal lattice, which is commonly known as 'ice'.

Ice floats because it is about 9% less dense than liquid water. In other words, ice takes up about 9% more space than water, so a liter of ice weighs less than a liter water. The heavier water displaces the lighter ice, so ice floats to the top.

One consequence of this is that lakes and rivers freeze from top to bottom, allowing fish to survive even when the surface of a lake has frozen over. If ice sank, the water would be displaced to the top and exposed to the colder temperature, forcing rivers and lakes to fill with ice and freeze solid.

6.      Can Bottled Water Go Bad?

Food goes bad because of chemical reactions that occur between food molecules. Fats can become rancid. Bacteria grow that can make you sick. What about products that don't contain fat? Can bottled water go bad?

Most bottled water has an expiration date stamped on the bottle, but does the bottled water actually go bad? If so, how long is bottled water good? Here's the answer to this common question.

Although bottled water has an expiration date, it doesn't actually go bad. Why is there an expiration date on a product that doesn't go bad? This is because New Jersey requires all food and beverages, including water, to carry an expiration date on its packaging.

It doesn't matter if you don't live in New Jersey... your water may carry an expiration date anyway to make it easier to standardize packaging. Some bottled water only carries its bottling date or a 'best by' date. These dates are helpful because the flavor of the water will change over time as it absorbs chemicals from its packaging. The flavor will not necessarily be bad, but it may be noticeable.

Leaching of chemicals from packaging is a health concern, but as far as toxic chemicals go, you can get exposure to most of those chemicals from freshly bottled water as well as bottled water that has been on the shelf a while. A 'plastic' taste is not necessarily an indicator that the water is bad; absence of an unpleasant flavor does not mean the water is free from contaminants.

While algae and bacteria will not grow in sealed bottled water, the situation changes once the seal has been broken.

You should consume or discard water within two weeks after opening it.

7. How Sunscreen Works

Sunscreen uses chemistry to filter or block the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays to protect you from a sunburn, skin cancer, or both. Do you know how sunscreen works or what an SPF rating really means?

How Does Sunscreen Work?

Answer: Sunscreen Versus Sunblock

Sunscreen combines organic and inorganic chemicals to filter the light from the sun so that less of it reaches the deeper layers of your skin. Like a screen door, some light penetrates, but not as much as if the door wasn't present. Sunblock, on the other hand, reflects or scatters the light away so that it doesn't reach the skin at all.

The reflective particles in sunblocks usually consist of zinc oxide or titanium oxide. In the past, you could tell who was using a sunblock just by looking, because the sunblock whited out the skin. Not all modern sunblocks are visible because the oxide particles are smaller, though you can still find the traditional white zinc oxide. Sunscreens usually include sunblocks as part of their active ingredients.

What Sunscreens Screen

The portion of the sunlight that is filtered or blocked is ultraviolet radiation. There are three regions of ultraviolet light.

• UV-A penetrates deeply into the skin and can lead to cancer and premature skin aging.
• UV-B is involved in tanning and burning of your skin.
• UV-C is completely absorbed by the earth's atmosphere.

The organic molecules in sunscreen absorb the ultraviolet radiation and release it as heat.

• PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid) absorbs UVB
• Cinnamates absorb UVB

• Benzophenones absorb UVA
• Anthranilates absorb UVA and UVB
• Ecamsules absorb UVA

What SPF Means

SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. It's a number that you can use to help determine how long you can stay in the sun before getting a sunburn. Since sunburns are caused by UV-B radiation, SPF does not indicate protection from UV-A, which can cause cancer and premature aging of the skin.

Your skin has a natural SPF, partially determined by how much melanin you have, or how darkly pigmented your skin is. The SPF is a multiplication factor. If you can stay out in the sun 15 minutes before burning, using a sunscreen with an SPF of 10 would allow you to resist the burn for 10x longer or 150 minutes.

Although the SPF only applies to UV-B, the labels of most products indicate if they offer broad spectrum protection, which is some indication of whether or not they work against UV-A radiation. The particles in sunblock reflect both UV-A and UV-B.

Another example:

1. Industries and Transport:

From cloth mills, lather factories, petro-chemical industries and refineries to metal industries- all use numerous fuels for power generation and chemical products for processing their product and improve the equality and simultaneously produce pollution. Now-a-days chemical effluent treatment plants use chemicals to control or neutralist he hazardous impact of pollutants produced by the industries. Aviation and shipping industries generate power through power plants which burn fuels. Petrol and diesel emit out green house gases dangerous for the survival on earth which damage the ozone layer that protects us from UV rays. As a result global warming has taken place which is a destroyer of the planet earth. But again Chemistry paves the way with bio-fuels.

2. Food Security and Agriculture:

The famous green revolution to increase agricultural produce so as to ensure food security was triggered by the advent of inorganic fertilizers. Since then fertilizers are extensively used by farmers to restore the fertility of soil in the fields. Pesticides are used to protect the crop during farming and preserve the grains from pests, rats and mice during storage. Genetically modified seeds which are used to enhance production and earn profits through export of food grains are agricultural applications of Bio-chemistry. Whereas refrigeration system for cold storage of vegetables and raw meat uses Poly Urethanes Foam (PUF) and the chemical properties of gases, the preservatives in packaged food products are known to have adverse impact on our body.

3. Science and Technology:

The destructive effects of Atom Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Generations in Japan have suffered the devastation and there has-been no solace. The threat of weapons of mass-destruction (WMDs) like the Nuclear, Chemical and Biological weapons looms large on the Humanity. Terrorists are using RDX and other explosives to run currents of fear down the spines across the globe. Nuclear reactors which are going to serve the future generations through power generation leave us with the problem of Nuclear Waste Management. Whereas the destructive power is generated through chains of chemical reactions, we remain assured that Chemistry has facilitated the chain of counter measures too in the form of safety suites and NBC resistant bunkers. Forensic science- the comprehensive scientific analysis of material evidence in the context of the law uses principles of chemistry to facilitate crime investigation. Tele-communications, Information Technology and Space Missions- all bank on the chemistry of semi-conductor sand nano-tubes.

4. Medicine

it is very need to understand basic chemistry so that we can understand how vitamins, supplements, and drugs can help or harm us. Part of the importance’s of chemistry lies in developing and testing new medical treatments and medicines.

5. Fragrance

Fragrance is another chemical that is closely related to our daily life. We can obtain deodorant from both natural and synthetic materials. In addition to substances that give rise to scented fragrances, fragrances sold on the market usually contain other substances, such as alcohols for liquid perfumes and alum for dense in formers. In addition to alcohol, there are still a variety of other additives that are deliberately added to the perfume so that the perfume is easily sprayed (the substance serves as propellant). Among the additives that can serve as propellants there are those that can pollute the environment.

6. Benefits of Chemistry in the Field of Law

Chemistry in the field of law plays a role in proving the Case of Law, for example: Someone mixed kerosene into petrol and then traded. To determine whether the gasoline was mixed with kerosene, laboratory tests were conducted.