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  • Chemistry life hacks.

  • McGuyver Meets Mendeleev

  • in these everyday, chemistry inspired tricks

  • to make your life a little easier, with all

  • the evidence you need to back it up.

  • Now let's get started.

  • #1 – COFFEE, CREAM AND SALT

  • Youre buying the best roast in town,

  • but no matter what you do,

  • your coffee always ends up bitter.

  • Well, chances are youre brewing with water that’s too hot.

  • The hotter the water,

  • the deeper the extraction from your beans, and

  • the more bitter compounds end up in your brew.

  • So weve got an excellent trick for you

  • so you don’t have to worry about becoming

  • a barista to get it right.

  • If your coffee is too bitter, add a tiny little

  • pinch of salt and taste a world of difference.

  • When salt dissolves, sodium ions break off into

  • the coffee and block bitter molecules from reaching

  • your tongue, greatly enhancing the flavor.

  • Don’t have salt on hand at your neighborhood coffee

  • shop?Just keep a couple of these in your purse

  • or wallet and youll do just fine.

  • #2 – BROWN BAGGING BANANAS

  • Youre starving for some bananas but all they had

  • at the store was a bunch of bright green ones.

  • Bananas can take a day or two to ripen,

  • but here is a quick tip to get them

  • up to standard really, really quick.

  • Put your bananas in a paper bag and throw

  • a couple ripe tomatoes in there.

  • The bananas, depending on how green

  • they were to start, will ripen twice as fast.

  • This is because of a plant hormone called ethylene

  • that is used to make fruits ripen faster.

  • When you place ripe tomatoes in the bag with the

  • bananas, the bag traps in the ethylene gas that

  • is produced by the already ripen tomatoes, which

  • in turn forces the bananas to ripen much faster.

  • Also, the riper the bananas get,

  • the more ethylene they produce.

  • #3 - HOW TO SAVE A COOKIE

  • You ate way too many, way too fast,

  • passed out on the couch and left the cookies out.

  • Now theyre rock hard, unappetizing,

  • and spoiled your plans to spoil your diet.

  • No problem! Here’s a little trick

  • that’s been passed down for generations.

  • If you put your cookies in a tin or large Ziploc

  • bag with a piece of bread, and they will be as

  • soft as they were when they came out of the oven.

  • Cookies contain far more sugar than bread.

  • Sugars are known to be hygroscopicthat is, they

  • soak up moisture from the surrounding environment.

  • This, along side the dense nature of cookies,

  • allows them to absorb moisture coming from

  • that piece of bread, keeping them nice and

  • soft for a much longer period of time.

  • #4 – IRON AND COKE

  • So you didn’t feel like doing dishes

  • after breakfast and threw your cast iron

  • skillet into the sink.

  • When you get home, the thing is covered in rust

  • and you can’t bare to scrub it

  • with a brillo pad for a half hour.

  • Good news for youopen your fridge

  • and grab that two liter of coke.

  • Coke has an ingredient called phosphoric acid

  • that is used to add a sour punch

  • to the super sweet soft drink.

  • Funny thing is that this chemical is also used

  • industrially as a rust and tarnish remover!

  • Phosphoric acid converts your typical- hard

  • to clean, iron oxide rust into blackish ferric

  • phosphate that can easily be scrubbed right off.

  • Go ahead, try it for yourself.

  • We hope you enjoyed this first volume

  • of Chemistry Life Hacks and

  • there’s gonnabe plenty more to come.

  • And if you have any tips of your own

  • feel free to send them our way and

  • well put them into upcoming videos.

  • And while youre still here don’t forget

  • to hit that theresubscribe button.

Chemistry life hacks.

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