What’s up with foil?

This week Melissa and Jam explore the chemistry of aluminum foil. Why doesn’t it feel hot when we take it out of the oven? How does it cool down so quickly? We harken back to a previous episode about specific heat a few times in this episode, listen to that one by clicking a link in our full show notes.

Show Notes

#018

This week Melissa and Jam explore the chemistry of aluminum foil. Why doesn’t it feel hot when we take it out of the oven? How does it cool down so quickly? We harken back to a previous episode about specific heat a few times in this episode, listen to that one by clicking here.

References from this episode

1. http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=703
2. Dr. Weber PhD in Physical Chemistry, University of North Texas
3. Chemistry, Edition 1 - Julia Burdge
4. Melissa's Previous Knowledge

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What is Chemistry For Your Life?

A podcast that helps you understand the fascinating chemistry hidden in your everyday life.

Have you ever wondered why onions make you cry? Or how soap gets your hands clean? What really is margarine, or why do trees change colors in the fall? Melissa is a chemist, and to answer these questions she started a podcast, called Chemistry for your life!

In each episode Melissa explains the chemistry behind one of life’s mysteries to Jam, who is definitely not a chemist, but she explains it in a way that is easy to understand, and totally fascinating.

If you’re someone who loves learning new things, or who wonders about the way the world works, then give us a listen.

Melissa: 00:09

Hey. I'm Melissa.

Jam: 00:10

I'm Jam.

Melissa: 00:11

And I'm a chemist.

Jam: 00:12

And I'm not.

Melissa: 00:13

And welcome to Chemistry For Your Life.

Jam: 00:16

The podcast where I'm pouring coffee. The podcast that helps you understand the chemistry of everyday life. And if it's your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, whatever time listening to our podcast, when we say Melissa's a chemist, she really is.

Melissa: 00:29

Mhmm.

Jam: 00:29

She has her master's in chemistry, and she works as a chemist, and she's getting her PhD right now.

Melissa: 00:34

Mhmm.

Jam: 00:35

And I am not. I have a bachelor's in not chemistry, and, each episode mostly teaches me and you guys something about chemistry.

Melissa: 00:44

Well, JAM does have a bachelor's degree in podcasting, basically.

Jam: 00:49

Yeah. Pretty much.

Melissa: 00:50

It's in radio, television, and film.

Jam: 00:51

Yeah. They didn't put it'd be kinda funny if they put on my degree, like, bachelor's, not chemistry. Just like, here's kind of the significance. Is it gonna play in your life?

Melissa: 00:59

I just last time we said that I wanted to, I realized we talked about what my expertise is, but not what your expertise is.

Jam: 01:05

Right.

Melissa: 01:06

So and Jim is looking for a job. So if anyone wants to get this crystal clear sound quality

Jam: 01:11

Mhmm.

Melissa: 01:12

Then hire him. Yep. Okay. Well

Jam: 01:15

Please. Just kidding.

Melissa: 01:19

Are you, though?

Jam: 01:21

No. Just don't wanna sound desperate. I don't need your job unless you really want me, in which case I'm just kidding.

Melissa: 01:27

So I I might be losing my voice. I think I am a little hoarse.

Jam: 01:32

Mhmm.

Melissa: 01:32

I didn't sleep very well. I was trying to get all my homework done on Sunday night. So my voice is a little hoarse. Also, then I yelled at the hockey game, but not a ton. Yeah.

Melissa: 01:44

So it's probably the combination of the 2? Yeah. So just you're just gonna have to bear with the little hoarseness in my voice, not as calming and peaceful as normal.

Jam: 01:54

It kinda sounds a little bit more This American Life y, though. Sometimes you can hear the like, a lot of crispiness in their voices. You know? Yeah. It's like all the this

Melissa: 02:02

stuff going on. Everyone.

Jam: 02:05

Act 1?

Melissa: 02:06

Act 1. That's what it is.

Jam: 02:07

Act 1, Horace Vocal Chords. Act 2, too much hockey. Act 3, not enough coffee.

Melissa: 02:14

So good. Okay. So but do you do you wanna know what act 2 is really gonna be?

Jam: 02:20

Yes. Or is it act 1?

Melissa: 02:22

No. Well, act 1 is Actually, that my voice is hoarse.

Jam: 02:25

Okay. And what's that to?

Melissa: 02:26

It's aluminum foil. Woah.

Jam: 02:29

Okay. So Aluminum. Of course.

Melissa: 02:31

Aluminium For our British listeners out there, so but I have a specific thing about aluminum foil that I'd like to talk about.

Jam: 02:42

Okay.

Melissa: 02:42

Okay. So I love salmon.

Jam: 02:46

Okay.

Melissa: 02:47

I don't really like eating meat.

Jam: 02:49

Mhmm.

Melissa: 02:49

I was a vegetarian for a while.

Jam: 02:51

Mhmm. I remember that.

Melissa: 02:52

Mhmm. And the one thing I don't feel bad about is eating salmon because well, most fish, because I don't really feel like fish have as much Feelings as other things?

Jam: 03:02

Interesting. I kinda knew what you mean, but I don't know if it's backed up by any No. Hard data?

Melissa: 03:07

It's not. Absolutely not. Aren't salmon

Jam: 03:09

an invasive species? Can get, like, a salmon infestation in

Melissa: 03:12

your home. I have no idea. Please don't run salmon for me. I'm just kidding. I

Jam: 03:16

don't know.

Melissa: 03:16

Oh, you said in your home? I thought you meant in rivers.

Jam: 03:18

No. No. No. No.

Melissa: 03:19

Yeah. They are an invasive species because they're so good. Once you start eating them, you can't

Jam: 03:23

stop. Invading your diet.

Melissa: 03:25

Yeah. And I like the way That they taste so much that I can't eat it every single night and not get tired of it

Jam: 03:33

That's good.

Melissa: 03:33

Which is not true of chicken.

Jam: 03:35

Yeah. You gotta hang on to that. When you find like that. Mhmm. We find someone or something that special, we gotta hang on to it or them.

Melissa: 03:41

Well, in this case, it's salmon.

Jam: 03:43

Yeah.

Melissa: 03:43

So I make a lot of salmon, but I hate doing dishes.

Jam: 03:47

Mhmm.

Melissa: 03:47

So instead of using a cookie sheet to bake my salmon on every single time, I have started to use a little piece of aluminum foil. And I just fold up the edges to make a little boat,

Jam: 03:59

and I

Melissa: 03:59

put my salmon in there and bake it on that, and then there's no cleanup.

Jam: 04:02

I do the same with, lots of The vegetables. Well, we've cooked broccoli several times a week, and sometimes peppers as well. And always always use aluminum foil. So I'm, like, very interested to hear What's gonna happen when we delve into this topic? Because it's a very common every week thing I deal with.

Melissa: 04:18

Nice.

Jam: 04:19

So

Melissa: 04:19

Well, let me ask you this. When you take it out of the oven, do you use your fingers, or do you use a hot hand?

Jam: 04:24

I put the

Melissa: 04:25

What are those called? Oven bits.

Jam: 04:27

You use a hot hand?

Melissa: 04:28

A hot hand is what it the thing in the lab that we use to take out glass that's been baking Got it. Above the boiling point of water so that It'll evaporate that stuff off.

Jam: 04:37

That you're just struggling pretty hard when thinking of words.

Melissa: 04:40

It's a silicon thing that's the color of it the terracotta Soldiers, and you take it out with that.

Jam: 04:46

Got it. I don't know what terracotta soldiers are. I use an oven mitt because I put the for structure reasons, I put The foil on top of a cookie sheet. Oh. Because several pieces of broccoli or peppers or whatever would make it a little bit, like, Easily flimsy because it's just not one Yeah.

Jam: 05:03

Well, it's not one mass. So Yeah. That's why I do that.

Melissa: 05:06

Well, on my salmon, I I Take it out of the oven. Make sure it's been cooking at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. I can just reach in there and take it out and plop it on my stovetop.

Jam: 05:21

Mhmm. Do

Melissa: 05:23

you know why that is? Also, wait. Before you answer, I do wanna give a disclaimer. I'm not telling you to try this, and please do not burn your hands and then sue me for it At all. This is something I do, and it's risky.

Melissa: 05:38

Sometimes it is hot. Most of the time, it's not.

Jam: 05:41

I, Don't worry about me, at least. I will not try that. I

Melissa: 05:47

for the listeners at home. Yeah.

Jam: 05:48

Yeah.

Melissa: 05:48

Like our science experiments.

Jam: 05:50

Yes. I can tell And that's saying to them too, but I definitely won't try that partly because that just doesn't sound like the kinda thing I wanna risk anyway. It's like, I wonder if this is not gonna burn me severely. I have wondered many times why it cools so fast. Because sometimes what I will do is I'll take it out, then I'll be putting the vegetables onto my plate to eat Mhmm.

Jam: 06:11

And my wife's plate. Like, we'll be dividing them up. Mhmm. And then I'll wrap up the foil and throw it away. And I'll do that not too long after you put it in the oven, and most, you know, metal things would still be quite hot.

Melissa: 06:22

The cookie sheet's still hot, Yep. Example.

Jam: 06:24

Exactly.

Melissa: 06:25

Mhmm.

Jam: 06:25

But I can easily pull up the foil, and it's fine. So that is something I have wondered about many times.

Melissa: 06:31

So let me ask you. What did we learn about things that gain and lose heat quickly? For the listeners at home, please go back to episode episode 2. Why are sand and water different temperatures at the beach?

Jam: 06:45

So that was what I was wondering about. Is it But it's metal, so that is confusing to me. But I'm guessing what you're saying is that it has to do with The specific heat of aluminum foil.

Melissa: 06:57

Yes. That's exactly right. Now can you remind us what the definition of specific heat is? This we have Since recorded this, it's since recording this, it's been about 4 months.

Jam: 07:08

Yeah. That's kinda crazy. Okay. Here's my memory of what specific heat's definition is. The amount of is it energy or heat?

Melissa: 07:17

Heat.

Jam: 07:18

The amount of heat required to change the Temperature

Melissa: 07:22

Mhmm.

Jam: 07:22

Of a of 1 is it 1 gram? 1 okay. One gram

Melissa: 07:28

Mhmm.

Jam: 07:28

Of a substance

Melissa: 07:30

Mhmm.

Jam: 07:31

By 1 degree

Melissa: 07:35

Celsius? Yes.

Jam: 07:37

Okay. Some of those those specific units were getting confused for me. But Mhmm. I was thinking, like, I know everything around it.

Melissa: 07:43

Mhmm. But the the blinds okay. Very good memory.

Jam: 07:46

So Said again without all the pauses and humming and hawing or whatever. It's the amount of heat required to change One gram of a substance by 1 degree Celsius.

Melissa: 07:57

Right. So we didn't talk about something else with specific heat

Jam: 08:03

Mhmm.

Melissa: 08:03

That goes hand in hand with it, and that is called heat capacity. Okay. Heat capacity is the amount of heat it takes to raise 1 object by 1 degree Celsius.

Jam: 08:17

Okay.

Melissa: 08:18

So heat capacity is not a unit that's measured by the amount of mass of the substance. It's just an object. So the heat capacity of my cup Mhmm. The heat capacity of Your mug Mhmm. The heat capacity of the human body, all of that, it's not one Pure substance, and it's not just 1 gram.

Melissa: 08:43

It's however much it takes that whole object.

Jam: 08:45

Got it. So, yeah, like, this like, both of our mugs probably are made up of several different, You know, elements or chemicals or whatever that formed the whole deal. And our body's obviously got a lot going on there. So it's Yes. A combination of of things all sort of in one measurement.

Melissa: 09:04

Mhmm. It's a it's Irrespective of size, so size does not matter.

Jam: 09:09

Okay.

Melissa: 09:10

Doesn't your mass doesn't matter.

Jam: 09:11

Mhmm. You

Melissa: 09:12

can take the heat capacity of a human body. And you can take the heat capacity of a doorknob, and they're gonna be significantly different. Mhmm. But they're not comparable the same way. One gram of water and 1 gram of Sand or 1 gram of the human body.

Melissa: 09:25

You could say it's all Mhmm. There's a word I can't think of right now. Standardized. It's all standardized by the 1 gram.

Jam: 09:32

Right.

Melissa: 09:32

Heat capacity isn't standardized.

Jam: 09:34

But it is what's nice about it, it seems like a lot of everyday people would relate to the nonstandardized way. Like, oh, yeah. My body versus a doorknob. It's like just those are objects. It's easy.

Jam: 09:46

Mhmm. We're not trying to think about how much is 1 gram of My body. Yeah. What is 1 gram of a doorknob? Like, that is just Right.

Jam: 09:52

Weird or whatever.

Melissa: 09:53

So it is convenient for thinking about Specific objects, how much an object gains and loses heat Mhmm. Is a lot less abstract than how much heat does it take to raise 1 gram of glass Mhmm. By however much.

Jam: 10:07

Right. Right. Right.

Melissa: 10:08

So we hadn't talked about that because it seemed like a lot, and it was gonna be kind of confusing. Uh-huh. But, Naturally, if you have 1 gram of water and 100 grams of water, which one do you think is going to heat up faster?

Jam: 10:25

One gram.

Melissa: 10:26

One gram. That's true. So if you have a larger mass of something, it's going to take more heat to raise the temperature.

Jam: 10:36

Right. So it might not actually be because of what the object is made up of.

Melissa: 10:42

Mhmm.

Jam: 10:42

It could just be because one of these objects Has more mass than the other.

Melissa: 10:46

Mhmm.

Jam: 10:46

Say, like, your mug and my mug, mine's smaller.

Melissa: 10:49

Yes.

Jam: 10:49

So it might just be like, that's really it. Not it's not because of Mhmm. What the chemical makeup or anything.

Melissa: 10:55

Now think about the mass of a sheet of aluminum foil

Jam: 11:00

Mhmm.

Melissa: 11:00

And the mass of an aluminum cooking sheet.

Jam: 11:04

Pretty different.

Melissa: 11:06

Pretty different. Which one has more mass?

Jam: 11:08

Definitely the sheets.

Melissa: 11:09

Mhmm.

Jam: 11:10

Way thicker, rigid.

Melissa: 11:11

Mhmm. It's got

Jam: 11:12

a lot more going on.

Melissa: 11:13

Yes. So which one of those do you think would require more heat To raise the temperature by 1 degree.

Jam: 11:19

The sheet.

Melissa: 11:20

The cookie sheet. That's right. Not the foil.

Jam: 11:23

Sorry. Yeah. The cookie sheet. I should say that. Yeah.

Jam: 11:24

That is kinda confusing because then it's like sheet you could say sheet of foil. Yes. The cookie sheet, the pan Yes. Whatever. What's

Melissa: 11:30

that? The aluminum pan. Yep. Okay. So now you know all of the things you need to know to think through why.

Melissa: 11:37

That aluminum foil cools down so fast.

Jam: 11:40

Okay.

Melissa: 11:40

So when I opened my oven to take out my salmon, The heat is no longer being put in. I turned my oven off. I opened the door immediately. Not immediately. Very quickly, The aluminum foil is beginning to give off all the heat that it's taken in because it has a low heat capacity.

Jam: 12:01

Because it doesn't have very many, like, shelves to store the energy. That that illustration you used in the past.

Melissa: 12:07

Yes. But in this case, the reason the aluminum foil is losing, Gaining and losing heat more quickly is because than, say, an aluminum pan Mhmm. Is because its mass is so small.

Jam: 12:20

Got it. Okay. Got it.

Melissa: 12:22

So you have this sheet of aluminum foil. Heat has been putting into it. It increased its temperature very quickly, And then you open you turn the oven off, open the oven door, and immediately, it starts giving off its heat.

Jam: 12:34

Right. Right. Right.

Melissa: 12:35

Because the

Jam: 12:36

heat's not being put into it anymore. Just like Yeah.

Melissa: 12:39

Mhmm. And it didn't have the capacity to take in very much heat.

Jam: 12:42

Right.

Melissa: 12:42

So it's not giving off a ton of heat either. Uh-huh. Eventually, Right to the same temperature as the oven, and that was that. Uh-huh. So that's one thing to think about why it's immediately getting cooler.

Jam: 12:54

Okay. Okay.

Melissa: 12:55

There's one other level to it.

Jam: 12:57

What's that?

Melissa: 12:58

The heat capacity of the thing touching it.

Jam: 13:02

The thing touching mean that that thing you're cooking?

Melissa: 13:05

No. The thing that you're touching it with that it doesn't feel hot, your hands.

Jam: 13:11

Yes.

Melissa: 13:11

Okay. So this specific heat is about Less than 1. It's a 0.8.9. The specific heat of water is around 4.

Jam: 13:21

Okay.

Melissa: 13:22

So For

Jam: 13:23

For, like, what? Like, what's the unit?

Melissa: 13:27

It's if the unit is joule per Kelvin gram.

Jam: 13:34

That sounds expensive.

Melissa: 13:35

Or joule per Kelvin kilogram.

Jam: 13:37

Okay.

Melissa: 13:39

I get it. Joule. It took me a second.

Jam: 13:42

Know it's not spelled that way.

Melissa: 13:43

So it's basically, takes more joules per Graham, in Celsius does it take to raise heat? That's

Jam: 13:51

talking 4 for water. Mhmm. And so it takes more.

Melissa: 13:54

Mhmm.

Jam: 13:55

And then less than one For Yes. Aluminum foil.

Melissa: 13:58

So if there is not very many jewels or not very much Heat in aluminum foil, and then you touch it with your hands, which are have a high water content.

Jam: 14:10

Mhmm.

Melissa: 14:10

And then you touch it with your hands, this aluminum foil. You touch it with your hands with their higher heat capacity, the heat that transfers out of that aluminum foil may not feel very hot to you even if it's a higher temperature.

Jam: 14:26

Okay. Got it. So there's a weird Kinda divide between how hot it really is and how hot it feels to us because we are not like a perfect measurer. Yes. Our hands are not perfect measures.

Melissa: 14:39

And we talked about this at the time. Heat and temperature are different.

Jam: 14:41

Mhmm. Mhmm.

Melissa: 14:42

So if the temperature of the aluminum foil is

Jam: 14:45

A

Melissa: 14:45

100 degrees Celsius Mhmm. And the temperature of water is a 100 degrees Celsius. One is gonna be letting off a lot more heat to your hand than the other because it took a lot more heat to put into 1 than the other.

Jam: 14:58

Yes. Okay.

Melissa: 15:00

So it is a high temperature, but it might not contain a ton of heat to be able to transfer.

Jam: 15:07

Mhmm.

Melissa: 15:08

So there's two reasons that the aluminum foil does not feel very hot when you take it out of the oven.

Jam: 15:16

So I I think I got it. Okay. So it sounds like the 2 reasons are this. 1st, I'm gonna do this specific one first.

Melissa: 15:23

Okay.

Jam: 15:23

Because that Kinda tracks with my my chemistry arc of learning.

Melissa: 15:29

Yes.

Jam: 15:30

So if you take the specific heat, Which is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of a substance By 1 degree Celsius?

Melissa: 15:41

Yes.

Jam: 15:42

Aluminum foil

Melissa: 15:44

Mhmm.

Jam: 15:44

Versus the our hands, Which Mhmm.

Melissa: 15:49

Have a

Jam: 15:49

high water content. They've got other things going on too.

Melissa: 15:51

Mhmm.

Jam: 15:51

The aluminum foil's specific heat is pretty low. Yes. Lesson 1

Melissa: 15:56

Yes.

Jam: 15:56

Of the unit. And then just as a kind of relative thing or whatever, our hands and water is, like, 4.

Melissa: 16:05

Mhmm.

Jam: 16:06

So it's like that's a pretty big difference.

Melissa: 16:08

Mhmm.

Jam: 16:09

Even if the aluminum foil is pretty hot still, because that's such a low specific heat, Our feeling of the heat would be pretty different than its actual temperature. So say it's, like, hot Because it take it would take a lot more for our hands to feel the temperature.

Melissa: 16:32

Mhmm.

Jam: 16:33

Feel the heat? Even if it is pretty hot, we might not feel it is one thing.

Melissa: 16:38

Can I say you keep saying hot, And I think you mean temperature?

Jam: 16:44

Yes.

Melissa: 16:44

So even though it is a pretty high temperature, we don't feel the heat this at this point. Right.

Jam: 16:48

Right. Even if it's pretty high temperature. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Jam: 16:50

Yeah. Because you're right. Hot is a kind of like a feel term.

Melissa: 16:53

Yes.

Jam: 16:54

What I mean yeah. What I mean is even if it is hot temperature wise, it actually is Has a high temperature.

Melissa: 16:59

Mhmm.

Jam: 16:59

We might not feel it.

Melissa: 17:00

Great. 2nd one little confusing, but I think you got it.

Jam: 17:04

I think yeah. I it's it's clear that I'm trying to reiterate that I get it. Mhmm. But it's not probably the way that you probably anyone should probably teach it. But that's my Way of connecting some dots.

Melissa: 17:17

Well, actually, I got some listener feedback that you're saying it. It was shout out Isabel h.

Jam: 17:23

Uh-huh.

Melissa: 17:24

She said When Jam says it, then it puts it in terms that I could use to communicate to someone else. She liked it a lot because she Was able to take my chemistry jargon translated through your non jargon out into the world. Oh.

Jam: 17:40

Got it. That's very good. I'm glad it's not just me trying to resay it to make sure I get it. I'm glad it's useful to you guys. So excellent.

Jam: 17:48

Okay. The second half of this would be the heat capacity part, and that is that the aluminum foil

Melissa: 17:55

Mhmm.

Jam: 17:56

If you compare it to even just like a cookie sheet that you might use instead, depending on what you're cooking, it has so much less mass. So just Picking some random numbers. Pretend that 1 sheet of aluminum foil you might use to cook your salmon is, like, 20 grams.

Melissa: 18:12

Mhmm. And

Jam: 18:13

then imagine probably almost every cookie sheet would be something more like a 100 grams, something like that.

Melissa: 18:20

Probably more than that even, but yes.

Jam: 18:22

So at least I mean, like, in that divide, it's already 5 times different, but probably more. Mhmm. So there's just a lot more mass Even if they're like the same exact makeup

Melissa: 18:30

Mhmm.

Jam: 18:30

Because the aluminum foil sheet has so much less mass

Melissa: 18:35

Mhmm.

Jam: 18:36

The amount of heat that it would require to raise the aluminum foil

Melissa: 18:41

Mhmm.

Jam: 18:42

By 1 degree.

Melissa: 18:43

Mhmm.

Jam: 18:44

It would just require so much less. You have a lot less of a thing to heat up.

Melissa: 18:47

Right.

Jam: 18:48

So imagine you got the same exact oven.

Melissa: 18:50

Mhmm.

Jam: 18:50

The the thing that's smaller

Melissa: 18:52

Mhmm.

Jam: 18:53

Will heat up way faster. Makes total sense.

Melissa: 18:55

Yes.

Jam: 18:55

But it's just like that. It's nice to have that word, the heat capacity, to know A sciency way to put that. Yes. Because it does make sense. That's that's pretty logical Yeah.

Jam: 19:04

I think for most of us. Mhmm. So then that also explains pretty quickly going on here with the aluminum foil?

Melissa: 19:10

Yes.

Jam: 19:11

Much lower heat capacity. Lower?

Melissa: 19:13

Mhmm.

Jam: 19:14

Yeah. Lower heat capacity because it's so small. We're still then The in the opposite, whenever it's cooling back down Yes. It'd also be really fast.

Melissa: 19:21

Yeah. That's pretty good.

Jam: 19:23

Pan, which you could you could burn stuff on a pan after it's been sitting out

Melissa: 19:26

Yes.

Jam: 19:26

Of the oven for a little bit Mhmm.

Melissa: 19:28

Because it

Jam: 19:28

might retain that heat longer. Yeah. So it's pretty intuitive, but it's it's really cool having that, like, Understanding of it.

Melissa: 19:35

Yep. That's it. So you got it. You know now that specific heat is standardized by 1 gram. You know that heat capacity is of a whole object, and you know that the differential between specific heat and Aluminum foil in our hands causes it to feel less hot and that more energy is required Physically to raise the temperature of the pan Mhmm.

Melissa: 20:01

Than the foil sheet, so less energy has to come out so it cools down faster.

Jam: 20:06

Yeah. I mean, that's awesome. And it

Melissa: 20:08

Isn't that so cool that you know why?

Jam: 20:11

Yeah. And it's just crazy too. Because I think a lot of times, I just assumed that, like, There was some there was some unique thing Mhmm. About Illumina. We're like, oh, they figured this out.

Jam: 20:19

You know? It's like you use it, and then it's suddenly cool when you're throwing it away or whatever. Yeah. It's not hot like you might expect it to be. And you're like, oh, okay.

Jam: 20:26

I guess that's what the scientists did when they made this thing. I don't know. You just think I just kinda filled in the blank with That must just be by design instead of thinking really like, why is that the case?

Melissa: 20:37

I think you could do that with any metal with a low heat capacity if you Or a low specific heat if you turned it into a foil sheet.

Jam: 20:45

Interesting.

Melissa: 20:47

And you know what else?

Jam: 20:48

What?

Melissa: 20:49

There is not a lot of information about this available. So I thought for sure they would use this example

Jam: 20:54

Mhmm.

Melissa: 20:55

All over the place, But there was not a ton, and I actually had to consult with other scientists to make sure my thinking was correct.

Jam: 21:03

Got it.

Melissa: 21:03

It's very interesting. Yeah. Was a fun journey for me as well.

Jam: 21:06

Man, that's cool.

Melissa: 21:07

So not very many people think of it like that. They have the same experience as you. Interesting, Yeah. I feel that I've learned so much from researching for this podcast. Yeah.

Melissa: 21:17

It's been really fun.

Jam: 21:19

And it's awesome. And to make sure that, like, it makes sense. You have to make sure that before you pump out some knowledge to the world, that you're checking with either a reference or your colleagues or whatever Yeah. Makes sense, that that would be a learning experience, not just the homework required, but then the, like, collaboration.

Melissa: 21:35

Yeah. I did find a really

Jam: 21:45

And it is.

Melissa: 21:45

It was They

Jam: 21:46

were like

Melissa: 21:46

fun to read it.

Jam: 21:47

They're like, hear ye, hear ye. We Yeah.

Melissa: 21:51

Yeah. It was and it was written in It was, written in old timey font for the old timey computers.

Jam: 21:56

They're like, 4 score in 7 years ago.

Melissa: 22:00

And while we're talking about that I had so much fun learning. Mhmm. Also, I'm gonna say my thankful before you get to say you're thankful.

Jam: 22:08

Perfect. Switch it up. I like it.

Melissa: 22:10

So Thanksgiving is coming up. It's just next week. And a lot of times people ask me how school's going and All kinds of things. And my response lately has been, I love everything I'm doing. I just wish I had no homework and more money.

Melissa: 22:29

Yeah. I'm not greedy. I just am an adult who lives on a grad student salary. Yeah. So just a little would go a long way.

Jam: 22:37

I think for a lot of us, it would decrease our stress level to some degree.

Melissa: 22:39

Yeah. But I'm just really thankful because Of where I am in my life, it allows me to do that. So

Jam: 22:47

Mhmm.

Melissa: 22:50

My adviser is so encouraging of This podcast and I volunteer at a museum, and Mhmm. I get to research the things I'm interested in, and she's excited about that for me. Yeah. And I'm so thankful to have someone in my life like that, a good mentor, and I'm so thankful for the college of science and the chemistry department that helped me get where I wanna go. Mhmm.

Melissa: 23:12

And, really, they allowed me to tailor my program to what I needed to accomplish, and they showed so much confidence in me to do that. Uh-huh. And this podcast and all of you listeners, like, finding value in it and being excited about it, all of those things Have basically allowed me when my family asks, how's school going? How long do you have to graduate? All those questions I always get To have an answer that I'm very excited about for the 1st time in a very long time

Jam: 23:40

Yeah.

Melissa: 23:41

That I get to say, I love what I'm doing. I love everything that I'm doing. I just wish I didn't have homework Yeah. Yeah. And got an adult's income.

Melissa: 23:50

And that hasn't been true for a very long time. And I'm just so thankful for this podcast and all of you listeners and everyone who Talk to me about how excited they are about chemistry and just about life in general. I just I'm in a really good place with My career, and Mhmm. I'm so thankful that I'm getting to do I'm really and truly living out my Science communication goals and dreams. And Yeah.

Melissa: 24:19

People ask me what I wanna do when I graduate, and it's this. Yeah. I wanna keep doing what I'm doing right now because I'm getting to share with people how exciting chemistry is.

Jam: 24:28

Dude, that's awesome. That's a good thankful.

Melissa: 24:30

That's my thankful.

Jam: 24:33

Mine is, not as cool as that, so I wish I'd gone first. Just kidding. I have had a I've been thankful the past couple weeks for getting to do some work with I've been doing some freelance work for a company in the UK.

Melissa: 24:52

Nice. And it's

Jam: 24:52

been a a couple projects here and there, but it's been really cool. Mhmm. There's actually some interesting chemistry stuff that seems like they do that I'll have to ask you about, at some point. But

Melissa: 25:02

We love the UK here. Yes. We do. Chemistry for your life.

Jam: 25:04

Yep. In fact, so much that we, made sure to say aluminium at the very beginning.

Melissa: 25:08

Mhmm.

Jam: 25:09

But sorry you had to hear it the other way the rest of the episode.

Melissa: 25:13

Oh, yeah. That probably is grating on the ears of our British listeners.

Jam: 25:16

Sorry, guys.

Melissa: 25:17

If only

Jam: 25:17

we could, like, have a different version specifically for your country. That'd be kinda cool. Just to make it a little bit more easy to listen to.

Melissa: 25:25

Our voices are voiced over with someone with a better accent. Yeah.

Jam: 25:28

Yeah. So the other thing is that, in the same vein, I've been doing some work for a a local nonprofit that helps people who have car needs. Oh, that's cool. Don't have the finances to be able to, Like, meet their pretty urgent needs. Either they're, like, a single mom or they have some other documentable, like like, disability or lack of income or unemployment or whatever it is Mhmm.

Jam: 25:54

To help them get back on their feet. Because if you're already in that situation and then you have a car issue of some kind at all, then that's not good. So Yeah. You can't drive to even go to an interview to get a job and all that stuff. So There's a nonprofit that does that, and I've been we're doing some work for them this month, helping them do some fundraising.

Jam: 26:11

And so I've really enjoyed that work. That's just so a project that It'll be wrapping up here soon, but it's been really nice having those things to work on.

Melissa: 26:20

Do you want to share the name of the nonprofit in case there's anyone who's interested, any of our listeners interested in contributing to that?

Jam: 26:27

Yeah. Absolutely. So it's called Metro Auto Ministry. The easiest place to find them is on Facebook. It's not the only place, But, yeah, really cool nonprofit, really capable people.

Jam: 26:46

A lot of really cool stories I've heard already just in the past Couple years they've been operating Mhmm. Of people who've really needed exactly that kind of help to get back on their feet. And it's been a really important piece of that to them getting back on their feet in

Melissa: 26:59

Yeah.

Jam: 27:00

In a lot of other ways too. So, yeah.

Melissa: 27:02

Wow. That's cool.

Jam: 27:03

Check them out if you're interested.

Melissa: 27:05

So if our listeners wanna see what work you specifically did, what'd you do with them?

Jam: 27:10

Their fundraising campaign that they did last month is what I worked on. So Did

Melissa: 27:14

you do the logo too?

Jam: 27:16

Yes. That's true. I did that a couple years ago. Also, I helped name it in the 1st place, because it was just kinda called it It was kinda car called, like, oh, the car nonprofit. Like, it was like no one had a word for it.

Jam: 27:27

So

Melissa: 27:27

That's cool. And, also, GM did our intro song

Jam: 27:31

Mhmm.

Melissa: 27:32

And did our logo and does all the digital things that you ever see. So

Jam: 27:37

So this is kinda the episode where we showcase our work as if it's a resume and then hoping that some listener out there wants me to do that stuff for them.

Melissa: 27:45

That was not my intention. But if I was listening to a podcast And I got to learn more about what one of the hosts did in their everyday life. I would think it was really fun. So

Jam: 27:55

Fair enough. Yeah. We won't do it every time. So don't worry.

Melissa: 27:57

Thinks it's really fun. Yeah. Yeah. They'll get the opportunity to look into that. So So that was mine.

Melissa: 27:58

Thanks, you guys. Do you need to look into that? So

Jam: 28:01

So that was mine. Thanks you guys so much for listening. A quick update on our listenership around the world. We added a new country this week, Kazakhstan, in Central Asia area. We got some downloads there, which is pretty awesome, brand new to our podcast.

Jam: 28:18

So thank you guys for listening.

Melissa: 28:18

Yes. Thank you. It's very close to Russia, and one of my favorite hockey goalies was born there.

Jam: 28:25

I've been to Central Asia before, and the area is so pretty. So Kazakhstan, glad you guys are listening. Thanks so much for for doing that on the other side of the world.

Melissa: 28:35

Yes. Thank you so much. And, also, thanks to my references.

Jam: 28:40

Mhmm.

Melissa: 28:41

I was able to find a very cool website, science line dot u c s b dot e d u. It looks like it's part of a school website where you can ask the scientist at the school questions, and they can answer it.

Jam: 28:54

Nice.

Melissa: 28:55

So that was a really fun resource because there's not a lot of published data on this. And then I also was able to bounce my ideas off of and talk through Specific heat and aluminum foil specifically with doctor Weber at UNT. Nice. She has a PhD in physical chemistry. And Chemistry by Julia Byrd, the 1st edition, plus my previous knowledge and my salmon baking experience.

Jam: 29:23

Melissa and I have a lot of ideas of chemistry in everyday life, but wanna hear from you. So if you have thoughts or ideas, Feel free to share those with us. We'd love to hear them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Gmail at kem for your life. That's kem, f o r, your life, to share thoughts and ideas. And if you enjoy this podcast, you can subscribe on your favorite podcast app.

Jam: 29:41

And if you really like it, then you can write a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps us to be able to share chemistry with even more people.

Melissa: 29:47

This episode of Chemistry For Your Life was created by Melissa Collini and Jame Robinson. Jame Robinson is our producer, and we'd like to give a special thanks to and s Flint, who reviewed this episode?