Carbonzo Beans

 Laura: Hello and welcome to another episode of Lexx Education. It’s the comedy Science podcast, where comedian me Laura Lexx tries to learn science from her nerdy younger brother, Ron.

Ron: I don't like how the word nerdy has slipped into this intro every week. Hello. I'm Ron, by the way. No, it used to be just like, oh, it's just a normal old guy. What an average Joe that isn't a comedian now. I'm an Incel that's teaching you science.

Laura: But nerds are cool nowadays. Nerds are like, nerds are sexy marvel guys. Those are nerds now.

Ron: Yeah, I guess my culture did get appropriated.

Laura: Yeah, you deserved it, though. How are you, Ron?

Ron: I'm good, thank you.

Ron: How are you doing?

Laura: Yeah, I'm all right. I have just been on a very long walk. Training for another long walk.

Ron: Why are you doing that? You hated the last one I Shan’t Listen to your bitching.

Laura: This one is half the length of the other one.

Ron: Did you enjoy the first half of the last one?

Laura: Yes, I did. Thank you. So this one is half the length and I'm very looking forward to it.

Ron: This one you're doing with Mum?

Laura: No, I'm not looking forward to that one. Be mad. No. This one I'm doing with two friends shout out Hatty and Kirsty.

Ron: Happy birthday, Kirsty.

Laura: Happy birthday. Kirsty. It’s your birthday the day we're recording this. I know you listen, you cheekster. Happy birthday. Let's do birthday shoutouts Ron when we know.

Laura: Yeah, we need to know when the.

Ron: Listeners birthdays email in with your birthday.

Ron: And if we are recording on that day, you'll get a delayed happy birthday.

Laura: Later on the Monday afterwards.

Laura: Yeah, just like we're like CBC when we were kids, you know, when they'd like to show the cards off that some parents had sent in.

Laura: Yeah, I'd love that.

Laura: Anyway, right, bend in your finger painting, except we both refuse to give you our addresses.

Laura: So this week's episode, we're back on the syllabus after the fun side stop we did in Halloween World.

Laura: Thank you for all your love.

Ron: There's a diversion.

Laura: Thank you for your love about Halloween week.

Laura: We had a good time putting it together and we liked your feedback, so thank you very much.

Laura: I've been enjoying a lot of chitchat this week.

Laura: Sorry, Jasper, that we're ruining your degree prep, but look, this is probably more important, so don't worry about it.

Laura: And thank you, Cat, for the little sign you shared.

Laura: You saw this and thought of Laura not understanding science and Ron banging his head against the desk and trying to teach her, says, did you do Science Day little flow chart?

Laura: No.

Laura: Go do some science.

Laura: Yes.

Laura: Was the science good?

Laura: No.

Laura: Oh, you deserve chocolate.

Laura: Or yes, yeah, you deserve chocolate.

Laura: Either way, I get chocolate.

Laura: You alright, Ron?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: You haven't put in all the notes about the social stuff and I don't know what's happened.

Laura: Well, maybe you could do the notes one week.

Ron: But you just there every week.

Laura: Yeah, because I do them.

Laura: It's been quite to be honest, we're recording this quite close to the release date, so not all the chitter chatters come in, really, so we'll probably just jump into the episode.

Laura: Roloatovla quickly.

Laura: Lots of nice.

Laura: I mean, the bingo's going on.

Ron: Bingo's popping.

Laura: Andrew thought Halloween made you very mean, Ron, so just want you to know that some people are on my side, I promise.

Ron: Do you every listener listening to this?

Ron: Halloween didn't make me mean.

Ron: It was the 20 episodes before it made me mean.

Laura: And there was also a lot of love with a little blooper reel that I put on the end of the episode.

Laura: Did you listen to it, Ron?

Ron: I did after I saw some of the chat, yeah.

Ron: I didn't know that you were going to do that.

Ron: I was giddy.

Laura: You are giddy.

Laura: Just reading my Wikipedia entry.

Laura: So, thank you for your chat.

Laura: You know we love it.

Laura: We tell you every week how much we love it.

Laura: We're going to jump into it.

Laura: It feels boring to go back to chemistry after whatever it was we were studying, the little ants and stuff, but, hey, have it.

Laura: Oh, this episode, for the first time ever, the lack of effort in this episode comes from Ron rather than me.

Laura: And I want you to know that it's a very different vibe you're about to walk into.

Laura: But do enjoy yourselves.

Laura: Hi, Ron.

Laura: Bon, Ron.

Laura: Bon jovi.

Ron: My pub quiz name for a very long time was the Lemon Bond.

Ron: Ron.

Laura: Oh, that's nice.

Laura: What do you call Ron's Krispies on?

Ron: Ron's Krispies is what I'm called on your PlayStation.

Laura: Oh, yeah.

Laura: I'm called Fatted Savings, too, because I let the PlayStation choose a name on its own.

Laura: It shows fatted savings.

Laura: Two if fatted savings one is out there listening or just fatted savings no number.

Laura: Hey, get in touch.

Laura: I'd love to hear from you.

Ron: Yeah, you might get a bunch of creeps messaging on PSN now.

Laura: Yeah, I didn't tell them where all the extra things are, though.

Ron: Extra things?

Laura: You know, there's extra little bit box in there.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Also, I don't know how to access it, so send away creeps.

Laura: It'll make a nice change from Instagram.

Laura: DM.

Ron: We're back into chemistry.

Ron: It feels like a very long time since we recorded a chemistry episode.

Laura: It's been a while.

Laura: It doesn't to me.

Laura: It feels like I'm constantly sitting in this chair, sweating, about to feel so stupid.

Ron: Can you remember what we covered in the last chemistry episode?

Laura: Oh, no.

Laura: And I've just realised I've written physics at the top of the page because I wrote chemistry at the top of the last page, but then that actually turned out to be Halloween.

Laura: You said that.

Ron: What do you mean, Halloween?

Laura: This is Halloween.

Laura: That's like the way Mum always has new look.

Laura: Mom always puts her emphasis on the second word tries to make bananas.

Laura: I'm going to get a hot dog.

Laura: Why do we go clothes shopping to New look?

Laura: Say new look, you idiot.

Laura: We did.

Ron: I could tell you guys have seen each other recently.

Laura: We did.

Laura: Structures, ionic lattices, small molecules, giant covalent structures, all that stuff.

Ron: Yes, we did.

Laura: Please tell me we're not doing any more of that, though.

Ron: We are.

Laura: I don't want to do that, but.

Ron: We'Re revisiting an old friend.

Ron: I'll level with you, Laura.

Ron: We've got, like, just not enough at the end of a bit that we're going to spat out into a full episode today, so then we can move on to something else next chemistry episode.

Ron: Okay, so does that mean this one's.

Laura: Going to have a lot of stuff that's not actually in the syllabus, but it's just you talking about stuff you find interesting?

Ron: No, because I didn't actually have time to do any extra research, so it's just going to be a very content light episode.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: Do you want me to sing more?

Ron: Sing away.

Ron: Of course.

Ron: I've got visuals as well.

Laura: I can't wait.

Ron: Okay, back to the pocket.

Laura: See you in a second.

Ron: Bye.

Ron: Okay, so today we're going to specifically talk about the carbon and the different structures that are useful to learn about in terms of carbon.

Laura: Carbon.

Ron: What can you tell me about carbon?

Laura: Carbon is the grandfather of everything.

Laura: We are carbon, the table is carbon.

Laura: Your mother is carbon.

Laura: A treat is carbon.

Laura: Carbon is the reason that none of us should reproduce.

Laura: Carbon is the reason that all of us reproduced.

Laura: Carbon makes carbon.

Laura: Carbon loves touching other carbons and the bonds.

Laura: Carbon has four carbons.

Laura: Carbons, carbons, carbon.

Laura: Do you know what the weird thing is?

Laura: I thought about having a snack before we did this, so I wasn't hungry and low blood sugar, and I didn't, but I seem to be hyper anyway, but I am going to crash at some point.

Laura: That's fun.

Laura: Carbon has four loosey goosey sad boys, so it makes very stiff bonds because it's held on tight in four separate strands.

Ron: Kind of the covalent bonds that carbon makes.

Ron: It the same as any other Covalent bond.

Laura: Yeah, I know.

Ron: Yeah, exactly.

Ron: But, yeah, it does make four of them.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Ding ding, bashing unit.

Ron: I was just clarifying.

Ron: So the first carbon thing that we're going to talk about, and I've heard you talk about this on another podcast, is diamond and the structure of diamond.

Laura: And they last forever.

Ron: Yes, they do, because they're very, very strong.

Ron: Now, if you could go to Yoldi WhatsApp web?

Laura: Already on it, mate.

Laura: We haven't got the video on today because your internet's being sketchy.

Laura: So I can p*** about on the internet while you're talking fun.

Laura: On the WhatsApp web?

Ron: Can you look at the thing that I've just sent you?

Laura: Okay, I'm looking@sketchfab.com.

Laura: And it's a diamond Covalent network model.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So that is just a 3D model of diamond structure, because I thought if you could move around it, you'd get a good idea of sort of how it looks.

Laura: Yeah, it's in.

Laura: Spin it, Laura.

Ron: It's an audio medium.

Ron: Could you?

Laura: Yeah, but you've given me something that's distracting now, haven't you?

Laura: Yeah, you silly goose.

Laura: So the four Covalent bonds that come off each carbon, they sort of make like a little pylon, so three come out the side in a triangle, if you know what I mean.

Laura: Like it would make a triangle and then one sticks up out the roof.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And then the model itself will post all of these on Twitter or Instagram or something.

Ron: It's just a small section of it, because obviously we would sort of tessellate almost infinitely in that structure.

Laura: It depends how big the diamond is, though.

Laura: That might be just the whole thing.

Laura: If it was a very small diamond.

Ron: Yeah, I guess you wouldn't really be able to see that.

Ron: That would be diamond dust, I guess.

Laura: And they called it the diamond dust.

Ron: Anything else you want to say about this?

Laura: It's got some degrees written at the top.

Laura: I don't know if they're important.

Ron: So those are the angles that the.

Laura: Bonds are at, right.

Laura: It goes up in a pyramid.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Would it have to go in a pyramid?

Laura: Oh, you can zoom so far in and the carbon looks like a tiny disco ball.

Laura: What are the sticks actually made of in actual?

Ron: Well, those just represent the Covalent bonds.

Laura: Oh, so there aren't sticks?

Ron: There aren't sticks, but there would be a pair of electrons that are getting shared in between each of those.

Laura: I've zoomed super far away from it now, Ron.

Laura: You can barely see it.

Ron: Oh, wow.

Laura: Who makes this website?

Laura: Why would you make that ability?

Ron: It's open source, so anyone can make it.

Laura: People have too much time on their hands, don't they?

Ron: Yes.

Ron: As you talking about it on a podcast.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Boy, I'm in a carbon.

Ron: It looks a lot like the Atomium for anyone that's been to Brussels.

Laura: I have, and I don't know what you mean.

Ron: Nah, the Atomium's not not Brill, to be honest.

Ron: Quite a dull landmark.

Ron: And you can see it from ages away, so there's very little point in going there.

Laura: Some sort of church is losing it's.

Laura: Mine near you.

Ron: Yes.

Ron: 502 special time in Brussels.

Ron: I think they're a little bit late now.

Ron: They're trying to make up with it with gusto.

Ron: So, Laura, knowing what you know about the structure of diamond, could you describe why it is so strong and has such a high melting temperature?

Laura: Because you have to break or loosen four bonds in order to break it.

Ron: And those bonds are Covalent, which are.

Laura: The strongest type of bond.

Ron: Exactly, yeah.

Laura: So for each atom, the Daniel Craig of the situation yeah.

Ron: You have to break four of the strongest cycle bonds that we have.

Ron: Why doesn't diamond conduct electricity.

Laura: There's no loose electrons.

Ron: Exactly.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: All of the electrons are held up in bonds or just in and around the carbon.

Laura: It's all tied up in bonds.

Laura: I haven't got access to any free electrons right now.

Ron: Yeah, she good.

Laura: Addiction.

Laura: Yes.

Ron: Ann couldn't think of anything to add there.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Harder than it looks, this comedy locks.

Ron: She not a professional.

Ron: She's that scared me off.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: That's diamond, isn't it?

Laura: I used to have my car insurance with them.

Laura: I don't think that had anything to do with the bonds, but it was fine.

Ron: You sang that nice David Bowie song.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Diamond Dogs.

Laura: Good one.

Laura: Diamonds are forever diamonds are a girl's best friend diamonds on the soles of.

Ron: Her shoes blood diamonds, yeah.

Laura: Did we, Anna, have a song with diamonds in it?

Ron: Shine bright like a diamond shine bright.

Laura: Like a diamond, yeah.

Ron: Jimmy diamond.

Ron: Is that someone?

Laura: Neil diamond?

Laura: That's it, yeah.

Laura: Jimmy diamond.

Ron: Jimmy diamond was someone from years and years.

Ron: They did that diamond heist in the O two.

Laura: I don't think it was called Jimmy Diamond.

Ron: He started going by Jimmy Diamond down at the pub.

Ron: That's one of the ways that they caught it.

Laura: Printing my niche patronsoly podcast with my other podcast run.

Ron: I'm a patron of the art.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: And if you're listening, I do make my brother pay for extra content.

Laura: I do.

Ron: And I'm a part of the podcast.

Laura: Yes.

Ron: And I have to pay so I can listen, so I can do my bit on the next episode.

Laura: Let's get Doug in on this one.

Laura: We'll get Douglan in.

Laura: Doug.

Ron: He's doing a bloody sold out run at the Edinburgh at the moment.

Ron: I'm not sure we'll be able to.

Laura: Do that, but this is the first week in November by the time people listening to this.

Ron: Yeah, true.

Laura: Halloween episode has done wonders for me, knowing when these episodes go out.

Ron: Yeah, I was so excited to record that.

Ron: Anything else?

Laura: Did you forgot to prep any content for this one?

Ron: No.

Ron: Look, we could have kept on going, but after the structure and bonding of carbon, we get into something called quantitative chemistry, which is literally just doing maths about chemistry.

Ron: So I thought, you know what, I'll save that for its own episode.

Laura: Oh, good.

Laura: Can't wait for that.

Laura: Remind me to kill myself in two and a half weeks.

Ron: So, is there anything else you want to say about diamonds, Laura?

Laura: How much time's worth of stuff do you need me to say about diamond?

Ron: We've got like another two or three of these.

Laura: I've got a diamond ring.

Ron: Oh, that's nice.

Laura: You could tell that fact again that you told last time we talked about diamonds, about them not actually being scarce.

Laura: Do you want to do that?

Ron: Oh, yeah.

Ron: To beers.

Laura: That's about a minute, isn't it?

Ron: To beers.

Ron: Just force the market like they've got loads and then they just release a certain number of them to keep the price up.

Ron: And as we've seen here, and chemically, they're not rare.

Ron: It's not like gold, where there's a very sort of small findout amount of gold on the planet.

Ron: They're just made out of carbon.

Ron: We can make them ourselves.

Ron: They're not rare.

Ron: And then also people being like, oh, I don't want a diamond that has been made in the lab.

Ron: There's no reason why not.

Ron: It's the same.

Laura: Yep.

Laura: There you go.

Ron: Do you know that apparently all of the gold in the world could fit in a cube underneath the Eiffel Tower?

Laura: Really?

Ron: Mr.

Ron: Curran told me that in DT Gtse.

Laura: Paul Curran.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Should we DOX I still think it's doxing.

Laura: We're not saying anything horrible the same way.

Ron: Liz he told us a couple of times that he was in the room when the crumbtray of the toaster, the modern toaster, was invented.

Laura: I liked him.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Do you still call DT resistant materials when you did it?

Ron: Resistant materials was one of them.

Ron: There was DT graphics, DT resistant materials and DT.

Ron: What was the other one?

Laura: Textiles and cooking.

Ron: No, those weren't DT when I was there.

Ron: Mr.

Ron: Heal did it.

Laura: He wasn't there when I was there.

Ron: He was a form shooter for my year.

Ron: Anyway, so that's diamond.

Laura: Diamond.

Ron: So now we're going to move on to something that you've probably heard of, but may not know much about.

Ron: Do you know what pencil lead is made out of, Laura?

Laura: Graphite.

Ron: Do you know what graphite is made out of, Laura?

Laura: Carbon.

Ron: Yup.

Ron: But graphite is a very interesting molecule.

Ron: So let me send you disclaimer interesting.

Laura: Maybe in different things to you and Ron.

Ron: Hey, the listeners, back me up on the interesting.

Ron: Okay.

Ron: When that loads, tell the listener what you see.

Laura: Right, I'm going back to the WhatsApp web.

Laura: Ron sent me another link.

Ron: The WhatsApp web?

Ron: Sent a WhatsApp web message.

Laura: Oh, hello.

Laura: Right, now I'm looking at it's.

Laura: Another of these, like, made up of lattice things, but instead of it being a pyramid where everything's got four connected, this time there's layers like puffy or an onion.

Laura: To paraphrase a joke from Shrekles autobiography.

Laura: Stop it.

Laura: These ones all have 1234.

Laura: I hate counting things in a circle because you can't remember where you started.

Laura: 1234.

Ron: Hexagon six.

Laura: They have six bonds between them.

Ron: No, they don't.

Laura: The hexagon is the hexagon has six.

Ron: Sides, but not the atoms.

Ron: Don't have six bonds.

Laura: But that's blown my little ears off.

Laura: Yes, everything still has four bonds.

Ron: Listener oh, it doesn't.

Laura: Oh, no.

Laura: Everything has three bonds.

Ron: Jesus Christ.

Laura: It's because there's no up one.

Laura: Where's the up bond gone?

Ron: Whoa.

Laura: You can scoot through the layers.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Whoa.

Laura: It's like a time travel.

Laura: Oh, my God.

Laura: We're on yesterday in the real world, not in podcast listening times.

Laura: I went to a place in Sussex called Knock Hatch.

Ron: I don't know, sounds weird.

Laura: It's just a zoo kind of like Crewy, but for the sake.

Ron: Knock hatch is the kind of thing that Americans make up for British places.

Laura: Well, it's actually a thing that British people made up for this British place, right, and I went there and they had a Sherlock Homes experience where you went in and then you watched a.

Ron: Little video where Sherlock did loads of drugs.

Laura: Not for the Sherlock Holmes experience, but just coincidentally, I happened to be opiumed out of my toots.

Laura: Sat down and watched a video where Sherlock Holmes said, hey, help me solve this thing, and then they said, hey, go through this door, right?

Laura: They said, like, sort of intimated that it was just a curtain, right?

Laura: And then they had these, like, massive inflatable walls that you had to force your way through, like a birthing canal to come out the other side, with no indication of how long the birthing canal was or when you were going to be free again.

Laura: I've never, ever been so upset in my life by an experience that was ostensibly for children, but I feel like they should have warned you that you were about to go through that.

Ron: Is that not the issue right there?

Ron: If it's for children, a child would slip right through.

Ron: But you were caught in the passage.

Laura: I don't think nephews were thrilled about it either.

Laura: To be perfect.

Ron: No.

Ron: It sounds quite awful.

Laura: It was awful.

Laura: And then all we could think about was, it's been so hot lately.

Laura: How many sweaty arms and faces have been pulped into that thing?

Laura: Suncream, sweat, other oozes just going all over it.

Laura: And then the next person basically comes through and wipes that all off onto themselves and leaves their own trail like human slugs.

Laura: Then we went round it, right, and I didn't realise this, but there were bits that were like, jumpy.

Laura: So somebody got shot.

Laura: I shut my pants.

Laura: I screamed so loudly at this gunshot going off.

Laura: Oh, my God.

Laura: I hate things that make me jump.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: I hate to be scared.

Laura: You'd have hated it.

Laura: You'd have absolutely done a crap ole down your Legos.

Ron: Yeah, I'm very jumpy.

Laura: Me too, buddy.

Ron: Right.

Laura: Anyway, what we're talking about, how did I get on to that?

Laura: Because I was zooming through.

Laura: Yes.

Laura: So each carbon's got three connectors, and then the top connector that should make it into a lattice is just not there, guys.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And the lattices are completely flat, so they don't have the sort of triangle kind of base that they're actually proper.

Laura: Lattices, not like a 3D full lattice that Run likes to think is the lattice.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So what happens with graphite, right, lawyer is each carbon atom forms these three bonds.

Ron: The last electron that would form a bond, the last electron dissociates, like what happens in metals when they do metallic bonding.

Laura: Oh, so it like goes you through your thing.

Laura: I just don't think polyamory is for me, guys.

Laura: I'm going to go over there and pretend I don't know you.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So instead of like in a metal, obviously it's all of the positively charged nuclei of the don't yawn when I'm talking like that.

Laura: Sorry.

Laura: Try it.

Laura: I've had to get up at, like, normal people hours.

Ron: All of the positively charged nuclei of the metal atoms are sort of in and amongst the negatively charged jam cement of the sadboys of the electrons.

Ron: Right.

Ron: In graphite, you have positively charged layers of this carbon lattice layers, and then like a mana biscuit, you have negatively charged sad boys in between holding them together.

Laura: What?

Laura: Can you say all that again?

Laura: Because I was trying to remember how to spell disassociate.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So wait, where did you need me to start?

Laura: Go back to diamonds?

Laura: No, just joking.

Laura: So three of them pair up and then one of them disassociates and gets what happens?

Laura: Then what?

Ron: So in the same way as with a metal, you have all the positive.

Laura: Don'T say in the same way as a metal because I don't know what that means.

Ron: Well, do you remember metallic bonding?

Ron: Let me explain it.

Ron: Then you have all of the positive.

Laura: Don'T ask if I remember it.

Ron: Then you have all of the positively charged nuclei of the metal, the plural.

Laura: Of nucleus I i know, know.

Laura: Don't answer that question.

Laura: So I didn't ask it.

Ron: So you have all the positive charge nuclei and then those are in a.

Laura: Do you want ice cream?

Laura: No, I don't get ice cream.

Ron: Yeah, go on.

Ron: I'll describe graphene yes.

Laura: My goodness, mackie's.

Laura: As leaving her bed right now.

Laura: She looks so cute.

Ron: So the electrons dissociate and then those kind of jam together all of the positively charged nuclei.

Ron: Right?

Ron: That's a metallic bond.

Ron: You remember this?

Laura: Hang on, let me take a picture of back and then you can tell me again.

Laura: So cute, Ron.

Laura: Okay, say it again.

Ron: Do you remember what metallic bonding is?

Laura: I said no.

Ron: Okay.

Ron: Not even from the last two times when I said it in the last two minutes?

Ron: I said I wasn't okay, right.

Ron: Are you listening now?

Laura: Oh, my God.

Laura: We play drawing this week.

Ron: Jesus Christ.

Ron: Are you listening now?

Laura: Yes.

Ron: Okay.

Laura: I drew an offer last night, it was bad.

Ron: All of the electrons dissociate and then they exist in kind of a cement with the positively charged nuclei getting held together with the negatively charged elections in between them.

Ron: Okay?

Laura: Okay.

Laura: Is that in metals?

Ron: Obviously that's in metals.

Ron: That's something that we covered at this .9 months ago.

Ron: And then shut up.

Ron: Instead of in graphite, instead of it being positively charged nuclei graphics, graphite, instead of it being positive shut up.

Laura: Graphs, giraffes.

Ron: It's positively charged sheets of you haven't.

Laura: Shouted shut up at me in a while, I don't think shut up, shut up, shut up.

Ron: It's positively charged sheets of graph feet.

Laura: Positively charged sheets and.

Ron: Then the dissociated electrons hold them together.

Laura: Okay, so same as a metal, but just in a milfoy.

Ron: Yeah, in foy form.

Ron: And then those layers are covalently bonded into sheets, but there are no covalent bonds in between the sheets.

Ron: Okay.

Laura: No.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: So this allows graphite to do a couple of things that are interesting.

Ron: Firstly, a lot like metals, but a lot softer.

Ron: The sheets can slide over each other.

Ron: OK.

Ron: This is the whole reason why pencils work in the way that they do.

Ron: Because basically what you're doing is you're wiping off sheets of graphite onto the paper.

Laura: That's magic.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And then, so if you had, like, if you take, like, iron, for example, ions got a lot of electrons that it dissociates and then hold together all of the positively charged nucleuses.

Ron: But in graphite, it's only one electron that's getting dissociated per carbon.

Ron: And then all of those carbon is quite spread out because of the covalent bonds between them.

Ron: So the forces actually in between the layers are quite weak.

Laura: Right, okay.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And then this also, because it has these disassociated electrons, it can conduct electricity as well.

Laura: Right.

Ron: So you could, if you wanted to pass a current through a pencil.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Yeah, that's graphite.

Ron: Anything else you want to say about that?

Laura: Hey, I had to fix the plug on my Hoover again the other day, and it doesn't have it's only got two wires in it.

Ron: Which one doesn't it have?

Laura: Blue one.

Ron: So it's just got an earth wire and a live wire.

Laura: Maybe it doesn't have a green and yellow one.

Laura: I can't remember.

Ron: So it's not getting earthed.

Laura: It only had two wires in it.

Ron: Is that safe?

Laura: I don't know, mate.

Laura: Ask James Dyson.

Laura: No, actually don't.

Laura: He didn't make it as a vax.

Ron: No.

Ron: Ask our dad before you die in a house fire.

Laura: But there's only two wires in the whole thing.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Is it not getting earthed, is my question.

Laura: I don't know.

Laura: I only bought it in 2015.

Laura: So we knew about Earthing then.

Laura: So if it wasn't safe, they couldn't have sold it, could they?

Ron: I mean, they could have, apparently.

Laura: Yes.

Laura: It's only got two wires.

Ron: Well, there we go.

Laura: And also, what's a fuse doing?

Ron: It breaks if there's too much current.

Laura: Cool.

Laura: Because I plugged the plug into the wall, right.

Laura: And I saw a big spark in the plug and then the hoove stopped working, so then I took it apart and the fuse is sort of all blackened now, but it still works.

Laura: So the next one what do you think, listener?

Laura: Should I get a new vacuum cleaner or should I just wait to die?

Ron: If you die in a house fire because of this, I wonder if I'll release this episode.

Laura: Yeah, I think you should.

Laura: As evidence.

Laura: Do you mind if I do a we run?

Laura: I need a we.

Ron: How long have we got on the clock?

Laura: Excuse me?

Laura: We've recorded for 28 minutes.

Ron: Jesus.

Ron: Yeah, go for a we have to stretch out the last bits a bit.

Laura: I think Mackie's missing.

Laura: Newton.

Ron: Are they friends again?

Laura: Oh, they love each other.

Laura: Wow.

Laura: To be fair.

Laura: Well, no, they do.

Laura: They love each other.

Laura: He is obsessed with snuffling her ears.

Laura: Like yesterday, she just had wet ears all day because he won't leave them alone.

Ron: Disgusting.

Laura: You'll witness it next week at Dad's birthday.

Ron: I will.

Ron: Oh, weirdly.

Ron: By the time this comes out, dad's actual birthday will be next week.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: So we're throwing my dad a surprise 70th birthday party.

Laura: The surprise being we're doing it three months before his actual birthday, so he won't go.

Laura: I don't know how he's going to feel about that.

Ron: I think you'll have fun.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: He loves us and our company.

Ron: He does, yeah.

Ron: I don't know about all the other people we've invited, but we'll see.

Laura: Well, okay.

Laura: Ron graphite.

Ron: Graphite.

Laura: Hey, we should put a disclaimer on this episode that says disclaimer contains graphic imagery.

Ron: Graphite imagery.

Laura: Graphite descriptions.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Graphite depictions of molecules.

Ron: So that's graphite.

Laura: Yep.

Laura: I understood it all.

Ron: Anything else you want to say about it at all?

Laura: Is it poisonous?

Ron: Students should be.

Ron: It's not good for you.

Ron: Students.

Laura: Wait, when pencils were was it actually lead that was in pencils before graphite?

Ron: Presumably.

Laura: Well, how did that work?

Laura: Is lead also in sheets?

Ron: Yes.

Laura: You don't know that?

Ron: No.

Ron: All metals are in sheets.

Ron: That's how you can, like, bend them and work them into shapes.

Laura: Oh, so they're all softly softy layers.

Ron: Well, do you remember when we talked about alloys, metals before?

Ron: We were talking about how the sheets slide over each other and then that's why alloys are stronger, because some of the atoms are bigger and smaller, and then that stops the layers from sliding.

Ron: Yeah, well, that's why.

Laura: So you could write down stuff with a lead.

Laura: But then I guess people get sucking on lead pencils and dying, so they just yeah.

Ron: And lead expensive.

Laura: Lead is expensive.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Pee BB students should be able to explain the properties of graphite in terms of its structure and bonding.

Ron: Students should know that graphite is similar to metals in that it has the localised electrons.

Ron: Here's a fun thing.

Ron: On the GCC syllabus, there's this whole column of the two column table that it's made out of.

Ron: I have no idea what that column means.

Ron: It says, Key opportunities for skills development.

Ron: W s 1.2.

Ron: I have no idea what that means.

Laura: Why don't we make a pack that if neither of us understand it, we pretend it's not happening.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Okay.

Ron: All right.

Ron: Let's move on to the next bit.

Ron: All right, let me WhatsApp you oh, no, I've lost the thing.

Ron: Okay.

Ron: Right.

Ron: Keep on looking at your graphite bit.

Ron: Right.

Ron: Now imagine there was only one sheet of it.

Ron: That molecule is called graphene, and its properties make it very useful in electronics.

Ron: Okay.

Ron: Angry.

Ron: At?

Laura: No.

Laura: I can't really hear what's going on in the outside world because I've got headphones on.

Laura: She just jumped out of vent and had a growl and scurried out the door.

Laura: It's probably a child being happy nearby.

Ron: So graphene single layer, has properties, makes it useful on electronics because it can conduct electricity.

Ron: But then also it's malleable because it's made out that it is this carbon.

Ron: Right.

Ron: Now imagine so, wait, what's happened with.

Laura: The atoms then, that it's all gone in a line instead of lots of layers?

Ron: You mean for graphene or has someone.

Laura: Just sliced off I don't really know.

Ron: How it's made, but it's a man made thing.

Ron: So we've done stuff to it.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Now, graphene, obviously, is a sheet of carbon in this form.

Ron: But scientists can then make structures out of this.

Laura: Don't change from you to scientists.

Ron: Well, you don't know how to do.

Laura: This private, all scientists.

Ron: No, but some of them do.

Ron: None of you do.

Laura: Some people listening might.

Ron: Yeah, but I'm talking to you, Laura.

Ron: You have it within yourself.

Ron: I'm sure if you applied yourself and redid some life choices, then you could have been here making Buckminster fullerenes, but.

Laura: You'Re not Buckminster Fullerenes.

Ron: Yes.

Ron: So, right.

Ron: Imagine taking a sheet of graphene, as we've just described yeah.

Ron: And then making this out of it.

Ron: I'll send you another big okay.

Laura: Go to the WhatsApp?

Laura: Web.

Laura: Ding ding clicking.

Laura: A 3D model.

Laura: Oh, you've made a big circle ball.

Ron: A spear some people might call a circle ball.

Laura: Do you remember that toy we had as little kids that was blue on one side and red on the other side and it had yellow shapes and lots of holes cut out into it and you had to put the right shape through the right thing, and then you poured the sides of the ball and it came apart and all the shapes fell back out again.

Ron: No, you've asked me about this before and I still don't remember it.

Laura: Well, I remember it.

Laura: Did anybody else have one of those?

Laura: Get in touch, Lexxeducation@gmail.com.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Now, this is called a buckminster fullerine.

Ron: Okay.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: It's a ball of carbon.

Ron: It's a circle ball, a sphere of carbon.

Laura: A circle ball of carbon.

Ron: Now, you might notice it's not exactly the same as graphene because it has some hexagons and some pentagons.

Laura: Oh, I noticed that.

Laura: I don't think I didn't notice that.

Laura: Buckminster what was it called?

Laura: Figurine fullerine fulllerene.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Buckminster Fuller was the guy that discovered a name.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: So, wait, that one's a hex and that one's a pen.

Laura: You're right, Ron.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Fullerenes are molecules of carbon atoms with hollow shapes.

Laura: I assume that too far and I've lost it.

Ron: The structure of fullerenes is based on hexagonal rings of carbon atoms.

Ron: But they may also contain rings with five or seven carbon atoms.

Ron: The first fullerene to be discovered was Buckminster Fullerene, which has a spherical shape I've lost it.

Ron: Ron, refresh the page.

Laura: It's back.

Laura: You're so smart.

Laura: I'm going to refuse the cookies on this page.

Ron: That's fair.

Ron: We don't want anyone to know what nerdy s*** you've been looking at.

Laura: It's a C 60 fulllerene.

Ron: Yes.

Laura: There's 60 carbons and it's made by Ika Valley.

Laura: Thanks, Ikivali.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: It has a cagedlike fused ring structure.

Laura: Truncated.

Ron: Icosahedron that resembles a soccer ball.

Laura: Made of 20 hexagons and twelve pen.

Ron: And twelve.

Laura: Pentagons published nine months.

Ron: Again, science and Technology, 3D Molecules, Summit.

Laura: Salonkey, Mora Plugo, filmato twelve and one other like this model.

Laura: You must log in to comments.

Laura: I haven't got time.

Laura: Sketchfab.com.

Laura: I simply can't.

Ron: So that's Fullerines.

Ron: Thoughts, feelings, concepts.

Laura: Why did they make that?

Laura: What for?

Ron: Lift it.

Laura: What would that look like in the real world if you had a load of those?

Laura: Enough to make up a pile of buckminsters bubble tea.

Ron: What are Fulllerenes used for?

Ron: They're active molecules.

Ron: Fullerene molecule can be used as an antioxidant because it can easily react with radicals due to the high affinity of the electron.

Laura: So it detox things?

Ron: Yep.

Ron: It's used as antiaging and antidamage agent in the cosmetic sector, I think, basically.

Ron: Right, let me send you the last one because I know that Fullerenes and what I'm about to send you, they get combined together quite a lot.

Ron: Okay, so take a look at that.

Ron: You'd have heard of these as well.

Laura: I hope it's poisoned.

Laura: Whoa.

Laura: What am I looking at here?

Laura: I'm looking at a tube.

Laura: Now.

Laura: A tube.

Ron: So this is a carbon nanotube.

Laura: Okay.

Ron: Which you may have heard of.

Laura: Now, the bonds look different here.

Laura: Is this just a different type of animation?

Ron: Yeah, it's just someone else has made.

Laura: It, but it was one G 3D.

Ron: You will notice that it's a bit like graphene.

Ron: Again, in the fact that they're all hexagons.

Ron: However, I think I'm not they just.

Laura: Said it's got quite unusual properties that could be valuable for like nanotechnology, electronic optics or maybe some other fields of material science and technology.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Do you want to elaborate on that?

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Print your own nanotube explanation, Mark.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So basically the properties that make them super useful is that they can be super super.

Ron: It's a very strong thing to make stuff out of because of a cylinder.

Ron: Inherently.

Ron: It's just kind of a very strong shape.

Ron: And then it's also kind of like obviously diamonds are super strong because they have all these covalent bonds with soda carbon nanotubes.

Ron: Obviously, it's not quite the same as a diamond because it's in a slightly different structure, but that same sort of inherent strength of large Covalent bonds.

Ron: And then obviously you can make them as big or as small as you want, really.

Ron: So they're very useful material.

Laura: Are the disassociated ones in the middle of the tube like a canole?

Ron: I'm not sure where they it's a good question.

Laura: Electrons full of good questions.

Ron: I don't think they'd go in the middle of the tube, they probably just dissociate, but then in the same way, like with metals, they probably just hang around the sheet and then can travel up and down it as the electric current is applied to it.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: And then what you can do is they can combine, like, a carbon nanotube with a buckminster fullery and put an end cap on it and stuff like that, and you can build quite compLexx structures out of them.

Laura: So you could fill the tube with balls?

Ron: You could fill it with very small molecules, probably.

Laura: Wow.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: But if you made a big enough nanotube, you could put fluorines inside the nanotube, I guess.

Laura: Yeah, no reason why not.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: And that's all it wants us to know about carbon nanotubes.

Laura: Really, Ron, I don't think there's any more to know.

Laura: It's not that that's all they want us to know, it's that we've learned it all.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: I don't see how anyone could know anything more about anything, really, than we know about different ways you can bond carbon today.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: I don't even see how you're going to make a quiz, but you're going to.

Ron: Maybe I won't just make sense.

Laura: I think if the listeners deserve anything, it's some content.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: So, yeah, see you next week for the quiz.

Laura: It's very noisy.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Is that like a street cleaner going past or something?

Ron: I closed the window.

Laura: Okay.

Laura: Doo doo doo.

Laura: Quiz me, ron this surely will be the easiest quiz in the whole of the whole of the world, because we hardly did any content and actually, it wasn't my fault this time.

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: I think we covered, like, three things last time.

Laura: It was the equivalent of end of term lesson, wasn't it, where you're just like, there's some bits, but don't worry about them.

Laura: They came up in last year's GCSE, so they probably won't come up in this year.

Ron: Just before Christmas, should we do an episode where we just watch The Boy in Striped Pyjamas or something and just.

Laura: Like well, not The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

Laura: That sounds really depressing.

Ron: I had to watch that once at school.

Laura: What, as a, like, end of year treat?

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: Oh, that's mad.

Laura: We always used to watch Mr Bean in geography.

Laura: He was obsessed with Mr Bean.

Ron: I watched Boyen Street Pyjamas.

Ron: I watched Avatar once.

Ron: Yes.

Laura: Bleeding man.

Laura: I'm really glad then that I was at school.

Laura: When teachers had one VHS tape and there was no access to any other form of entertainment.

Laura: It was Mr Bean every year.

Laura: That's what we did.

Ron: But me yeah, maybe we should do that for the Christmas episode.

Ron: That would be quite.

Laura: Just doing some crafts and watching a film together.

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: All right, I'm in.

Ron: Cool.

Ron: Right.

Ron: You ready for the chemistry quiz, though?

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: Was it chemistry?

Laura: Yeah.

Laura: I mean, it was absolved carbonzo beans.

Laura: That's what I've written down.

Ron: Okay, so five marks on offer.

Ron: Here a simple five.

Ron: The first one kind of a revision question.

Ron: What type of structure is diamond?

Laura: What do you mean?

Laura: What type of structure?

Ron: What type of structure is diamond?

Laura: Oh, wow.

Laura: Bloody h***.

Laura: Why are your questions never the stuff I've written down?

Laura: A lattice.

Ron: The shape is a lattice.

Ron: But I mean, like, how is it bonded?

Laura: Oh, yeah, hang on.

Laura: That was in a different lesson, wasn't it?

Laura: Diamond is ionic.

Ron: No, it's a giant molecule.

Ron: That's not even correct.

Ron: It's a giant molecular molecular structure.

Laura: Giant molecular diamonds.

Laura: OK.

Laura: No, it didn't know that.

Laura: You're a bad teacher.

Ron: Do you write this stuff down as well?

Ron: I've just gotten a WhatsApp off.

Ron: Mom saying, just found your Christmas present to Leo.

Ron: Sayer Lips and Gilberto Sullivan.

Ron: Angel emoji LPs.

Laura: Is she trying to say LPs?

Laura: Not Lips?

Ron: Who the f*** Gilberto Sullivan?

Laura: Gilbert O'Sullivan.

Laura: I don't know.

Laura: You google it.

Laura: I need to go let the dog out.

Laura: She ding a bell.

Laura: 2 seconds.

Ron: Oh.

Ron: For some reason I thought that was a sound effect on the podcast.

Ron: Lord, I can't hear me if she's walked away.

Ron: I'm going to say that again when she gets back, as if she never left.

Ron: Not good at bamping.

Ron: For some reason, I thought that ding was one of the sound effects from the podcast.

Laura: No, that's my stupid dog wanting to go and bark at people outside.

Laura: I've decided to let her.

Ron: Yes, you decided that years ago.

Laura: No, we've been spraying her with a water bottle when she barks at children.

Laura: Oh, yeah, she hates it.

Ron: Yeah, because it makes her a bit cleaner.

Laura: She does love to be a little fishy pissy mess.

Laura: I love that dog.

Ron: Right.

Ron: Why is graphite soft?

Laura: It's in layers, like a milfoi.

Laura: It's a pastry metal.

Laura: So it's got bonds and then it's got disassociated electrons between the layers.

Ron: Yes, very good.

Ron: And crucially, no animosity.

Laura: No bonds, Macarena.

Ron: No bonds between the layers.

Laura: I know that I said that they've got disassociated ones between the layers.

Ron: Yeah, I was just trying to coach that out of you.

Ron: But I've given you the mark.

Laura: Shocked at me, then?

Ron: What do you I was just trying to help.

Laura: Well, sometimes I read people helping me as offensive.

Ron: So why does graphite conduct electricity, Laura?

Laura: Because of the disassociated electrons they can jog about and jog their charge on.

Ron: Very, very nice.

Ron: Nice.

Ron: What is graphene?

Laura: Yeah, I remember that word.

Laura: Is it a buckminster?

Ron: No, graphene is just one sheet of graphite.

Laura: Okay, okay, I'll write that down.

Laura: No, I'd forgotten that in a big way of a graphite and finally ran.

Ron: Out of steam a bit with this, because carbon is pretty cool.

Ron: True or false?

Laura: Is this a trick question?

Laura: Like, what is the si temperature of carbon?

Laura: Yeah, I think it is pretty cool.

Laura: Well, actually, no, it's not cool.

Laura: Is it's?

Laura: Very uptight?

Laura: I think, carbon.

Laura: It's grabbing everything and holding on carbon likes it toy formation.

Laura: But that's why you need to go.

Ron: Spray mackie with a water bottle.

Ron: Yeah.

Laura: She's losing her mind up there, isn't she?

Ron: Yeah.

Ron: Carbon is pretty cool.

Ron: That's correct, Mark.

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Not a trickle answer.

Ron: It's pretty cool.

Laura: I like it when they're not trickos.

Laura: All right.

Laura: That was pretty good, wasn't it?

Laura: Yeah.

Ron: Three out of five scrape in a passing mark.

Laura: Yes.

Laura: Ron, listening back to that, how do you feel about your behaviour?

Ron: Like a cool surfer dude.

Laura: It had a real end of term vibe, that lesson, didn't it?

Ron: Kind of was the end.

Ron: It wasn't the end of term, it was the end of a subject.

Ron: And sometimes in this format, I am faced with, do I want to sort of latch on this last bit of carbon bonding to just some maths and then just have this really weird Disjointed episode?

Ron: And I think we could all agree that winding the window down and just opening that sunroof and just coast along, bro.

Ron: But on your board, short, listening to Cheryl Crow, the coolest band there is.

Laura: I've got a question for you, Ron, which, when I was listening to it back, I kept thinking, Surely I ask this, surely I ask this.

Laura: And then I never did.

Laura: When we're talking about graphite and graphene and stuff, when graphite is in a pencil, when a pencil is like H B or two B or four B, what is the difference in the graphite in that?

Ron: Softness?

Laura: What do you mean, softness?

Ron: Well, you know what the H and the B stand for?

Laura: No.

Laura: HB sounds hard and boffed.

Ron: They're hard and black.

Ron: So two B is like two black, more black.

Ron: And then I think you can get pencils there like two H and they're just really hard.

Ron: Why did you want that's, like, softer, like lines.

Laura: So what's the difference in the carbon arrangement in that?

Ron: Well, I don't actually know where pencil graphite comes from, but they're not making it in a lab.

Ron: Like, this stuff is not going to be pure carbon, so they're probably mining it out of the ground somewhere and it'll have different s*** in it.

Laura: Okay, so mixing it with other things.

Laura: Well, if you've got any more pencil knowledge than that, listeners, let us know.

Laura: What's up with pencils?

Ron: What's your pencil and why?

Ron: Is it one of those ones where you push a thing in the end and then a thing comes out?

Laura: They make me really angry, because one, a pencil doesn't need to be plastic, too.

Laura: They're never any good.

Laura: You can only ever use them for about a week and then the whole thing breaks and a spring comes out that you're like, why was there even a spring in there?

Ron: Yeah, this was before we knew about plastic, though.

Laura: Yeah, that's true.

Laura: I bet they still make them days of the 90s.

Laura: What a brilliant time to be alive.

Laura: So there you go.

Laura: We hope you enjoyed chemistry.

Laura: Every time we say goodbye to a chemistry episode, we know there's just a week of fear about the upcoming physics.

Laura: But, hey, it's sitting there on the horizon, less than a week away.

Ron: Yes, it is.

Ron: The third one that we do.

Ron: Why did you look at me like that?

Laura: We're having a conversation, so it can't just always be me talking.

Ron: Yeah, I feel that way as well.

Laura: Right, have a lovely week, everyone.

Laura: Thank you for all your love and brilliance.

Laura: We love you.

Laura: See you next week.

Laura: Bye, Glass.

Ron: Dismissed.

Laura: Glass, where did you make a glut noise?

Ron: Because I was so keen to do it.

Ron: Because I know that all of these chumps are put in the Ron delays'catch race on bingo cards.

Ron: Got you.