Laura: Hello and welcome to another episode of Lexx Education, the comedy science podcast, where comedian me, Laura Lexx tries to learn science from her her 2023 brother, Ron.
Ron: Hey, it's me, Ron.
Laura: Hi, Ron.
Ron: How's it going?
Laura: Do you know what?
Laura: It's not December anymore, Ron.
Laura: We're finally back in the present.
Ron: Yeah, we're back at the grindstone.
Ron: And do you know what's happened?
Ron: I've forgotten everything that we did last year.
Laura: That's how I feel every week.
Laura: So that's good.
Laura: It was it like getting back to it this week, probably because we'd queued up, like, five episodes to go out one after the other so we could both have a proper holiday over Christmas.
Laura: And then this week I was like, right, I've got to listen to this episode.
Laura: I've got to do a quiz for last week, got to do a new thing, you got to put the notes on.
Laura: Oh, man, there's a lot of tiny Jobs transcripts coming out the wazoo that I've reaper on the blog, but we.
Ron: Did both say we missed it while we weren't doing it.
Laura: I did miss it a lot.
Laura: Yeah, no, I'm not sad about it.
Laura: I've had a fun time.
Laura: It was just making sure I had hold of every straw again.
Laura: Control enthusiast, to quote the ever brilliance.
Ron: You'Re spinning a lot of small to medium sized plays.
Ron: I have just the one slog of doing reading a GCSE syllabus, which I'll tell you guys for free, it's not a page turner.
Laura: Hey, before we jump into the episode, we've got huge news this week.
Laura: Firstly, top of the leaderboard, a happy, slightly very belated birthday to Tim.
Laura: Happy birthday, Tim.
Laura: For the 7 January.
Laura: Your lovely wife, Rachel.
Laura: Hello.
Laura: Rachel emailed us back in December, but we'd already prerecorded the intros up until now.
Laura: But we wanted to say happy birthday for back in January.
Laura: Ron will be doing you a finger painting for the Instagram.
Ron: We just learned about that choose your food stuff.
Laura: Yes, it's got to be something that's widely available in the pretzels area.
Laura: We hope you've had a lovely birthday and we're very glad to be one of the few podcasts where you've made it past the second episode.
Laura: Apparently, Tim is gives up very early on, so hey, are you still here 30 episodes later?
Laura: That would be nice.
Ron: Nice.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: I feel like I did that with podcasts, but I try for 30 and then decide I hate it.
Laura: Yeah, I think once I've listened to that many things, though, I just keep listening because I'm like, oh, well, we're friends now.
Ron: It would be rude to stop now.
Ron: What if I affected their numbers?
Laura: I think that is how I feel.
Laura: I just let them all download and then I delete them.
Laura: If you want to be rude and there's endless 5G, but anyway, happy birthday, Tim.
Ron: You're not rude.
Laura: No, you are.
Laura: Well, Rachel's, Tim might be horrible.
Laura: We don't know.
Laura: Rachel's lovely, though.
Laura: She got in touch and she clearly cares about Rachel's.
Ron: Lovely.
Ron: And then if Tim was rude, Rachel wouldn't be lovely.
Ron: Tim.
Laura: That's true.
Laura: So, happy birthday, Tim.
Laura: Thank you.
Laura: We've got two new reviews on the old Apple.
Laura: And thank you to everybody that's been giving us stars on Spotify as well.
Laura: That really helps.
Laura: We've seen such incredible download numbers over Christmas.
Laura: We're really happy with that.
Laura: So, thank you, Joshua Squashy, for your review.
Laura: And thank you.
Laura: Can't sleep eleven a for your review.
Ron: I do believe that is Josh from Friends of the podcast.
Ron: Just films in that.
Laura: Thanks, Josh.
Laura: How delightful.
Laura: And I also wanted to say hello to Amy in Pennsylvania, who did send us a Nil degrasse Tyson video about tides.
Ron: I was facing Pennsylvania very recently.
Laura: Yeah, you were on your Mexico trip.
Ron: Had a horrible time changing at Philadelphia Airport.
Laura: Well, Ron, speaking of your changing in your trip, what other huge news do we have?
Ron: We launched a patreon.
Laura: We did.
Laura: We've launched a patreon.
Laura: Now, listen, we do not expect everybody to have the finances to join, and that is absolutely fine.
Laura: This podcast will remain free always and forever.
Laura: Probably maybe one day we'll get an.
Ron: Advertising thing and that will be happy.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: But, hey, if not, we love putting it out and we hope that you love it, too.
Laura: If you would like an extra sort of little, what we're calling lecture curricular activity every month, and you'd like to help us keep the podcast running by helping us with the financial overheads we've set up.
Laura: It's just one tier, it's just £3 a month to put towards the costs of the podcast.
Laura: And then for that, you get an extra episode every month.
Laura: It won't be the syllabus, so that we aren't letting people miss out if they can't afford it.
Laura: We're doing extra stuff.
Laura: And the first episode will be a geography lesson where Ron tells me all about his trip to Mexico.
Ron: Yes.
Ron: Which was so action packed.
Ron: We're going to have to do two episodes, but we've got lots in the chamber.
Ron: It's basically, if you like, all the silly governs we do when it's Halloween or Christmas coming up, we're going to be doing a Valentine's episode.
Ron: And I think you wanted to do Eggs for Easter, didn't you?
Ron: Yeah, I didn't know.
Ron: But apparently my friend Max listens to the podcast and he told another friend of us that he is apparently sad when we start talking about the science, because he just likes it when we're chatting.
Ron: S***.
Ron: If you're in the same camp as Max, you'll love the Patreon.
Laura: Yeah, we've got lots of plans.
Laura: I'm going to be talking to Ron about humour theory and joke theory.
Laura: We are hoping to get our dad involved, to have a little corner with dad where he tells us about agony.
Ron: Dad.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Maybe answering some of your problems we think would be very funny, because Dad's solution to every problem is just don't be an idiot.
Laura: So that'll be fun.
Laura: And what else have we got?
Laura: Detentron laura does.
Ron: Yes.
Ron: It's after school because Laura's rejected a commonly held premise.
Ron: We've recorded an episode of that just on glass because Laura didn't think that was real.
Laura: I did think it was real, it just wasn't.
Laura: Anyway, so there we go.
Laura: There's a Patreon, if you fancy that, go to patreon.
Laura: ComLexxeducation and join the crew.
Laura: Thank you.
Laura: To the people that signed up already.
Laura: We just set it up thinking, well, we're going to launch in February, but we'll set the page up now and we were overwhelmed by people joining up before we even had anything to give you.
Laura: So thank you.
Laura: That's, like, made our weekly.
Ron: Yeah, we love that for us.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Right, here you go.
Laura: Here's an episode.
Laura: It is chemistry this week and we're looking at little families of elements and molecules.
Laura: There we go.
Laura: Happy birthday, everyone.
Ron: Did you say, Happy birthday, everyone?
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Shut up.
Laura: Hi, Ron.
Ron: Hi.
Laura: I'd say, how are you?
Laura: But I guess future us has just asked how each other is and people have just listened to it.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: There have been a few episodes where we've done double chat, but double chat.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: So let's just lessen it up.
Laura: Let's just pretend straight in there.
Laura: Wait for this chemistry nonsense.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: No, tomfoolery today, Ron.
Ron: Right.
Laura: I'm sick of your dreadful speckled mug.
Ron: So we are moving on to something different today.
Ron: Happy?
Laura: Yes.
Laura: And you haven't sent me any figure A's, figure B's or figure C's on the WhatsApp web?
Ron: No, nothing to look at today.
Ron: And we're just going to chat for a bit at the beginning.
Ron: Love chat, before we get into learning.
Laura: Brilliant.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Because what we're going to be talking about and what the next sort of significant portion of chemistry is about.
Ron: Right.
Laura: Is it pulling stuff from flasks?
Laura: I want to do that.
Ron: No, it's about chemical changes and reactions.
Laura: Do you remember that?
Laura: Ozzy Osborne and Kelly osborne or Dreadful Song.
Ron: But have you heard the Charles Bradley version?
Laura: Is that the original?
Ron: No, Charles Bradley did a great cover of it.
Ron: But that's the one that's used in Big Head.
Laura: I haven't seen Big Head.
Ron: They don't need to.
Laura: Okay.
Ron: There'S one very funny episode where Jason Manzooka's impregnant.
Ron: It's a bath map, but apart from that, it's one you can miss.
Ron: What do they talk about?
Ron: Chemical changes.
Ron: So, basically, what happens on a chemical level when a reaction occurs?
Laura: Haven't we done this?
Laura: Isn't that just when we're h 20 plus ch four equals sugar?
Laura: That's that, isn't it?
Laura: Is that not that?
Ron: Yeah, but we kind of covered this on other topics.
Ron: Now we're just going to talk about this, all right?
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Because we've done moles and we've done different types of reaction and we've done group seven and group one and stuff like that.
Ron: But now we're just going to talk about why these things happen and it's sort of the reactivity in general is basically the subject.
Laura: Okay, I don't know how I'm going to cope with this.
Laura: Did you think I was going to say react?
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Oh, no, I'm going to start flagging halfway through this and I'm going to need a wheat, just so that you're for one.
Ron: I already need a wheat.
Laura: Me too.
Laura: Why don't guzzle more water?
Laura: Guz head.
Laura: Also, you still haven't solved this noisy drinking situation.
Ron: I got a cup out of the shelf to bring in and then forgot it.
Ron: Yeah, I was going to.
Ron: The concept that we need to wrap our head around here is that what is happening on the atomic and molecular scale basically adds up to the effect that we see in real life when a chemical reaction takes place.
Ron: Okay, yeah.
Laura: What you said to all of that, just and then the I don't know how to recreate it in gobbledigook adds up, same as what in the chemicals is what we're looking at.
Ron: What is happening on an atomical molecular scale adds up to the effect that we see in real life.
Ron: That's very okay.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: All right.
Ron: That really wasn't a stumble block sentence.
Laura: It's just one of those ones where I don't hear the beginning and then I'm like, oh, shall I just nod along?
Laura: And then he'll do that thing where he stops and makes me understand it out loud and I won't be able to and then it'll go.
Laura: But you know this.
Ron: Yes.
Laura: All right, so now I've clarified that's.
Laura: Good.
Ron: So by working out what's happening an atomic scale, we can not only understand the exact effect of a chemical reaction, but we can start predicting what will happen in other chemical reactions with reactants with similar characteristics.
Laura: Yes, sure.
Ron: Think about it this way.
Ron: Right.
Laura: No, I said yes.
Ron: Repeat it back to me.
Laura: Well, listen, I can't wait to sit this exam.
Laura: Every question.
Laura: Well, listen, hey, how about here's the three words I can remember that relate to this, and then I'm going to work backwards from them to try and create a sentence.
Ron: No free reign.
Ron: You have at it on what working this out.
Ron: Yeah, I was telling you as long as you need.
Laura: I was telling you about it.
Laura: I understood what you meant.
Laura: So just like, say magnesium reacts in a certain way, what we can see happening is the same as what's happening molecularly, and then we might be able to say, oh, because of the way magnesium is made, calcium is similar.
Laura: And so we can predict what calcium is going to do, but maybe plus or minus some shebang, depending on whether it's got more or less.
Ron: That was remarkably close.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: That's pretty bang on global Nora.
Laura: Thank you.
Laura: I told you I understood.
Ron: We've learnt about some chemicals that react with similar characteristics before and we could predict their properties.
Ron: Can you remember which ones these were?
Laura: It's ones that are in, like, the same column, isn't it?
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: So that's called a group and we learnt about two of these groups, didn't we?
Laura: Excuse me, I went on a big walk this morning.
Ron: For the listener.
Ron: It's now 05:00 p.m., lord should not.
Laura: Still be affected by this by this morning.
Laura: I mean, I left at, like, midday and I got back at about three.
Ron: So this afternoon.
Laura: I want a very different timetable to you, Ron.
Laura: We did a lot of looking at group two and group 17, I think.
Laura: No, group 18 and group one.
Ron: So it's group one and group seven, which you call group 17.
Laura: I thought we did, like, magnesium and stuff.
Laura: No, you're right, it wasn't.
Ron: You tell me a single thing about magnesium.
Laura: Magnesium is fighty.
Laura: Magnesium loves a scrap.
Laura: No, you're right, it was group one, but, yeah, it was 17.
Laura: I don't know why you call it seven.
Laura: It was 17.
Ron: Just what it's called.
Laura: It's called group it's not look at my atomic table.
Laura: It's group 17.
Laura: It's about atoms, isn't it?
Laura: About periods.
Laura: Why is it called a periodic table?
Ron: Just you have to look at it periodically.
Laura: Right.
Laura: I think we should change it to an atomic table.
Ron: An occasional table, anyway.
Ron: 17, what can you remember about the properties of group one?
Laura: Is manganese, technnesium, rhenium and bohorium.
Laura: Group one.
Laura: Group one are very reactive.
Laura: Yes, they get more reactive as you go down the table.
Laura: Farty bubbles.
Ron: They do get more reactive when they go down the table.
Ron: Do you remember why that is?
Laura: Because the sad boys are that little bit further away from the protons in the dance studio.
Ron: Yes, exactly.
Ron: And what can we remember at the properties of group 17?
Laura: Almost the opposite, because they're on the flip side of the board, they are very stable, they don't have the spare sad boys and they get more reactive as you go up the table.
Ron: Yes.
Ron: Moments like these in this podcast get me through.
Ron: You've retained that info, Lord?
Ron: Yeah, it's there.
Ron: Now you get it.
Ron: And because we know the physics of these atoms, we can predict how different ones will react under different circumstances.
Ron: And all of these weird strange like uubs and stuff right at the bottom, a lot of those don't actually exist.
Ron: But we can predict what their properties would be like because we know what the groups that they're in are like.
Ron: Yours may not have theoretical elements on that.
Ron: Yes.
Laura: Is that like actinium and thorium and prototinium?
Laura: No, uranium is real promethium.
Ron: I don't know all of them, to be honest.
Laura: There's like 57 to 71 and 89 to 103 that's tucked out of the periodic table and drawn a little bit somewhere else.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: No, they usually set the voids.
Ron: No, those are different.
Ron: Ignore that.
Ron: That's a tangent.
Ron: As you can see, we can trace these points.
Laura: Just a little bit of giddiness.
Ron: Another example of how we can predict chemical changes is in organic chemistry.
Ron: I e.
Ron: Like the reaction of different molecules to each other.
Ron: Okay.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: I got a little bit distracted then thinking about organic chemistry, and it was just like chemists that were only fed on non pesticide grain.
Ron: But do you remember what organic chemistry actually is?
Laura: No.
Ron: It was basically the study of carbon.
Laura: Organic chemistry is carbon chemistry, essentially, yes.
Ron: Because carbon is carbon makes the four bonds.
Ron: We can build very compLexx structures out of it.
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: Yes.
Laura: Because all of these elements are organic.
Laura: Really?
Ron: Let's not get into that edit break.
Ron: I just have to reply to a message very quickly.
Laura: Meet more.
Laura: I should reply to Tom.
Laura: I've not spoken to him all day.
Ron: Okay, I'm ready when you are.
Laura: I was born ready, and I'm ready now.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: So in organic chemistry, we have things that are called functional groups.
Ron: Okay.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: So these are basically, like, little arrangements of atoms that react in the same way even if they're on a different molecule, effectively.
Ron: What's a moleculently?
Ron: Bonded atoms together make a molecule that.
Laura: Doesn'T say Covalently at all.
Laura: Covalenty.
Laura: Covalently.
Laura: Bonded atoms are a molecule, and Covalent is shares ease.
Laura: Covalent.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Valency is a thing in electrons, then they Covalent.
Laura: So now go back again.
Laura: What did you say?
Ron: So, inorganic chemistry, which is the study of carbon carbon makes molecules.
Ron: It makes the four Covalent bonds.
Ron: Inorganic chemistry, which means, like, proteins, DNA, lipids, all of these things.
Ron: In these we have things called functional groups.
Laura: Yes.
Ron: These are, like I say, just little arrangements of atoms that react the same way even if they're on a different molecule.
Ron: I thought for you, maybe we'd describe it as, like, little attachment heads that you can just, like, pop on and then it does a little thing.
Ron: Right.
Laura: She mean an attachment head, like a Mr.
Laura: Potato Head?
Ron: No.
Ron: Okay.
Ron: So hard to picture an analogy for you, because sometimes it's really derailing, but sometimes it helps.
Laura: I was picturing, like, us, all siblings have similar qualities, but then we go away to our own little families, and we're in a different family, but we all sigh the same way.
Ron: That's what it's like when you're thinking about lithium and potassium and stuff interacting.
Ron: We're all siblings getting on.
Ron: I do farty bubbles in the bath.
Ron: But you bibble around on the top.
Laura: No, I love doing farty bubbles in the bath.
Laura: Farting in the bath is one of my top hobbies.
Ron: I despise baths, and I haven't had one in potentially a decade.
Ron: Anyway, so that's what it's like when we're talking about the atomical side of things, when we're talking about functional groups, because the molecule is bigger than that.
Ron: But then you can add on these little add ons.
Laura: God, my brain is not focusing today.
Ron: I've got an example that might help.
Ron: Okay.
Laura: Yeah, this is too whimsical.
Laura: I need some real stuff to talk about.
Ron: So ethanol.
Ron: Ethanol is alcohol.
Ron: As we know it like drinking alcohol.
Laura: The good kind of twitch in my eye.
Laura: It's been like three days.
Ron: No edit break there, listener.
Ron: She did say something else.
Ron: I'm sorry Laura asked you.
Laura: I don't know what it is.
Laura: I've had plenty of sleep.
Ron: What's?
Laura: My eye twitching.
Laura: Ethanol is grain alcohol.
Ron: Good drinking alcohol.
Laura: It's alcohol, yeah.
Ron: That's the alcohol that's in drinks.
Laura: Yeah, but you couldn't drink pure ethanol.
Laura: It's bad for you.
Ron: Yeah, it would be very bad for you.
Ron: Yanks ethanol is a two carbon chain and then what we call a hydroxyl functional group.
Ron: So it's carbon, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen.
Ron: The carbons are also bonded to hydrogens.
Laura: Carbon, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Propanol is also an alcohol.
Ron: That's what we call a molecule like this.
Ron: It is a three carbon chain with a hydroxyl group on it.
Ron: Carbon, carbon, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen.
Laura: What's this oxygen group you're talking about?
Ron: The hydroxyl group is the oxygen hydrogen on the end of it.
Laura: Carbon, carbon.
Laura: Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, did you say?
Ron: Yeah, the oxygen hydrogen is a functional group.
Ron: That is the hydroxyl group.
Ron: Hydra hydrogen, OXYL, oxygen, hydroxyl.
Laura: Why don't they just call it an oxygen and a hydrogen?
Ron: They effectively have you love a portmanteau.
Ron: You come up with cookie f****** names for things.
Laura: Hydroxyl group.
Laura: Sounds like the baddies in a Christmas film, you know, that are trying to buy the old sports centre and knock it down.
Laura: But they're going to sell us to the hydroxyl group, not Mr Mortimer.
Laura: He kicks my dog once.
Ron: Horde.
Laura: Goal.
Ron: You see how both of these have the same thing on them, right?
Laura: So one is a CCOH and the other is ACCC.
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Laura: Okay.
Ron: These are different molecules, but they have similar properties because they share that functional group.
Ron: The oh gives them their defining things.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: Because carbon is very laid back and.
Ron: Bland, you know, like methane and stuff.
Laura: Oh, I'm a girl.
Laura: I saw loads of cars today on my walk.
Ron: There's also something called map.
Laura: Wouldn't get off the path.
Laura: My friend Hattie had to go like, hey to get it.
Ron: Lovely country adventure you've had.
Ron: Wow.
Ron: So there's also one called Methanol.
Ron: That is just one C and then an oh.
Laura: Ch three oh, one C and then an oh.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: Ch, three oh.
Laura: Ch, ch.
Ron: Like I said, all of these carbons have hydrogens all over them.
Laura: Where are we going with this?
Ron: I'm explaining to you that the oh is the functional group and it doesn't matter what molecule it's on, it gives it the same properties.
Laura: So as long as something's got oh, as long as something's got oh behave.
Ron: The same similarly, because these ones have different carbon chains, so that's going to change their properties a bit.
Ron: But you see how it's a parallel to, like, fluorine and chlorine and bromine and iodine and astatine all working similarly.
Laura: No.
Laura: Why did they all work similarly?
Ron: Because those are the group 17 elements that we were discussing nay five minutes ago.
Laura: Stop shouting into your microphone.
Ron: Stop making me shout.
Laura: What do you mean?
Laura: Yeah, I know.
Laura: We were talking about them.
Laura: What's that got to do with this C stuff?
Ron: So we were talking about those things.
Ron: Right.
Ron: And we were discussing how they have similar properties because they're all in a group together.
Ron: And then I said, well, it's actually a bit like this thing that happens in organic chemistry.
Ron: And then I explained to you how if they have these functional groups on different molecules, they have similar, but not the same properties because they have the functional group in the same and then I said, it's a bit like in group seven that we were speaking about, named five minutes ago.
Ron: And then you said, Why are we talking about that?
Ron: And it's probably because of the linking sentences that I did between the two disparate points.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: And then I said, right, so if it's got an oh, it will behave the same.
Ron: And I said no, not the same.
Laura: Not exactly the same, but not exactly the same, but similar.
Ron: Yes.
Laura: Don't have to throw your microphone at me.
Laura: Jebus Liebers.
Ron: And the reason why we're learning this and why this is important is because, let's say we knew was these things can A, happen on bigger molecules that are more complicated, and B we need to know maybe we have something that we've reacted with ethanol and then we might need to react it with propanol for some reason.
Ron: And we would need to be able to have an educated guess as to the effect of that before we did did.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: I'm not arguing it to you, Ron.
Laura: I just didn't know why we didn't just say, if you see an oh, it will always act the same, because.
Ron: It doesn't have to just be an oh.
Ron: That was just an example of a functional group.
Ron: And there are lots of functional groups.
Ron: For example, do you know what an amino acid is?
Laura: Protein.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: So they're the building blocks that make up proteins and essentially where the amino part of it comes.
Ron: Well, the two parts of it.
Ron: So there's something called an amino functional group that's on one end of the amino acid.
Ron: Right.
Laura: What?
Ron: So there's something called the amino functional group.
Laura: What does that mean?
Ron: It's just the name of the functional.
Laura: Group that I'm telling you about.
Ron: It's difficult because you've break it's time.
Laura: For the pee breaks of atoms and you got somewhere fine, have you?
Laura: Calm down now.
Ron: No, not quite.
Laura: The functional group is an oh, but they've got their own version.
Laura: That's not an oh.
Laura: That's something else.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: Let me just get up a little table of functional groups.
Ron: So the functional group is the oh.
Ron: It's just a little bit off the molecule that reacts the same no matter where it is.
Ron: We call it a functional group, but.
Laura: It'S not an oh.
Laura: When it's an amino acid.
Ron: No, because that's why we call that one a hydroxyl functional group.
Ron: Yes.
Ron: Amine functional group.
Ron: Yes.
Ron: Okay, right.
Ron: Okay, cool.
Ron: The amino acids, they're the building blocks of proteins.
Ron: They have two functional groups on there.
Ron: The amino acids also have something that basically there are 20 different amino acids in a human that make up all of our proteins.
Ron: Okay.
Laura: 20 acids in a human.
Ron: There are 20 different amino acids that humans use to make the proteins that we're built out of.
Ron: Essentially, they have this little bit at the bottom of them in common, where on one side they've got the amine functional group, and on the other side they've got the I think it's called the acid functional group.
Ron: Basically.
Ron: Can't remember exactly what that one's called, but basically it makes it an acid on one side.
Laura: Okay, wait, what?
Laura: They got amine on one side, on.
Ron: The other side, they've got the acid functional group, hence amino acid.
Ron: These two things are linked by one carbon in between them.
Laura: Okay.
Ron: And then that carbon basically just wears 20 different hats.
Ron: And some of these hats are really big.
Ron: Some of these hats are just one atom, and that's what different amino acids are.
Laura: Okay, if you say so.
Laura: Ronnie, honks, I trust you like a brother.
Ron: But all of these largely different molecules function together to make proteins because they have these two functional groups in the same place.
Ron: So you see how the functional group, no matter what the molecule is, can help you determine what the molecule is going to do, because you can see that.
Ron: You go, that's an amino acid.
Ron: I know how that's going to react.
Ron: I know what it's going to do.
Laura: Yeah, because it's got a tail.
Ron: It wasn't about the tail, it's about the other stuff.
Ron: That's fine.
Laura: Make an acid then, because that's a PH.
Laura: What's a PH in an atom?
Ron: What do you mean?
Ron: Hang on, pause.
Ron: Amnesty.
Ron: Right now, acids not to do with phosphorus, hydrogen.
Ron: It's not PH.
Laura: No, it's to do with a PH level.
Laura: But you said part of the chain has the amine in it, and then on the other side of the seesaw, there's an acid, and they're held together by a little C fulcrum with 20 hats on.
Laura: So presumably, then, the acid bit is just a little molecule of something that is the acid.
Laura: But how has that got a PH level but the other atoms joined together don't?
Ron: Do you really want to open Pandora's box of what acids and bases are right now?
Laura: I don't know.
Laura: No, not by the sounds of that, but it just this is why I get distracted, because, you know, this is going to really annoy you down that little avenue and then just makes up this little avenue.
Ron: But this is going to annoy you.
Laura: Because it all annoys me.
Ron: Water doesn't exist in the way that you think it does.
Laura: How bloody h*** what if I've been drinking all this time?
Ron: So water exists, obviously, as the H two O molecule, but it also exists as a constantly breaking down and reforming H plus and oh minus molecules.
Laura: For f***'s sake.
Ron: In perfectly balanced water PH seven, there is an equal number of H pluses and oh minuses.
Ron: These could all join together and make water molecules if they wanted to.
Ron: That's just not how water really works.
Laura: Because of entropy.
Ron: Yes, exactly.
Ron: In acids there are way more H pluses.
Ron: In bases, there are way more oh minuses.
Ron: So things that make acids are basically things that donate extra H pluses to the liquid.
Ron: So what is happening on the acidic side of the amino acid?
Ron: Is there's a little carbon group?
Ron: There's a little functional group that basically donates a hydrogen an H plus to the water and makes it acidic.
Ron: That's why acids are really, like, reactive.
Ron: It's because they have all these H pluses whanging about they react with things.
Laura: Okay, all right.
Ron: Yeah, sure.
Laura: I'll never, ever be able to explain that back to anyone, but I'll just be like positives and negatives in the water.
Ron: Yeah, that works on a molecular scale.
Ron: We can start predicting things as well.
Ron: Okay.
Ron: Because do you remember when we were talking about enzymes, active sites?
Laura: No.
Ron: Lock and key.
Laura: They get in a little shape to go in your tongue.
Laura: No, that's not it.
Laura: I don't know, Ron.
Laura: I don't know anymore.
Laura: There's too much we've learned now.
Laura: It's just a big soup in the middle.
Ron: Basically, it's just on a large scale, you can start working things out as well.
Ron: So if you discovered a new enzyme and it had a similar active site to one that you found before, you could hypothesise that it did a similar reaction.
Ron: And the amino acid combinations within the active site will also start determining these things as well, which means that you can then start inferring, like, what different DNA transcripts do and stuff like that.
Ron: It's got big ramifications on a sort of macro molecular scale.
Laura: What's the GCSE man going to ask me about this?
Ron: I'm going to be honest with you, Laura.
Ron: We've only really just gone through the paragraph before we get into the.
Laura: Are you kidding?
Ron: None of this is going to be in the still.
Laura: What are we doing with our lives?
Laura: Oh, my God.
Ron: I just thought it was interesting.
Ron: And some of this podcast has to be for me.
Laura: Does it, though?
Laura: Because it's so I've got tummy ache trying to think about all this.
Laura: The best bit was the idea of having 20 hats.
Ron: We've just done the paragraph in between it, introducing the topic and then us going into the subject.
Ron: Do you want to just chat that through some more?
Ron: Do you want to cover something else?
Ron: Oh, I know what we can do, actually, because I missed out a bit at the end of the last bit because it.
Ron: Was just a nugget.
Ron: It wasn't enough.
Laura: This is such a distressing topic, Ron, because there's nothing tangible to hold on to.
Ron: But I thought you wouldn't mind it because you like to understand why these things are happening.
Ron: Not just that they are happening.
Laura: I feel like you've said a lot and nothing all at once.
Laura: Like things that are the same.
Ron: Yeah, but we can talk about specific.
Ron: I did try and give specific examples, but they spent quite cross.
Laura: You get crossed too.
Ron: I do.
Laura: You ball up your little fists and wave them in the air.
Ron: Literal steam came out my ears at one point.
Laura: And then you went out and p***** out the steam instead.
Laura: Well, yeah.
Laura: What's this nugget, then?
Laura: I like nuggets.
Ron: You won't like this.
Ron: No, it's just it wants us to learn about the concentration of solutions.
Ron: It says you have to really focus.
Laura: If you're going to solve the problem.
Ron: Many chemical reactions take place in solutions.
Ron: The concentration of a solution can be measured in mass per given volume of solution grammes per decimeter cubed.
Laura: Okay, SMR now, isn't it?
Laura: That's a 50 p prize if you can tweet us or instagram us and tell us what I was playing with there.
Ron: Students should be able to calculate the mass of solitude in a given volume of solution of known concentration in terms of mass per given volume of solution.
Laura: Well, I can't do that.
Laura: What's a solute?
Laura: Is that some solution?
Laura: One solution is a solute.
Ron: Something that has been dissolved is a solute.
Laura: AW, cute.
Ron: So cute.
Laura: Southampton solute.
Laura: Well, I can't do that.
Laura: How do I do that?
Ron: Let me read it again.
Ron: Students should be able to calculate a massive solution in a given volume of solution of known concentration.
Ron: In terms of math.
Ron: Okay, so let's say right, okay.
Ron: Let's say we've got a concentration.
Ron: We've got an acid, right?
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: It's got lots of H pluses in it.
Ron: Doing carbonic acid, the concentration you could.
Laura: Fry an egg on it.
Ron: The concentration of the carbonic acid is eight grammes per decimeter cubed.
Laura: Hang on.
Laura: Let me write this down in case it's necessary.
Laura: No, I haven't finished.
Ron: How many grammes of carbonic acid do we have?
Laura: I don't know.
Laura: Because when I tried to write it down, you kept on talking.
Laura: Do you f****** self now?
Ron: No.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: If you're going to be rude when I'm trying to write it down, you can do these sums yourself.
Ron: I'm not going to do that because I don't want to.
Ron: Higher tier only explain how the mass of the solute and the volume of a solution is related to the concentration of the solution.
Laura: You're teaching me higher tier?
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: All of that mould stuff was higher tier.
Ron: I didn't want to tell you because.
Laura: I thought you'd have got hated that mould stuff.
Ron: I don't know why you said we needed another ten minutes.
Ron: I don't feel like this is viable content.
Laura: Well, I was ready to student my soul.
Laura: You.
Laura: But you kept talking even though I asked you to stop while I was.
Ron: Writing down do you want to try that again?
Laura: Why did you do that?
Ron: Because it made me laugh.
Ron: How flustered and cross you got.
Laura: That's not kind, is it?
Laura: Right, carbonic acid.
Laura: What does that do?
Ron: We have carbonic acid at concentration eight grammes per decimeter.
Laura: Cubed concentration, eight grammes per decimeter.
Ron: Decometer.
Ron: Do you know what a decimeter is?
Laura: I think it was Russell Crowe and Gladiator.
Ron: Before my time, I'm afraid.
Laura: Maximus.
Laura: Decometer.
Laura: Meridius.
Ron: And then let's say we've got 84.6 decometers of water.
Ron: How much carbonic acid do we have?
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: And you think I can just have those numbers and work out?
Ron: Yes.
Ron: Honestly, in this occasion I do.
Laura: Okay.
Laura: All right.
Laura: Play the music.
Ron: I think I could put ink on a beetle's feet and walk it over a page and it might get this right.
Laura: That would be very cute.
Laura: Like in mooland.
Laura: Don't they use the bug to do typing in Mooland?
Ron: I think so, yeah.
Laura: I'd watch that.
Laura: I have concentration eight grammes per decimator.
Laura: Cubed.
Ron: I'd watch that.
Laura: Do I just cube 84.6.
Ron: Why would you do that?
Laura: To make it cubed water.
Ron: It's already cubed.
Ron: You have 84.6 decimeters of water cubed.
Laura: So I have to Uncube it.
Ron: Do you understand the volume of no.
Laura: I just times that by eight.
Ron: Yes.
Laura: All right.
Laura: F*** you, beetle.
Laura: Shut up.
Laura: The metre is going to beat me.
Laura: Stop interrupting.
Laura: Eight times.
Ron: Got eight grammes per decimator.
Laura: 676.8 carbonic acids.
Ron: Sounds about right.
Ron: Is that good?
Laura: I don't know, Ron.
Laura: I don't know what carbonic acid is or what it's for or why we'd care how much there was 676 watt grammes.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: What very funny doing this podcast with someone that just has utterly no desire for knowledge.
Laura: F*** you.
Laura: I have loads of desire for knowledge.
Laura: This isn't knowledge.
Ron: But why is it there?
Ron: But I mean, in this there's just no sort of learning it to learn it because knowledge is interesting.
Laura: Because this is just s*** numbers.
Ron: About that stuff we were just discussing about how chemicals react.
Laura: Yeah, but who cares?
Ron: That was like s*** off a duck's back with your brain.
Laura: No, it's nothing to do with my brain.
Laura: But that doesn't matter, does it?
Laura: It just doesn't matter.
Ron: Of course it matters.
Laura: How and why?
Ron: Because everything in your life is a chemical process.
Laura: Yeah, that was going to happen anyway, regardless of if I knew what was happening.
Ron: So did you just think they should have a two tier system where some people know and other people don't?
Laura: Yeah, that is what it is like.
Laura: And it's fine.
Laura: I spent the first so let's say I learned this for five years at secondary school, then I've forgot it all at around 17.
Laura: So I've done 19 years of none of this affecting me in the slightest.
Laura: And it's been fine.
Ron: But you don't wander around and just be a bit like oh, how does that work?
Ron: What does that happen?
Laura: Not with like a puddle and why is something fizzing in it?
Ron: But not like, maybe like when you're cooking or something.
Laura: This is too small, though.
Ron: As we discussed at the top of the episode, all of these things that happen just aggregate to give the the effect that happens at the end.
Ron: Like the the effect that you see is just trillions upon trillions of atoms reacting with each other.
Ron: It's not too small, it's everything but.
Laura: I think I'm more interested in it at the bigger end like oh, all these onion family are similar.
Laura: It doesn't matter to me why the little seesaw has an acid on one.
Ron: Half but those onions are similar because of the DNA that they pass down and because of the proteins that make them up and the things that they're making.
Laura: I'm not eating a food thinking delicious DNA like the onion family nurse is enough for me.
Laura: You listen to a joke but you don't then sit there for 8 hours afterwards working out why the language worked and what it was about the alliteration and how you could spin off from that where you could go further you just enjoy it for what it is and that's how I feel about planet Earth.
Ron: You were so close to winning me over then until he said that.
Laura: Well, because I was going to say onions and then I thought that would sound stupid so I said Planet Earth instead of maybe I should have gone with onions.
Ron: Yeah, that's fair enough.
Laura: Human behaviour and why we react to things the way we do as people that I find way more important than this because this is just like.
Ron: Can we compromise on the fact that this stuff is obviously super important but just not necessarily to your profession or me?
Ron: No, but it is because everything that you do and eat and have has been made by people that know this stuff.
Laura: Yeah, but if they hadn't done this I'd just live a different way.
Ron: Yeah, but it still impacts you.
Ron: Yeah, but I didn't like it so it does matter.
Laura: No it doesn't.
Laura: I can still use a carrier bag whether or not I understand polyethanol but.
Ron: The knowledge itself matters.
Laura: Why?
Ron: Because someone had to make that carrier bag so that it could choke an albatross one day and I wish they hadn't.
Ron: So you were making like a kind of anti tech sort of luddite argument with it?
Laura: Listen Ron, I'm more than happy to.
Ron: Be science wrap it up.
Laura: I'm more than happy for science to exist.
Laura: I just think there is very little point in rounding up 15 year olds and asking them to care about carbonic acid.
Ron: But it sparks it in some people f****** nerd and they go on to help stuff.
Laura: Yeah, but this is like throwing a lot of paint at a lot of people hoping to hit one.
Laura: You know, you don't even listen.
Laura: You'll just type in.
Ron: Well, it doesn't just hit one, though.
Ron: And you should be encouraging more women and not men, into Stem careers, rather than just saying it doesn't all matter.
Ron: Actually, I think you're being very helpful.
Laura: Actually.
Laura: No, I don't think I should be encouraging women into this.
Laura: It's f****** pointless.
Laura: Women are smart, empathetical, beautiful creatures, and they should be out doing something real.
Laura: Don't waste your life, ladies.
Laura: Put some makeup on.
Laura: Go and do something real with your life.
Ron: The fact that women are more empathetic and thoughtful is exactly why we need more f****** women in Stem, because men have been running Stem for way too long and it's too much about the numbers.
Laura: Yeah, well, maybe let's pick this podcast up again at a point where we're looking at what feelings carbonic acid has, and then I'll be more interested in it.
Ron: Agree.
Ron: So a billion year height.
Laura: All right, we'll see you in a billion years for the quiz.
Ron: Hello.
Ron: Do you remember that book?
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: That is Flip from the Poker Hunters one.
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: So, just to explain, what do you remember those books when you were a kid that had buttons down the side and you'd press them at different points in the story?
Laura: And we had a Poker Hunters one, and then Miko and Flit the little Hummingbird in the raccoon.
Laura: If you pressed Flit the hummingbird, it went that's good.
Ron: Let's just leave an edit break.
Ron: That's not content.
Laura: That's staying in, mate.
Ron: Nothing.
Laura: 32.
Laura: It's an even number.
Laura: It's me.
Laura: I'm editing.
Ron: Right.
Ron: Do you remember what we were talking about last time?
Laura: I think it was physics last time.
Ron: No, not a good sign.
Ron: It was chemistry.
Laura: Oh, f***.
Laura: Was it?
Ron: Yeah, we were talking about chemical changes.
Laura: Was they?
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: Right.
Laura: Hang on, let me get the note.
Laura: This is not chemical changes.
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: Oh, yeah.
Laura: Look at this.
Laura: Someone from the past just left me some clues.
Laura: Yeah, okay.
Laura: Oh, no.
Laura: This was like a nothing episode, wasn't it?
Laura: And you were insisting it was important.
Laura: It was these little gangs that makes people the same.
Ron: Yeah, that's what it was.
Ron: However, do you remember that at the end of the episode, we went through concentration?
Laura: Oh, no.
Laura: Yeah.
Ron: That was the only bit that was actually in the syllabus.
Ron: So it's the only bit that's appearing on the quiz.
Laura: But that's the bit that I didn't care about at all.
Ron: You didn't care about any of it.
Ron: Cross.
Laura: Do you know what this also means?
Laura: This?
Laura: That means it's not biology that we're recording today.
Ron: We're about to dive into physics.
Ron: As physics goes.
Ron: It'll be fine.
Laura: Fine.
Ron: So, Laura, what is the unit of concentration?
Laura: Grammes per decimeter cubed.
Ron: Yes, exactly.
Ron: Ding.
Ron: And there's only two as well, because we didn't really ding a lot.
Ron: Laura, if I dissolved 384 grammes of sugar in a pint of water, what would the concentration be?
Laura: Well, I don't know and I'm not going to work it out.
Laura: I don't get the point.
Laura: What's the answer?
Ron: I don't know.
Laura: You need to work it out, then.
Laura: No, I don't want to.
Ron: Well, no, I just wow, that's a quiz.
Ron: One out.
Ron: Too f****** out.
Laura: Aren't you supposed to motivate me to want to concentration.
Laura: What did you say?
Laura: What did you even say?
Ron: I said 384 grammes of sugar in a pint.
Laura: 384 grammes of sugar in a pint of water.
Laura: In a pint of water.
Laura: Have I got to break that into what sugar and water are made of?
Ron: No, it's not moles.
Laura: A pint of water.
Laura: What does this even mean?
Ron: How much?
Laura: A pint is 330 mil, is it not?
Ron: 528 mil.
Laura: That's stupid, isn't it?
Laura: 528 mil, I think.
Ron: Let me just double cheque pint in mole.
Ron: Oh, no, it's less than that.
Ron: It's four seven three.
Laura: All right, smack palm in the middle of both of us.
Laura: 473 mil.
Ron: Yeah.
Ron: How do you make hang on, it's five six, eight.
Ron: That's the UK pintage.
Ron: Pints are different in the US.
Laura: What?
Ron: It's 568 millimetres.
Laura: This is too complicated.
Laura: 568 millimetre.
Laura: How do I make that into a decimeter third cubed?
Ron: Decometer cubed is the same as a litre.
Laura: I don't care or no, I don't want to know.
Laura: Oh, well.
Laura: What a good try.
Laura: Everybody did there.
Laura: Everybody had a great try and no one cared.
Laura: Thanks for listening.
Ron: Sorry.
Laura: It's so hard to care about the thumbs.
Laura: Do you know what I mean?
Ron: Yeah.
Laura: When would this even come up?
Ron: Trying to work out the concentration or something.
Laura: Why would I care about the concentration of sugar water?
Ron: People live different lives.
Ron: They didn't make this delores.
Laura: But why would a person ever need if you know how much sugar is in there, why do you need ow.
Laura: Need to know the concentration.
Laura: You know that there's 384 grammes of sugar in there?
Ron: Yeah, but it's about how much is in there per the water that's in there.
Laura: Wow.
Laura: Two thirds, give or take.
Laura: Go on, then.
Laura: How would you work it out?
Ron: It's grabs per Destiny cubed, isn't it?
Ron: So I divide 384 by zero point 58.
Laura: Yeah, that's what I design as well.
Ron: Ron gets a mark.
Laura: Yay.
Laura: 18 more of those and you get a mole badge.
Laura: Yeah, that's what you get, more badges.
Ron: Maybe maybe Buncheon should have a friend that's a mole.
Laura: Bunction.
Ron: Maybe Bunson should have a friend that's a mole.
Laura: Yeah.
Laura: Do you want to pay to get this one designed, though?
Laura: Because I can't keep wasting my money on cartoons in front of me.
Ron: I'll draw it.
Laura: Yeah, let's put your drawings up against Matt's.
Ron: I'll pay myself and it will be fine.
Laura: This is Gisele bunch and the rap.
Laura: Well, listen, this is falling apart.
Laura: F*** it.
Laura: We'll come back next week energised and ready to learn.
Laura: Well, Ron, that was one of our worst quizzes ever.
Laura: I know you didn't get a chance to listen to the lesson this week, but it was the episode where you gave me a question and I said, no, I don't know, let's move on.
Laura: And you said, I don't know, I haven't worked out the answer.
Laura: And then we just stared at each other in podcast for a while.
Laura: So just terrible.
Laura: So thanks, everyone, for bearing with us through that absolute Apathetic quiz there.
Laura: You can see why we needed a break for Christmas.
Laura: I think there anyway, thanks very much.
Laura: We wanted to say also, thank you, Robert, for your wheelbarrow picture on Twitter.
Laura: If anybody else has a wheelbarrow and wants to send us a picture, that's the kind of thing that we really don't mind being inundated with.
Ron: No, and especially if, like, Robert, you can let us know how long it is.
Laura: Yes, and we've also I think it was Jen tweeted that we've filtered into some actual teaching, which is terrifying, really, that we could ruin more than just our own careers doing this.
Laura: So we were wondering if you'd found yourself using any Lexxi catchphrasers in real life.
Ron: Yeah, Jen is a lovely ornithologist.
Laura: Yes, I think so.
Ron: Birds.
Ron: Yeah, birds.
Laura: I know that from the Robbie Williams wrap, but for now, I'm down with ornithology.
Laura: Grab your binoculars.
Laura: Come follow me.
Laura: Musical genius.
Laura: Anyway, so, yeah, let us know if we've accidentally slipped into your vernacular.
Laura: And, hey, just a quick reminder again, now that we're at the end of the episode, we've got a patreon.
Ron: If you're still hanging around now in the way next to the bins of the podcast, come hang out on the patreon.
Ron: I subscribed to a couple of patreons.
Ron: It's a nice place to be because you can comment on episodes and you can chat with the other weirdies that like the same niche s*** as you.
Laura: We'll be thinking about a discord and thinking about increasing what we can put out if it picks up.
Laura: So let us know what would entice you over the first episode of our lecture.
Laura: Curricular activity will be going out on the 3 February.
Laura: We thought we'd do it on the first Friday of the month.
Laura: So you get your main episode on Monday and then something to tide you over the weekend on Friday.
Laura: That's it from us.
Laura: We will see you next week for the dreaded fizzarks.
Laura: Yuck.
Laura: We love you, Claire.
Ron: Just dismissed, everybody.
Laura: Oh, and everybody, that was very fresh.
Ron: I started doing, like nice little I started doing that last year.
Laura: All right, bye.
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