food chemistry

Jet-Puffed color changing marshmallows are an interesting new product that is available on the shelves of grocery stores through the end of September.¹ The color of these marshmallows changes when exposed to heat: the blue version turns green, while the pink version turns orange.

Co-Authored by Iain A. Smellie*, Iain L. J. Patterson*, Brian A. Chalmers* *University of St Andrews, School of Chemistry, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9ST, United Kingdom

I remember one of my closest friends in college telling the story of her mother and cabbage soup. When her parents were first married, her mom made a recipe for cabbage soup which they loved. She wanted to make it again, but couldn’t find green cabbage so she made it with red. To their surprise, it turned out bright blue.

Can Alkaline Water Change Body pH?

Recently, Anne Schmidt and I published an article together in the Journal of Chemical Education.¹ The article outlines a titration activity that students can carry out at home using only store-bought items. The objective of the activity is to determine the amount of Mg(OH)₂ in milk of magnesia.

In Chemical Mystery #18: Peek A Boo Blue,¹ Blue Powerade is observed to change to green, and then to a yellow color. When the yellow-colored solution is disturbed by pouring it, it shifts back to green or blue-green.

On a recent trip to Wyoming I eagerly paid a visit to Fort Bridger State Historic Park. In the main museum (the former barracks) an interpretive timeline display summarizing the history of (dishonored and broken) treaties and chronic conflict between the US government and western Native Americans captivated me.

Like a lot of folks (including students), I love brownies. My teaching style and objectives emphasize the applications of chemistry learned in lecture to everyday consumer products familiar to students.

The comparison of the density and buoyancy of a diet soda vs a regular soda in water has been thoroughly demonstrated and discussed among science faculty and students. But I noticed that what is seldom discussed or fully illustrated is the amount of sugar present in a soda.