When life gives you lemons (or oranges) you experiment! | Orange peel explosions

[@andrewhaychemistry]

Great video, thanks for the wonderful suggestion of balloon modelling. I must get my class to try that later this year. The non-polar nature comes in handy in emergencies when orange peel oil can be used to clean bicycle chain oil off your hands away from home.

[@acyned8079]

NIce experiment!

[@Justin_Martin]

This is awesome 🇺🇸👑💕

[@janiahrichards6435]

what phytochemicals are responsible for the reaction from the orange peel to the flame? Very cool video!!

[@ridhaaloina]

mm.. sorry if it sounds stupid, I consider, is that limonene molecules break some bounding on latex polymer because limonene get react to latex or just disrupt the layer like alcohol molecules on bacteri's membrane cell ?

[@declan.fleming]

not a stupid question at all - to be clear though this is not a chemical reaction - we're not breaking covalent bonds in the process. Closer to what you're alluding to in the second part of your question. You will know that oil and water don't mix - octane would for example be a component of crude oil and if you shook this up with water, the two liquids would separate again. Why? When it comes to deciding "why" in chemistry we think about the strength of and numbers of the interactions between the particles before and after an event (measured as the "enthalpy change") and we think about how mixed up the system is (the "entropy change"). Things that tend to happen in this world maximise the mixed-up-ness and/or the numbers and strengths of interactions between particles.* If you mix the octane and water you get a favourable outcome in the "mixed up" factor .. but the water molecules bond very effectively with themselves (hydrogen bonding) and the octane molecules bond with themselves effectively (through London dispersion forces) ... however the interactions *between* the water and the octane aren't very effective at all .. a lot less so than they are with themselves. As such, the mixture separates. Now the latex in the balloon is made of molecules like octane but much much longer. They are absolute pros at at bonding to each other through London forces. As such the water and the latex are even *less* interested in hanging out with each other. Totally from opposite sides of town. However .. if we introduce a molecule like octane (or in our case limonene) whose intermolecular interactions are also dominated by London forces then they can hang out a bit .. these small molecules begin to nestle into the latex structure like a child crawling into bed between mum and dad ... but the latex is like "hey buddy .. we are seriously strained here .. we're hanging onto each other for dear life and we need to stay as close to each other as possible to feel the best attraction we can and ... you're kinda being a bit of a third wheel" ... in the end .. the moment has gone ... mum's had enough, gets up to get herself a cup of tea and dad's left cuddling junior. Back in the real world ... the balloon has popped.

[@declan.fleming]

*(I left an open asterisk) chemists like to look at the universe from the perspective of the chemicals whilst physicists think of the universe on its own terms :D .. a physicist might say here that through the formation of those stronger interactions, energy has been released to the rest of the universe (think of two magnets snapping together - whilst THEIR magnetic potential ENERGY has dropped, the REST OF THE UNIVERSE'S ENERGY has increased in the forms of sound and heat etc.) and that released heat also makes the rest of the universe more messed up .. so we can just deal with everything in the terms of being messed up ... we call this the second law of thermodynamics.

[@ridhaaloina]

@@declan.fleming :D wow.. I really enjoyed the way you explained it to me (with interesting parables) thank you

[@quimicapuce-ikiam6784]

🎈🎉

[@DavidWilson-sm2ym]

Water balloons are not vulcanized. They ALWAYS pop with orange peels...EVERY TIME. Plus you can use water balloons (less cross linking, designed to pop, pop easily with peels) and vulcanized balloons (more cross-linking to prevent easy popping, very difficult to pop with peels) to discuss polymer cross linking and other topics.