Biology: Chilies

In this episode of the men of science, we delve into the world of chilies, their effects on a normal human in excess, and why it's hot to begin with below the video. Pardon the sucky camera shots in advanced. 8D



The Chili:
Chilis or Chiles or Chillis are a variety of plant grown and used as spices or sometimes medicines. Chilis were originally grown in the Americas but are now currently grown and found all over the world. These are sold mostly for cuisine use.

What makes the Chili Chilly?:
The chili contains a chemical called capsaicin. Capsaicin is the thing that makes chilis so damn hot 'n spicy. It's one of the main ingredients used in the famous anti-hold-aper device, PepperSpray.

The chilis we tested were part of Capiscum Annum, a common variety of chili with an average rating of 1500 SHU.

The heat of the chili is measured in Scoville units (SHU). The lowest and coolest chili is the bell pepper at 0 SHU, new mexican chilies at 1,500 SHU, jalapeños at 3,000–6,000 SHU, and the one in the film, African brid's eye, African Devil, or African Red Devil, ranked at 180,000 SHU. With the Guinness World Record holder, the Bhut Jolokia, at 1,001,304 SHU. However, a group called BBC Gardener's World has claimed to have cultivated the world's hottest chili. The American Spice Trade Associtaion has confirmed that this chili, called the Dorset Naga, reached a kickass rating of nearly 1.6 mil SHU!!! Anyone care to take a bite? And wouldn't it be cool of we had any legendary chilis?

It's not all 'bad':
Chilis are also often used as medicines. This is because they're rich in main vitamins our body needs such as Vitamin A-C, magnesium, potassium and iron.

Chilis have been known to effectively treat arthritis and are also used to remove cancer-causing tumors. The capsaicin can kill tumors with little or no harmful side effects. Chilis also help with killing parasites (and tapeworms) in the gut (gastro-intestinal tract). They improve weight loss, clear mucus from congested lungs and also lower the risk of diabetes.

Also, according to Reader's Digest, eating chilis at night helps you sleep better and wake up more energized in the morning.


That my friends, is the almighty chili.

Chemistry: Combustion

Yes, part 2 of our chemistry portion. Here we tackle the natural phenomenon that is combustion. Here we see what happens when normal household combustible materials are put to high temperatures in an atmosphere with some oxygen. Ohh, and sorry for our shrill voices in the parts of the video, we had to keep quiet and stuff.



Quote from wiki.

Combustion or burning is a complex sequence of exothermic chemical reactions between a fuel and an oxidant accompanied by the production of heat or both heat and light in the form of either a glow or flames.

So, basically, what this means is that when we get a fuel, and an oxidant, we get a show. Who wouldn't want that?

There are 6 types of combustion.Rapid, slow, turbulent, incomplete, smouldering, and the one in the video, complete combustion. The alcohol reacted with the air to show a mixture of heat and light in the form of fire.

Chemistry: Chemical Reactions

The things you are about to see in the video are called mentos eruptions. Actually, ours was just a teeny ass one. Some can even reach several meters high. And, believe me, faithful blog reader, we will upload it as soon as we can, but in the mean time, watch this, right now. Ohh, and we used the flavored kind whereas the mint kind was the best choice.




The Mentos:
These are small candies in the shape of oblete spheroids. In simpler terms, a 3D oval. They have a mildly hard outer shell and a tasty chewy minty ot fruity inside. Mentos can come in many different colors and flavors. Each mentos' surface has many tiny bumps and holes that are the perfect place for the making of carbon dioxide bubbles. Besides being a tasty snack every now and then, mentos are used to create mentos eruptions.

The Coke:
Coke is a slang term for the stimulating drug that causes extended bouts of happiness and energy. But not in our experiment.We used the ever-refreshing drink called Coca-Cola or Coke for short. This is a carbonated drink which started out as a medicine.

Over time, it has become one of the world's most well known drinks. Coke should never be shaken/dropped right before opening. This is because carbon dioxide, trapped in the bottle, expands, causing more pressure in the bottle. This effect is amplified in the great Mentos eruption.


Put them together:

BAM!

Huge ass mess. We thank the great man, for he is a man, Steve Spangler. He created the first ever soda geyser and paved the way for a new recreational activity. Mainly, blowing stuff up. With coke and Mentos!!

The bubbles formed by the mentos and coke greatly increases the air pressure within the cheap plastic bottle. The carbon dioxide then tries to escape the bottle taking the liquid coke along with it. The effect of a mentos eruption is significantly larger as compared to that of simply shaking the coke bottle.

Mentos eruptions can reach up to several meters high. The highest ever recorded geyser was 34 feet or 10.4 metres as seen on Mythbusters, a hit TV show.

The result of the mentos + coke eruption is a tall fountain and afterwards, a large mess. Here is an illustration to help you understand.

Physics: Momentum

One of the men of science, going solo, teaches us what happens exactly, when objects gain speed and momentum. Warning, please turn up brightness and volume and stuff. So, yeah.



Momentum, is mass in motion, simply put. It's measured in inertia, and velocity. The more momentum an object gains, either the more mass it has or the faster it is, or a combination of both.

Whenever collisions happen, there will always be a sort of conservation between the forces on all objects in collision, since momentum is a closed system, and is always conserved.

When enough momentum is gained by an observer, for example, a man, moving at near light speed, time passes by faster than if it was in 0 momentum, and would have aged much more than another observer on earth.