Chemistry For Your Life

What’s the chemistry behind hairspray?

Thu, 09 Jul 2026

Hairspray seems simple… until you actually stop and think about it.
How does it come out as a fine mist? Why doesn’t it dry up inside the can? How can it hold your hair in place without acting like glue? This week we’re unpacking the surprisingly clever chemistry behind one of the most common products in our homes—and discovering it’s far more complicated than either of us expected.

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Timestamps

0:00 – A question inspired by our forensics episode: what is hairspray?

4:40 – The three ingredients inside a can of hairspray

10:40 – How the propellant turns liquid into a fine aerosol spray

18:30 – How polymers create an invisible “hairnet”

29:00 – Why designing hairspray is harder than you might expect

36:20 – How hairspray compares to gel and mousse

45:50 – Fun categories: movies, cast iron, and things that turned out to be more complicated than expected

References from the Episode:

Thanks to our monthly supporters

Sara Hull

Dog Day Dan

Bri .

Summer Alden

Amanda Raymond

Kyle McCray

Justine

Ash

Vince W

Julie S.

Heather Ragusa

Autoclave

Dorien VD

Scott Beyer

Jessie Reder

J0HNTR0Y

Cullyn R

Erica Bee

Elizabeth P

Rachel Reina

Letila

Katrina Barnum-Huckins

Suzanne Phillips

Venus Rebholz

Jacob Taber

Brian Kimball

Kristina Gotfredsen

Timothy Parker

Steven Boyles

Chris Skupien

Chelsea B

Avishai Barnoy

Hunter Reardon

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How can chemistry teachers learn from each other?

Mon, 06 Jul 2026

Great teaching doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in community. In this bonus BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with chemistry educator Dr. Joanne Stewart about communities of practice: groups of educators who come together to share ideas, solve problems, and help one another grow. They explore why teaching is hard to improve on your own, how these communities support both faculty and students, and why meaningful change in chemistry education depends on building relationships, not just sharing resources.

Important Links

Submit a Question for Community Conversations

bcce.divched.org/2026

YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife

chemforyourlife.com

Timestamps

0:00 – Introducing the BCCE Community Conversation series

2:40 – Meet Joanne Stewart and her work in chemistry education

5:10 – What is a community of practice?

8:20 – How educators can get involved (even as a “lurker”)

11:50 – Sharing teaching resources and learning from one another

15:30 – Building a “community of communities” in chemistry

18:50 – What this year’s Community Conversation will explore

23:50 – Why lasting educational change requires strong networks

29:20 – BCCE events, communities to explore, and final invitations

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ask a Chemist: Is Silicone actually safe? (and other questions)

Thu, 02 Jul 2026

What happens when some listeners challenge one of our past episodes?
This week we’re revisiting our silicone episodes after several listeners pointed us toward new research. Along the way we answer questions about mosquito wristbands, waterproof mascara, stubborn adhesives, and whether amino acids may have formed on the early Earth after all. It’s an Ask a Chemist episode full of updates, follow-ups, and a reminder that science is always a work in progress.

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Timestamps

0:00 – Revisiting our silicone episodes after new research

2:00 – Does silicone really leach into food, and should we be worried?

10:30 – What we know (and don’t know) about silicone safety

17:30 – Do mosquito patches and wristbands actually work?

23:30 – How does waterproof mascara stay waterproof?

27:20 – A chemistry detour: removing paint and stubborn adhesives

30:20 – The Miller–Urey experiment and the origin of amino acids

33:20 – Wrap-up + send us your chemistry questions

References from the Episode:

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How can we apply chemistry to real-world problems in the classroom?

Mon, 29 Jun 2026

What if chemistry classes were organized around real-world problems instead of chapters in a textbook?In this bonus BCCE Community Conversation preview, Melissa talks with Vicente Talanquer about helping students think like chemists rather than simply memorize chemistry. They explore why authentic, real-world problems can transform learning, how instructors can make meaningful changes without rewriting an entire course, and why teaching chemistry is about developing a way of thinking—not just delivering content.

Important Links

Submit a Question for Community Conversations

bcce.divched.org/2026

YouTube.com/@chemforyourlife

chemforyourlife.com

Free resources
Chemical Thinking Curriculum Structure: https://sites.google.com/site/chemicalthinking/structure

More on Chemical Thinking Curriculum: https://sites.google.com/site/chemicalthinking/

General Chemistry - CLUE textbook & activities: https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/clue/general-chemistry.aspx

Organic Chemistry OCLUE textbook & activities: https://www.chemistry.msu.edu/clue/organic-chemistry.aspx

Time Stamps

0:00 – Why Melissa loves BCCE and chemistry education
2:50 – Meet Ellen Yezierski and the idea of scholarly teaching
4:00 – Moving beyond intuition and using evidence to improve teaching
6:35 – What chemistry educators can learn from cognitive science and education research
8:30 – The biggest challenge: finding time to improve your teaching
11:00 – Why conferences and community matter for innovation
13:45 – Barriers to evidence-based teaching and the risk of changing what’s familiar
16:20 – Applying the same scientific scrutiny to old teaching methods
19:40 – A practical first step toward scholarly teaching
21:00 – Finding useful teaching research without getting overwhelmed
25:20 – Meet the panelists and the ideas they’ll bring to BCCE
29:10 – How the Community Conversation will work
32:35 – Why good teachers are made, not born
34:00 – Filling your teaching cup back up at BCCE

Support this podcast on Patreon

Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How do forensic scientists find fingerprints?

Thu, 25 Jun 2026

There are a lot more ways to reveal a fingerprint than the black powder you see on TV.In this second part of our forensic chemistry series with Nicki Stewart, we explore the surprising chemistry behind fingerprints. From powders and iodine vapor to super glue fumes and chemical reactions, we break down how forensic scientists reveal invisible fingerprints—and why choosing the right method depends entirely on the surface, the chemistry, and the evidence they’re trying to preserve.

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

0:00 – What are fingerprints, really?

5:30 – What’s actually left behind when you touch something?

9:20 – The two main categories of fingerprint detection

14:00 – How fingerprint powder actually works

18:40 – Iodine fuming and why fingerprints disappear again

25:25 – Revealing fingerprints on sticky tape

29:40 – Ninhydrin and the chemistry behind purple fingerprints

35:05 – The surprising science of super glue fuming

42:20 – Why collecting fingerprints is much harder than TV makes it look

46:10 – Jam’s biggest takeaways from fingerprint chemistry

References from the Episode:

Support this podcast on Patreon
Buy Podcast Merch and Apparel

Check out our website at chemforyourlife.com

Watch our episodes on YouTube

Find us on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @ChemForYourLife

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.