F.A.T.S!

Have you ever been call as a fat ass? fatty boom boom?


Do you know there's saturated fats and unsaturated fats?
Well, this is all about fats!

Fats and oils are belong to a group of naturally occurring substances called lipids. Lipids are a group of organic compounds that make up the structure of cells found in plant and animal tissues. The lipids are water insoluble compounds by using organic solvent such as esther and benzene.

Fats and oil are chemically very similar, but differ in their physical states. Fats normally found in animals like goats and cows. It is in solid state at room temperature such as butter and tallow. Whereas fats from plants are in liquid states known as oils.The example of vegetable oil such as palm oil, coconut oil, olive oil,soybean oil and corn oil.

Basically fats and oils consist of a variety of long chain carboxylic acid called fatty acids with alcohol propane-1,2,3-triol(known as glycerol).


Fatty acids are long straight-chain carboxylic acid and a molecule of glycerol may combine with one two or three fatty acids to form monoester,diester or triester.


Hence fatty acid playing the main role determining whether it is saturated fats or unsaturated fats. A saturated fatty acid has all carbon atoms joined together by carbon-carbon single bonds. Palmitic acid is a saturated fatty acid. In an unsaturated fatty acid, the carbon chain has one or more carbon-carbon double bonds. Monosaturated is formed if the fatty acid molecule has one carbon-carbon double bond


whereas polyunsaturated has more than one carbon-carbon double bond.

Fats which contain esters of glycerol and unsaturated fatty acids are classified as unsaturated fats. Example like plants or vegetable oils contain a large proportion of unsaturated esters.Thus, it has lower melting points.



In other words,fats which contain esters if glycerol and saturated fatty acids are classified as saturated fats. It containing a large proportion of saturated esters tend to have melting points and are solids at room temperature. Medical research has found that a diet high in animal fats, particularly saturated fats is considered unhealthy. High consumption of food high in saturated fats is likely to result in obesity. It is also found that animal saturated fats pose a greater risk for coronary heart disease and strokes than unsaturated vegetable oils. Hence, unsaturated fats are more favorable and healthier than saturated fats.



Therefore, chemist developed an idea to convert unsaturated fats to saturated fats through a process call hydrogenation. Each carbon-carbon double bond absorbs one mole of hydrogen. The hydrogenation process is carried out by bubbling hyrogen gas through hot liquid oil in the presence of fine particles of nickel catalyst. A temperature of about 200C and pressure about 4 atm are used. As more and more of double bonds get hydrogenated, the relative molecular mass of the oil molecule increases. And causes the Intermolecular forces become stronger and more energy is need to overcome them. As a result, the boiling point of the oil increases and the physical state changes from liquid to solid.





Margarine is an example or products produce through hydrogenation. It is a soft solid with low melting point at room temperature. It is made by hydrogenating some of the carbon-carbon double bonds in polyunsaturated vegetable oil such as palm oil and sunflower oil. If you were to compare butter and margarine, which is better for health. I would assure you that margarine is healthier than butter because margarine is made from vegetable oil, is low in saturated fat and has no dietary cholesterol.
VS

In a conclusion, vegetable oils do not contain cholesterol because only animals would make cholesterol. These unsaturated fats do not have the damaging effect of saturated fats to cause cardiovascular problems. The sentence only can conclude that we are suggested to consume unsaturated fats than saturated but doesn't means that we can consume unsaturated fats in large quantities. Too much of fats consumption, whether unsaturated or saturated will make us overweight. A balanced healthy diet will keep the vital processes in our bodies to function efficiently to maintain a healthy body.

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Synthetic Polymers

Let's just begin with a question.What is polymers?

Polymers are long-chain molecules formed bu joining together thousands of monomers(small repeating units). A polymer is molecule is synthesis in a process call polymerisation by joining together the monomers molecules. Besides synthetic polymers, natural polymers are exists and found in living things. For example, protein, DNA, cellulose, starch and natural rubber.
Well, this post are going to concentrate on synthetic polymers which is so called man-made polymers. They include plastics such as polyethylene and fibres such as nylons.

For example plastics are the largest group of synthetic polymers which have the important property of being easily formed. The raw materials to make plastics came from the products of cracking of petroleum fractions. The monomers of making plastics polymers is alkenes, they are formed by addition reaction. Polythene , polyvinyl chloride (PVC) , polypropene and perpex are the example of plastics.

Polythene also known as polyethene.

The monomers for is ethene.


The polymerisation process produces polyethene.

Polypropene


and its monomers propene


Both of this polymers are used o make plastic bags,pipes, containers moulded objects and toys.

Polythene , polyvinyl chloride (PVC)


the monomer, chloroethene.

The reaction to form polychloroethene is shown below.


PVC is normally used to make pipes, wire and cables,records and apparels such as footwear and rain coats.



Perspex

The monomer is Methyl 2-methylpropenoate.

Polymerising this monomer will produce the polymer methyl2-methypropenate. It is used to replace glass, fibre optics and illuminated signs.

Besides plastics , there are two important groups of fibres polyamide which is nylon and polyester which is terylene. Both nylon and terylene are produced by condensation polymerisation.

Nylon


Nylon is used to make textile fibres, threads, ropes, toothbrushes and electrical insulators.

Terylene.
A condesation reaction will join thousands of diacids and diols together to produce polyester.

Terylene is used to make textile fibres, parachutes, stockings, fishing nets and tapes.

Synthetic polymers are usually cheaper than natural materials and it can be tailor-made by chemists to suit certain specifications.Synthetic polymers vary widely in physical such as strength, flexibility, resistance to chemical attacks and softening temperature.
For the last fifty years or so, the development of synthetic polymers has led to a great change in the world where we live. Many materials of great usefulness are developed. The manufacture and use of synthetic polymers have increase rapidly over the years. And they are steadily replacing traditional natural materials. Plastic chairs and tables are replacing wooden ones; PVC is replacing leather in sofas; nylons and terylene is replacing natural wool and cotton.

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Let it snow..

Ever since I was born, I always dream that it would snow in Malaysia one day. When day goes by, people are growing up mentally and physically and then we started to realize that it never snow where we live. Oh well, I still wish to touch the snow. I want to feel it on my cheeks, build a snowman on a snow land instead of building the sandcastle on the beach and throw a snowball at someone's face. I don't mind I'll get frost bitten, I just wish I could travel overseas and learn how to run in the snow.

During Christmas, it is traditional to decorate every places with lights and sometimes with illuminated snowflake, snowmen and other Christmas figures. I remember I've seen snowflakes the most because snowflakes are one of the most recognizable and endearing symbols of winter. It has it's delicate shape and it happens in real. Hence, I did some research about snowflakes.
There you go..

In western country where you will see snowflakes are particular form of water ice.Snowflakes form in clouds, which consist of water vapor.When the temperature decreases water freeze to become ice. And there's where science kicks in. There are several factors affect snowflake formation such as temperature, air currents, and humidity which are all influence their shape and size. Water might get mixed up with dirt and dust particles and affect crystal weight and durability.
Snowflake formation is a dynamic process.First, the tiny ice crystal becomes hexagonal (six-sided). This shape originates from the chemistry of the water molecule, which consists of two hydrogen atoms bonded to an oxygen atom. The water molecules in a snowflake chemically bond to each other to form the six-sided flake due to the angle of the water molecule and its hydrogen-bonding, . The flake eventually sprouts six tiny branches. Each of these branches grows to form side branches in a direction and shape that are influenced by the clustering of water molecules on the ice crystal surfaces.

Researchers show that not all snowflakes are symmetrical. Changes in temperatures, presence of dirt, and other factors may cause a snowflake to be lop-sided. Yet it is true that many snowflakes are same in all side and intricate. This is because a snowflake's shape reflects the internal order of the water molecules. Ice and snow as water molecules in the solid state, form weak bonds (called hydrogen bonds) with one another. These ordered arrangements result in the symmetrical, hexagonal shape of the snowflake. During crystallization, the water molecules align themselves to maximize attractive forces and minimize repulsive forces. Consequently, water molecules simply arrange themselves to fit the spaces and maintain symmetry.

However, there's no snowflakes are alike due to the precise number of water molecules, spin of electrons, isotope abundance of hydrogen and oxygen, etc. But sometimes it is possible for two snowflakes to look exactly identical and any given snowflake probably has had a good match at some point in history. Anyhow, it is improbable that anyone would see two identical snowflakes since there are so many factors affect the structure of a snowflake.

And lastly, are you wondering why snow is white?I'm gonna tell you why.
During the formation of snowflakes, water droplets in cloud are saturated with dissolved gases. When the environment temperature decrease until freezing point, insoluble gases in snow are trapped inside and form tiny bubble. The size and the distribution of the tiny bubble are quite uniform due to small droplet size and fast freezing rate. Visible light are reflected by tiny bubble ; and because snowflakes have so many light-reflecting surfaces they scatter the light into all of its colors, so snow appears white.

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Pools are cool!

With the really warm weather we are having in Malaysia, I thought it would be a great time to immerse ourselves into an Olympic size of swimming pool. Don't you agree with me? I guess there's no better place to get away from the hotness and what’s more fun than some ice cold water on a hot day.
When we talk about swimming pools, have you ever smelled the high level of chlorine in the water? Did you ever feel itchiness on your skin with your bareback polyester sheath?
Well, I did. I smelled the strong odor and my palms always happen to appear some red patches after I swam and it's itchy. Some people are even highly allergic to chlorine, so do you know what exactly chlorine is? and why is it chlorine is added to the swimming pool.

Let's explore deeper.

According to wikipedia, Chlorine is a powerful oxidant and is used in bleaching and disinfectants. Therefore swimming pool need to be properly sanitized to ensure hygience of swimmers.Basically, it is an oxidizing agent used to disinfect water to reduce or eliminate microorganisms such as bacteria, algae and viruses.

There's few types of chlorine used for swimming pools such as

1. 56% to 62% Sodium Dichloro-S-Triazinetrione in granular chlorine
2. 90% Trichloro-S-Triazinetrione in chlorine tablets or stick
3. 65% Calcium Hypochlorite in the form of Granular Chlorine Sodium Hypochlorite in liquid form


All type of chlorine above will form hypochlorous acid which are similar to following reaction.

Cl2 + H2O → HOCl (hypochlorous acid) + HCl (hydrochloric acid)


HOCI will attack the microorganisms and bacteria in the water by destroying the lipids in the cell wall and the enzymes within the cells. HOCI causes the bacteria cells oxidized as thgey destroy the structure inside the cells. Therefore, HOCI is considered a very strong oxidizing agent.

In aqueous solution, HOCI can partially dissociate into anion hypochlorite CIO- which is weaker oxidizing agent. Hence, basic condition (high PH) will reduce the effectiveness of chlorine.

HClO ↔ OCl- + H+


Nevertheless, HOCI is unstable under high temperature. At the moment, HOCI will decompose into HCI and oxygen with the presence of sunlight. Cyanuric acid can stabilize HOCI but reduce the effectiveness of HCIO.The reaction is occurred like below.

2Cl2 + 2H2O ↔ 4HCl + O2

HOCI may combine with other chemicals to form chloroamine even with cyanuric acid as stabilising agent. Hypochlorus acid may combine with ammonia, found in urine to produce various chloroamine. Chloroamine is the main source of causing skin and eyes irritation and the unpleasant odor. Thus, the strong smell, taste and eye irritation associate with swimming pools are actually due to chloroamine but not hypochlorus acid.

NH3 + HOCl → NH2Cl + H2O

Alright, now you will think that you won't be exposed to chlorine if you promised you don't swim. I shall tell you that you are wrong. Did you ever stepped into morning shower and realized that each time you take a shower,your body is exposed to chlorine and you absorb it right into your body.

Anyhow,Scientists consider chlorine one of the most toxic elements found in nature and yet the number of people allergic to chlorine is extremely small. Eye irritation, dry skin, coughing, sneezing, stuffy or itchy nose may be just the symptoms of an intolerance to chlorine instead of a true allergy.

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Has H1N1 gotten near you?

It's been quite a long time since Influenza A H1N1 outbreak began from Mexico and spreading over the world.Then, the deadly virus start killing people even from United States and Canada,until then Malaysia had confirmed the first H1N1 case few days ago. Soon enough there's second case occurred in Malaysia within a week.


H1N1 viruses.

The world is stepping up efforts to control the spread of A H1N1 including Malaysia,after a second person had infected the illness.

Since vaccination have not been developed yet.Regular hand washing is highly recommended as one of the most effective ways of controlling the infections. It was a good idea that keeping good hygiene and using a hand sanitizer.

An alcohol-free hand sanitizer like SOAPOPULAR had recently introduced to people that it is the first line of defence against the spread of H1N1. The product is the best option of not only killing all the germs come in contact to ,but stopping the spread of viruses and against diseases.

Soapopular is not a normal soap forming through saponification.In addition, it is differ from most hand sanitizers available, that it does not use alcohol as its main ingredients, make sure it is a safer product for children. Instead of alcohol, it contains an ammonium compound call Benzalkonium Chloride (BAC) and clinical research proves that 99.9% of germs including avian flu, SARS, influenza A2 and H1N1 virus are killed within 15 seconds of expose to Soapopular hand sanitizer.

Alcohol based gel sanitizers will strip away the natural oils found in skin. The skin can become dry and cracked as it use repetitives. The small cracks then can trap germs leaving you susceptible to infection. Therefore Soapopular act as an alcohol-free antiseptics which will not introduced dry and irritated skin.

Benzalkonium Chloride (aka BAC) is the mixture of alkyldimethylbenzylammonium choloride which had been considered by medical professionals for being one of the safest organic compounds.It is one of the antiseptic agents which kill and inhibits the growth of diseases caused by bacterias/viruses.Thus, It has been widely used in health care related products.

The features of Benzalkonium Chloride such as it's chemical structure C6H5CH2N(CH3)2RCl. Appearance, Colorless to pale yellow viscous liquid PH: 6.0 - 9.0, it is neutral or slightly alkaline . Solution foam would produce when shaken.
This product is a nitrogenous cationic surface-acting agent(lower the surface tension of water)and it belonging to the quartenary ammonium group.(positively charged polyatomic ions of the structure NR₄⁺ with R being alkyl groups.)

Benzalkonium Chloride

On the other hand, Soapopular is also fragrance free which means it does not involved any esterfication. It is non-flammable due to alcohol-free and it is hypoallergenic(unlikely to cause allergic reaction).

"The best defense is proper hand hygiene and hand washing." This simple phrase has been a big tittle we have seen from the newspaper now a days. So.. what are you waiting now? This product is available from independent pharmacies and on line from http://www.soapopular.co.uk.

Sample of the product.


Please take note that swine flu H1N1 had been a really serious problem. Countries are putting great effort and taking steps to prevent H1N1 outbreak. Kindly be advised that everyone should be practising good hygiene.

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