There are an isolated few graphics online that look at elements involved in the manufacture of a smartphone – for example, this ‘Periodic Table of iPhones’ – but there’s actually remarkably little easily accessible information out there that details the specific compounds used for specific ...

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In the wake of the recent announcement of a new £1 coin to be introduced in 2017, today’s post looks at some of the metals present in the coins of the United Kingdom. All of these coins are produced using alloys, or mixtures of metals; the main metals used include copper, nickel, zinc and iron. ...

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A number of chemical materials are used in the manufacture of the Brazuca, the World Cup football. The majority of these materials are polymers; these are very long molecules built up from many smaller component molecules. A simple, everyday example is polyethene, used to make some plastic bags. ...

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You’ve probably readof the recent death of Stephanie Kwolek, the American chemist who discovered Kevlar. Most people have almost certainly heard ofKevlar, in the context of bullet-proof vests, but fewer are probably aware of the vast range of applications it has, or the chemical reasons behind ...

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Kunststoff ist überall in unserem täglichen Leben - aber natürlich ist "Kunststoff" nur ein Sammelbegriff für eine Reihe verschiedener chemischer Substanzen. Diese Grafik zeigt einige der gängigsten Kunststoffe, denen wir regelmäßig begegnen, und beleuchtet deren chemische Strukturen. Im ...

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The Carbon-Based ‘Wonder Material’

You may not have beenaware, but this week is Graphene Week 2015, which marks a yearly week-long conference at the University of Manchester based around the emerging science and technological applications of graphene. This seemed as good a time as any to take a look at graphene: what it is, why ...

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Today’s post looks at an aspect of chemistry we come across every day: alloys.Alloys make up parts of buildings, transport, coins, and plenty of other objects in our daily lives. But what are the different alloys we use made up of, and why do we use them instead of elemental metals? The graphic ...

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For objects that essentially look like thin plastic films, there’s a surprising amount of chemistry behind contact lenses. This chemistry is designed to maximise comfort whilst they are being worn, and as such it’s also been constantly evolving and improving. Today’s post takes a look at some of ...

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Sticky Science

Superglue is an incredibly useful invention, allowing us to repair all manner of objects. However, it nearly wasn’t invented at all!Here’s a quick lookat the story of superglue, and, more importantly, the chemistry that allows it to do its job. Superglue was initially discovered by accident. Dr ...

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Silly putty (or science putty, as it’s sometimes referred to) is an odd material. Stretch it slowly and it happily deforms, and can be molded very easily. However, pull it apart with enough force and it’ll snap clean in two. It flows imperceptibly slowly, as if it were a thick liquid, but when ...

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