Skip to main content

Up Next

How Can A Margarita Do This?

How Can A Margarita Do This?

Season 6 Episode 16
3:47
Color Changing Tea

Color Changing Tea

Season 6 Episode 18
4:00
How Can Fertilizer Explode?

How Can Fertilizer Explode?

Season 6 Episode 20
6:10
Why Does Fall Smell So Good?

Why Does Fall Smell So Good?

Season 6 Episode 22
7:25
The Science of Kombucha

The Science of Kombucha

Season 6 Episode 23
8:12
We Are Made of Star Stuff

We Are Made of Star Stuff

Season 10 Episode 3
10:13
I Reinvented a 300-Year Old Drink

I Reinvented a 300-Year Old Drink

Season 10 Episode 4
16:56
Back to Show
Reactions

Cellulose: From Trees to Explosives

Season 6 Episode 15

Cellulose is everywhere. In fact, it is the most abundant organic molecule on the Earth! It’s in (but not limited to) our food, clothing, and plastics, and the cellulose compound nitrocellulose is used in explosives but also in things like x-rays, early silent films and nail polish. In this episode, we get into how this tiny molecule holds up so much of our modern world.

Support Provided By
Season
Making Drinking Water From Sewage
11:50
With the right cleaning methods, we can turn the dirtiest water into safe cleaning water.
How to Demo a Building Without Exploding Everything Around
9:12
Counterintuitively, you do it with explosives.
You Don't Understand Water (and Neither Does Anyone Else)
12:10
We’re gonna dive into the controversial chemistry of water's unusual properties.
This Toxic Gas is Responsible for Almost All Our Food
10:03
Plot twist: Toxic Anhydrous ammonia is responsible for 50% of the food on your table.
What's In "Premium" Gas?
8:43
It all has to do with the octane rating!
Climate Change is Affecting Hibernation Patterns of Animals
7:29
This is a deeper dive into how complicated and climate based hibernation is.
What is an Electron?
10:50
There is so much more to these “negatively charged particles” than we've thought.
We Made Pop Rocks at Home with Science
8:31
Making pop rocks at home is so much harder but so much fun. Check it out!
I Ate Gold To Prove a Point
7:03
Why are some heavy metals deadly while others keep us alive?
How Do Hydrogen Fuel Cells Work?
8:11
Let's explore how fuel cars work and if they're truly sustainable.
How Oxygen Masks Brought Down a Plane
6:31
How did something meant to keep you safe end up killing over 100 people?
Extracting Gold from Seawater
5:39
We try to find some of the 700 trillion dollars worth of gold in the ocean.
Active loading indicator