What’s in that stuff and why does it work?

Proteins are polymers of amino acids. They have complex structures that involve a specific sequence of amino acids, a helical structure, and folding of the helical chain.
There are many groups on the proteins that help make it attractive to water molecules so some proteins are water soluble or can be suspended in water.

Monosaccharide Disaccharide
Polysaccharide

• Carbohydrates have many –OH groups that make them soluble in water if they are not too large
• Carbohydrates are used as energy sources in the body and for some cellular structures.

• Because lipids have long chains of carbons and hydrogens they do not dissolve in water. In fact, they repel water. In fact we call lipids hydrophobic.

• Oil and water don’t mix! (Why?)
• To make them mix (so we can wash the oil away) we use a molecule that has an end that attracts water
(hydrophilic) and an end that attracts the non-polar oil (hydrophobic).
• Soaps are salts of the fatty acids
(organic) that make up lipids.

Grease
Tail (hydrophobic) end of soap molecule attracts grease
Head (hydrophilic) end of soap molecule attracts water

• Hard water contains
Mg 2+ , Ca 2+ , and/or Fe 3+ ions.
• The soap molecule reacts with these ions and form a precipitate…soap scum!

• Detergents are synthetic molecules that have hydrophobic and hydrophilic ends like soap but do not form the insoluble materials with hard water ions.
• Most modern cleaning products (hand soap, shampoo, toothpaste…) are detergents.

• You want your clothes white and bright, right?
• Textiles tend to fade or turn yellow over time.
• Manufacturers add products that make you think the clothes are brighter and whiter.
• Bluing agents (whiteners) absorb yellow light so the clothes don’t look yellow.
• Brighteners absorb UV light and emit it as visible light so the clothes look brighter.

• Enzymes remove protein-based stains by breaking the protein molecules so the trapped colored molecules can be released. They also “chomp” small broken fibers from natural materials.
• Oxygen releasing materials (bleaching agents) have an oxidizing effect and convert colored compounds to colorless ones.

• Fabrics feel rough because of small broken fibers on the cloth.
• Fabric softeners use a lubricating substances that provide a smooth feel and reduce static electricity build-up.

Toothpastes contain one or more of the following:
• Detergent - to remove grease/oil
(sodium lauryl sulfate)
• Basic compound – to neutralize acid formed by bacteria (CaCO
3 or baking soda and ammonia)
• Abrasive – to remove material deposited on the mineral tooth surface (silicates…like sand)
• Coloring agents – to make the toothpaste white
(titanium dioxide) or other interesting colors

Toothpastes contain one or more of the following:
• Fluoride – to produce a harder mineral called hydroxyfluoroapatite from tooth enamel; this is usually sodium fluoride (Fluoristat)
• Flavoring and sweetening agents – so we will use toothpaste! Sweeteners are artificial, not sucrose!
• Bleaching agents – to whiten teeth
(hydrogen peroxides or related compounds but not bleach)

• Sucrose (table sugar) – naturally derived from plants such as sugar cane and beets
• Aspartame (Equal®)
– combination of two amino acids slightly modified

• Saccharin (Sweet ‘N
Low®) – artifically produced
• Sucralose (Splenda®)
– derived from sucrose with chlorine atoms replacing OH groups

• Stevioside (Truvia®) – naturally derived from the stevia plant

Tums
47.4
45.5
49.5
49.3
48.5
42
44
How many mL of acid were neutralized by each tablet?
Giant Brand
43.0
13
26
4
10
25
16

Sweetner
Sucrose
Fructose
Maltose (Malt Sugar)
Relative Sweetness
100
140
30-50
High fructose corn syrup 120-160
Aspartame 18000
Saccharin
Sucralose
Stevioside
30000
60000
25000-30000

• Contain molecules that absorb and/or reflect some UV-A and UV-B rays
• Sun Protection Factor (SPF)
• Argh!
• SPF indicates how much longer it will take for skin to redden…An SPF factor of 15 means that it will take about 15 times longer to get red when exposed…if applied correctly!

SPF
2
4
8
15
30
50
% UV absorbed
50
70
87.5
93.3
96.7
98

Drug Name
Aminobenzoic acid
Avobenzone
Cinoxate
Dioxybenzone
Ecamsule*
Ensulizole
Homosalate
Meradimate
Octocrylene
Octinoxate
Octisalate
Oxybenzone
Padimate O
Sulisobenzone
Titanium dioxide
Trolamine salicylate
Zinc oxide
Concentration, %
Up to 15
2-3
Up to 3
Up to 3
2
Up to 4
Up to 15
Up to 5
Up to 10
Up to 7.5
Up to 5
Up to 6
Up to 8
Up to 10
2 to 25
Up to 12
2 to 20
Absorbance
UV-B
UV-A I
UV-B
UV-B, UV-A II
UV-A II
UV-B
UV-B
UV-A II
UV-B
UV-B
UV-B
UV-B, UV-A II
UV-B
UV-B, UV-A II
Physical
UV-B
Physical