The Molecules Around Me Chemistry Project
Alex Forkel
(1): Food and nutritional supplements
Name: Kirkland chewable vitamin C
Purpose: Source of vitamin C
Ingredients: Sorbitol, Sodium Ascorbate, Ascorbic Acid,
Corn Starch, Magnesium Stearate, Silicon Dioxide,
Sucralose, Yellow 6 Lake, Natural and Artificial Orange
Flavors, Natural Orange Juice Powder, Lactose (Milk), Red
40 Lake.
Compound(1):
Name: Magnesium Stearate
Molecular formula: Mg(C18H35O2)2
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it has Carbon.
Molecular structure:
Summary: Magnesium stearate is a white substance, a
powder that becomes solid at room temperature.
Magnesium stearate melts at approximately 120 °C, but is
not soluble in water, and is for the most part, considered
safe for human consumption at levels below 2500 mg/kg
per day.
Compound(2):
Name: Silicon Dioxide
Molecular formula: SiO2
Organic or Inorganic: Inorganic because it does not
contain any Carbon.
Molecular structure:
Summary: Silicon dioxide is a chemical compound that is
an oxide of silicon. It has been known for its hardness
since ancient times. Silicon is found most commonly in
nature in the form of sand or quartz.
Compound (3):
Name: Sucralose
Molecular formula: C12H19Cl3O8
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it contains
Carbons.
Molecular structure:
Summary: Sucralose is an artificial sweetener. Most of
ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body, so it’s
non-caloric. Sucralose is about 600 times as sweet as
sucrose (table sugar), twice as sweet as saccharin, and
three times as sweet as aspartame (the sweetener in gum).
The most common brand names of sucralose-based
sweeteners are Splenda, Sukrana, SucraPlus, Candys,
Cukren and Nevella.
Compound(4):
Name: Sorbitol
Molecular formula: C6H14O6
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it contains
Carbons.
Molecular structure:
Summary: Sorbitol is a sugar alcohol that the human
body metabolizes very slowly. It can be obtained by
reduction of glucose. Sorbitol can be found in apples,
pears, peaches, and prunes.
Compound(5):
Name: Lactose
Molecular formula: C12H22O11
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it contains
Carbons.
Molecular structure:
Summary: Lactose is a disaccharide sugar that comes
from galactose and glucose that is most commonly found
in cow milk. Lactose makes up around 2~8% of milk (by
weight).
(2): Healthcare and medicinal products
Name: Ibuprofen
Purpose: Pain reliever\Fever reducer
Ingredients: Colloidal Silicon Dioxide, Corn Starch,
Croscarmellose Sodium, Hypromellose, Iron Oxides,
Microcrystalline Cellulose, Polyethylene Glycol, Polysorbate
80, Stearic Acid, Titanium Doxide
Compound(1):
Name: Corn Starch
Molecular Formula: C27H48O20
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it comes from
corn, which contains Carbon. Anything that contains
Carbon is organic.
Molecular Structure:
Summary: I read that they put Corn Starch in Ibuprofen to
actually hold the tablet together. Some people add it to
their homemade gravy to thicken it. It’s not exactly
healthy, but like most things in this world, in small
increments, it won’t harm you.
Compound(2):
Name: Croscarmellose Sodium
Molecular Formula: C12H10Ca3O14.4H2O
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it contains carbon.
Molecular Structure:
Summary: Because it is soluble in water, but it must sit in
water for a while before it breaks down, they put in in
Ibuprofen to keep the tablets from breaking down too
soon. If you took Ibuprofen on an empty stomach, (you
have to take a lot for this to occur) you’d have a really
upset stomach. So they do that to allow time.
Compound(3):
Name: Iron Oxide
Molecular Formula: Fe2O3
Organic or Inorganic: Inorganic because it contains no
Carbon.
Molecular Structure:
Summary: It is a combination of Iron and Oxygen (just in
case you couldn’t tell) and it is what makes the Ibuprofen
have it’s red color. There are a total of 16 known Iron
Oxides. Most rust is a form of Iron Oxide.
Compound(4):
Name: Titanium Dioxide
Molecular formula: TiO2
Organic or Inorganic: Inorganic because it DOES NOT
contain Carbon.
Molecular structure:
Summary: Titanium dioxide is the naturally occurring
oxide of titanium. When used as a pigment, it is called
titanium white. It has a wide range of applications, from
paint to sunscreen to food coloring. When used as a food
colouring, it has E number E171.
Compound(5):
Name: Stearic Acid
Molecular formula: C18H36O2
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it contains
Carbons and to be considered organic, a compound must
contain Carbon.
Molecular structure:
Summary: Stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid with an 18carbon chain. It’s a waxy solid. The salts of stearic acid are
called stearates, which is where the stearic in the name
comes from. Stearic acid is one of the most commonly
found (in nature) saturated fatty acids besides Palmitic
Acid.
(3) Personal hygiene and cleaning products
Name: Crest 3D white toothpaste
Purpose: To clean and significantly whiten teeth with
results you can see in just 7 days.
Ingredients: water, sorbitol, hydrated silica, disodium
pyrophosphate, sodium lauryl sulfate, flavor, cellulose
gum, sodium hydroxide, sodium saccharin, carbomer,
xanthan gum, polyethylene, mica, titanium dioxide, blue 1
lake.
Compound(1):
Name: Water
Molecular formula: H2O
Organic or Inorganic: Inorganic because there’s no
Carbon in it.
Molecular structure:
Summary: A water molecule is made of one oxygen and
two hydrogen atoms that are bonded by covalent bonds.
Water exists in a liquid crystal state near hydrophilic
surfaces.
Compound(2):
Name: Hydrated Silica
Molecular formula: SiO2 · nH2O
Organic or Inorganic: Inorganic because it doesn’t
contain any Carbon
Molecular structure:
Summary: Hydrated silica is a form of silicon dioxide, that
contains a variable amount of water in the formula. It is
also known as silicic acid, the term generally used for it
when it’s dissolved in water. It’s found in nature as opal
(which has been mined as a gemstone for centuries). It
also tends to be sold for toothpaste. As soon as it’s
dehydrated, the gel is used as a desiccant that we know
as silica gel. It also tends to be used in many paints and
varnishes.
Compound(3):
Name: Disodium Pyrophosphate
Molecular formula: Na2HPO4
Organic or Inorganic: Inorganic because it does not
contain Carbon.
Molecular structure:
Summary:
Disodium hydrogen phosphate is sodium salt made of
phosphoric acid. It is a white powder that’s soluble.
Because of that, it is commercially sold as an anti-caking
additive in powdered products. It is commercially available
in both the hydrated and anhydrous forms.
Compound(4):
Name: Cellulose Gum
Molecular formula: -CH2-COOH
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it contains
Carbon.
Molecular structure:
Summary: “Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) or cellulose
gum, is a cellulose derivative with carboxymethyl groups
bound to some of the hydroxyl groups of the
glucopyranose monomers that make up the cellulose
backbone. It is often used as its sodium salt, sodium
carboxymethyl cellulose.” (Wikipedia.org)
Compound(5):
Name: Xanthan Gum
Molecular formula: C35H49O29
Organic or Inorganic: Organic because it contains
Carbons.
Molecular structure:
Summary: “Xanthan gum is typically used as a food
additive and rheology modifier, commonly used as a food
thickening agent (in salad dressings, for example) and a
stabilizer (in cosmetic products, for example, to prevent
ingredients from separating). It is produced by the
fermentation of glucose, sucrose, or lactose. After a
fermentation period, the polysaccharide is precipitated
from a growth medium with isopropyl alcohol, dried, and
ground into a fine powder. Later, it is added to a liquid
medium to form the gum.” (Wikipedia.org)
Summary: Overall, I learned that there are things that you
can learn stuff about in my own house and it’s super quick
and easy. It’s just Google. That’s way cool. Also, I’d never
tasted a chewable vitamin C before I pulled it out of my
cupboard to use. So that was cool. I always just took the
liquid. They’re really good. I think what I learned that most
relates to chemistry is that the FDA DOES NOT approve of
a lot of things for us to consume that are put in ibuprofen
and vitamins (I learned this from other’s projects). I think it
would’ve been really cool if we’d had some way to look at
other’s projects because I learned probably just as much
reading theirs as I did probably doing mine.