The Molecules Around Meby Zachary Scharman

Food and Nutritional Supplements:Name: Kix Cereal

Photo:

Ingredients:

Compound: Sugar (sucrose)

Photo:Molecular Formula:C12H22O11

Organic or Inorganic: Sugar is organic because it is made in plant organisms and

contains carbon.

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: Sucrose is an important staple of our diet. It provides much of the energy humans use. It is created by plants in a process known as photosynthesis in which chloroplasts in plant cells convert solar energy into usable chemical energy. Consuming overly large amounts of sugar has a negative effect on health and is common in first world nations (especially america).

Compound: Salt (sodium chloride)

Photo:Molecular Formula:NaClOrganic or Inorganic: Inorganic because it contains carbon.Molecular Structure:(this is an ionic structure)Summary of Relevant Information: Salt is also important in the diets of humans. However excess amounts also have negative effects. Salt is used as a preserving agent, especially for meat, and is among the most commonly used seasonings. It is also commonly used on roads and sidewalks during cold weather due to it’s ability to lower the freezing temperature of water. Salt can be used to kill bacteria, as a pesticide, or as a cleaning agent.

Compound: Palmitate or Palmitic Acid

Photo:Molecular Formula:C16H32O2

Organic or Inorganic: Organic, because it is a fatty acid found in the body that contains plenty of carbons.

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: This is one of the most common fatty acids found, not only in animals, but in plants and microorganisms as well. It is used in soaps and other cosmetics. Recently it’s uses have expanded to include being used in medicine used to treat schizophrenia.

Compound: Trisodium Phosphate

Photo:Molecular Formula:Na3PO4

Organic or Inorganic: Trisodium Phosphate is inorganic because it doesn’t contain any carbon. It is also not created in organisms. Molecular Structure:(this is an ionic structure)Summary of Relevant Information: Trisodium Phosphate is used in many ways. It can be used as a cleaning agent especially to clean grease and fats. It is also used in soldering in plumbing because it can be easily dissolved in water later. It is used as a food additive and an exercise performance enhancer as well as in paint to make it easier to apply additional layers of paint.

Compound: Folic Acid

Photo:Molecular Formula: C19H19N7O6

Organic or Inorganic: Folic Acid is organic because it contains carbon without any metals.

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: Folic acid is a b vitamin(B9) necessary for the human body. It is used in our cells to synthesize and repair our DNA. It is also used to help our cells split quickly and efficiently during infancy and in making red blood cells.

Healthcare and Medical Products:Name: Regular Strength Antacid Tablets

Photo:Ingredients:

Compound: Calcium Carbonate

Photo:Molecular Formula:CaCO3

Organic or Inorganic: Calcium Carbonate is organic because it contains carbon.Molecular Structure:(this is an ionic structure)Summary of Relevant Information: This compound is the main cause of hard water. It is also commonly used as an antacid. It is also used as a calcium supplement. It is a common component in rocks and hard organic substances such as seashells or eggshells.

Compound: Adipic Acid

Photo:Molecular Formula: (CH2)4(COOH)2

Organic or Inorganic: Adipic Acid is organic because of it’s carbon containing structure.

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: Adipic Acid is soluble in water .It is used in pills to encourage the release of their contents by forming pores in the inner surface of the pill. This is activated when the pill is exposed to the intestines. Adipic Acid can also be used as a flavoring agent in food in small amounts. It also mildly irritates skin.

Compound: Dextrose or Glucose

Photo:Molecular Formula:C6H12O6

Organic or Inorganic: Dextrose is organic because it is a carbon containing sugar.

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: Dextrose is a form of crystallized glucose that we have in many of our starchy foods. It is used by diabetics as a insulin regulator because it enters the blood quickly after being ingested. It is also commonly used as a sugar substitute or a sweetener. It can also be used as a growth supplement and can easily be digested in your body into energy.

Compound: Maltodextrin

Photo:Molecular Formula: C6nH(10n+2)O(5n+1)

Organic or Inorganic: Maltodextrin is organic because it is made in an organism and contains carbon.

Molecular Structure:

Summary of Relevant Information: Maltodextrin is a common food additive and sweetener. It can be dissolved and used for energy in a similar way to glucose. It is made from starch from corn in america. It can also be used in beer making.

Compound: Tartrazine

Photo:Molecular Formula:C16H9N4Na3O9S2

Organic or Inorganic: This is organic because it contains carbon.

Molecular Structure: Summary of Relevant Information:Tartrazine is a common yellow colored dye used in coloring food. It can also be used to color things blue of green. It is also used to color medication or pills.

Personal Hygiene and Cleaning Products:Name: Office Depot Hand Sanitizer

Photo:

Ingredients:

Compound: Ethyl Alcohol(Ethanol)

Photo: Molecular Formula:C2H6OOrganic or Inorganic:Organic (It is organic because of its carbon containing structure.)

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: This is often the alcohol found in alcoholic drinks or spirits and in the past has been used as an early recreational drug. It is organic because of its carbon containing structure.

Compound: Water

Photo:Molecular Formula: H2OOrganic or Inorganic: Inorganic, because it doesn’t contain carbon.

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: Water is one of the most important molecules necessary for life. It’s fairly unique characteristics make it perfect to sustain life. It’s chemical formula, H2O, is made up of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Because of the greater electronegativity of the oxygen d with the hydrogens (polarity). These charges and the overall polarity give water some of it’s impressive life sustaining properties. Water is inorganic because it doesn’t contain carbon.

Compound:Glycerin

Photo:Molecular Formula :C3H8O3

Organic or Inorganic:Organic because it contains carbon and is a lipid.

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: Glycerin, or glycerol, is odorless and clear. It also tastes sweet and is non toxic. Because of this it is used as a sweetener and is also used to preserve food. It is also used to sooth the skin and as a cleaning agent for paint brushes, make-up, etc.

Compound: Isopropyl myristate

Photo:Molecular Formula:C17H34O2

Organic or Inorganic:Organic, because it contains carbon.

Molecular Structure:Summary of Relevant Information: Isopropyl myristate is used to treat head lice. This chemical dissolves the wax covering the body of the lice and causes it to dry up and die. It is also used in some perfumes to extend the time the scent lasts. It is also used in some mouthwash to remove bacteria.

Compound: Tocopheryl acetate

Photo:Molecular Formula: C31H52O3

Organic or Inorganic:This is Organic because it contains carbon.Molecular Structure:

Summary of Relevant Information:This is used in skin treatments and creams because it provides antioxidant effects to cells. It does this by converting into tocopherol. It also provides some protection from UV rays.

Summary:I learned that what we eat or what we take as medication contain a lot more ingredients

than I initially thought. Companies put in a lot of things that I don’t think are strictly

necessary, such as dyes and flavoring. I also learned that most of the ingredients are

much more complicated than I thought. They have many bonds and are many up a lot

of different elements. They also are longer and larger than I thought(i imagined them as

clumps of different elements rather than than chains of them. Many things that I thought

would be inorganic are organic. It’s weird that so many interesting things originate in

other organisms. I thought for sure that the dye(Tartrazine) would be inorganic but it

isn’t. The compounds that I listed and researched also are used in more procedures and

processes then I would have thought possible.

Works Cited:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_myristatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerolhttp://glycerin-glycerol.com/glycerin-uses/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropylhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tocopheryl_acetatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucrosehttp://www.usafutures.com/sugartrading.htmlhttp://chemistry.about.com/od/factsstructures/ig/Chemical-Structures---S/Sodium-

Chloride-Ionic-Crystal.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chloridehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmitic_acidhttp://www.inchem.org/documents/icsc/icsc/eics0530.htmhttp://6231.id.all.biz/palmitic-acid-g36344http://images-its.chemistdirect.co.uk/Tums-Assorted-Fruit-Antacid-Tablets-3104.jpg?o=bwhqOdFKPtOIinFemiYZDf4VCsIj&V=Fb2Ghttp://www.bestphosphates.com/news/manufuturing-process-risodium-phosphate.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisodium_phosphatehttp://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/folicacid.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folic_acidhttp://www.topnews.in/files/folic-acid.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium_carbonatehttp://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j00ReaEgGUrzMzf/Adipic-Acid-99-8-.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adipic_acidhttp://store.mcguff.com/products/3320.aspxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucosehttp://www.ehow.com/list_6060748_uses-dextrose.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maltodextrinhttp://healthyalternatives.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/e102.jpg