Chemist Breaks Down 22 Chemistry Scenes From Movies & TV | WIRED

She's done all these experiments and tests millions and millions of times and she gets so excited as if she's experiencing all this for the first time, that's real passion for what you love doing

Fun fact: Breaking Bad's cooking is extremely accurate because they actually had DEA agents teach Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul how to make meth. They made sure the steps were accurate, but made sure to edit the show in such a way that it couldn't serve as a how-to.

I like how she still gets all giddy over simple experiments she’s probably done in the lab with years of experience that’s true passion right there

For those of you who don't know, at 0:43 when she says aqua regia. Aqua Regia is an acid formed by mixing 3 parts hydrochloric acid and 1 part nitric acid and this mixture can dissolve metals like gold and platinum

She was my chemistry professor in undergrad! Love her so much!! She is so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about chemistry it rubs off on others.

She just really loves chemistry.

These make me happiest when the person shows as much joy/interest in the topic as she does

Can she have her own TV show or something? Her knowledge and enthusiasm is refreshing.

Love the way she gets excited over the experiments. Good one Wired. Get her back soon!

When a chemist uses the term "extraordinarily flammable", it sends a shiver down my spine. Because I know they don't use that term lightly.

13:12 We once did this during a school science fair. R.I.P. Chemistry class ceiling It now has a giant yellow stain

As a chemistry graduate, I can say these experiments she performed are so fun, especially the nylon one, it's so cool to see it come out of "nowhere" also as soon as I heard split the water in the Chernobyl scene I actually gasped, that's a crazy amount of energy.

I absolutely love her enthusiasm. She's the type of professor that makes a class memorable and fun.

I can't believe National Treasure was wrong about chemistry. The history and archaeology were so accurate.

This woman's knowledge is insane and her energy towards the subject is absolutely amazing! Everyone should be that excited all the time

I love how excited she is about chemistry/science. We need more people like her in life!

13:00 Her excitement, the pure joy of doing what she loves, is what everyone should strive for in their careers.

Being a chemist myself, I would like to contribute: The more colours you see, the more likely that it is fake. Most chemicals are colourless or white, coloured chemicals are in the minority and when you find them in household chemicals it is most likely dyed.

That isn't how the Xenon poisoning works (did a great job on the non nuclear-stuff, though). The Xe isotopes are constantly produced by the reactor and then either absorb a neutron and decays quickly or they decay away in a few hours or days. This always exists in reactor at equilibrium. When you shut down the reactor, the Xe keeps growing in for a while, as other elements are still decaying to it and the reactor isn't removing it's portion. So, the Xe will build up for a while before decaying away and when this happens there is too much excess negative reactivity in the system and the reactor can't sustain a chain reaction.

Second degree burns are the most painful. Third degree burns cause nerve damage, and when the nerves are dead or, in this case, burnt away, you will stop being able to feel pain. Instead of pain, you will feel a numbness where the 3rd degree burn is. There will be some pain around the 3rd degree burns, because the other nerves nearby would still be sending signals to the brain. But that is nowhere near the pain of a second degree burn. I've had a second degree burn on my back, quite a large one. It was the most painful thing I ever experienced. The doctor said I'm lucky I didn't get 3rd degree burns in the area, because while that would not be as painful, I would lose sensation because of the dead nerves. Damaged nerves and completely dead nerves can cause issues with mobility. For example, if you get nerve damage in your hand, you may have trouble opening and closing it, or moving the fingers, or the wrist. Nerve damage can result in phantom pain, and it can be chronic. Phantom pain is just as real as when nerves are sending signals to your brain, so it's not "fake" pain. Nerve damage can be quite devastating to a person's quality of life. So, while I may have been in a tremendous amount of pain when I got the 2nd degree burn, it's possible I could've gotten chronic phantom pain if I got a 3rd degree burn that burnt away the nerves.