{"id":5351,"date":"2023-01-03T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-03T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=5351"},"modified":"2022-12-11T14:52:20","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T14:52:20","slug":"why-the-magic-of-christmas-is-all-down-to-chemistry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/why-the-magic-of-christmas-is-all-down-to-chemistry\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the magic of Christmas is all down to chemistry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n H2<\/sub>O H2<\/sub>O H2<\/sub>O!\n Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nSimon Cotton<\/a>, University of Birmingham<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

What makes Christmas so special? Its religious significance? An intangible feeling of goodwill towards all mankind? One thing that certainly helps is that Christmas is a feast for the senses. And that\u2019s all down to chemistry.<\/p>\n\n

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\n Flicker image.<\/span>\n Andre Malone\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

C is for candles<\/h2>\n\n

Carol services wouldn\u2019t be the same with the yellow, flickering light of candles. Church candles are traditionally made of<\/a> beeswax, largely esters of long-chain alcohols with both saturated acids (such as palmitic acid) and unsaturated acids (such as palmitoleic acid). The wick draws the melted wax upwards before it is vaporised and decomposed by the flame.<\/p>\n\n

But it is hot, glowing, carbon-rich soot particles that give out that yellow candlelight<\/a>. And the smokiness probably comes from unsaturated compounds in the wax. Cheaper candles were once made from animal fat<\/a> but now most candles are made of saturated hydrocarbons produced by the petrochemical industry<\/a>, so they burn with cleaner flames. <\/p>\n\n

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\n It wouldn\u2019t be a hollyday without me.<\/span>\n liz West\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

H is for holly<\/h2>\n\n

The spiky green leaves and bright red berries<\/a> of holly make it a favourite traditional decoration. The red colour comes from a molecule in the anthocyanin family<\/a>, which is widely found plant pigments. But the berries, which also serve as winter food for birds, also contain two familiar molecules<\/a>: caffeine and theobromine, the molecule that makes chocolate toxic to dogs. The berries are toxic to humans<\/a> too, but not as much as some once believed.<\/p>\n\n

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\n The chemical-nosed reindeer.<\/span>\n Creative Tools \/ Flickr<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

R is for Rudolph<\/h2>\n\n

There is actually an orange-red molecule named rudolphomycin but sadly it takes its name from a character in the opera La Boh\u00e8me, not the similarly named red-nosed reindeer. It is one of a number of molecules that make up bohemic acid, which takes its name from the same source.<\/p>\n\n

However, the molecule does have another Christmas link. The smallest fragment of rudolphomycin is a little sugar molecule. We all know of sugars with names ending in \u2013ose, like glucose, sucrose (table sugar) and fructose, so it is no surprise that this fragment was given the name rednose<\/a>. Rudolphomycin itself is a potential antibiotic and anti-tumour compound<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

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\n What are you smoking?<\/span>\n Shutterstock<\/span><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

I is for incense<\/h2>\n\n

Famous as one of the gifts of the biblical Wise Men, the incense most associated with Christmas \u2013 frankincense \u2013 originates as a resin from the Boswellia plant<\/a>. It has only recently been discovered that burning incense activates ion channels in the brain that can alleviate anxiety or depression<\/a> thanks to a molecule called incensole acetate<\/a>. This psychoactive behaviour suggests high mass could really live up to its name.<\/p>\n\n

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\n Let it snow (in different shapes)<\/span>\n Alexey Kljatov\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

S is for snow<\/h2>\n\n

Snow is made of ice crystals<\/a> formed from moisture in the atmosphere, which aggregate together to make snowflakes. They commonly have hexagonal structures<\/a> but there is an almost infinite variety<\/a> of patterns they can form, although some could appear identical to the human eye. It appears<\/a> that the hexagonal structure, which reflects the underlying molecular shape of ice, forms first and then undergoes further growth from the corners. The precise pattern is affected by conditions including temperature and relative humidity.<\/p>\n\n

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\n No longer deadly to children.<\/span>\n Greg Knapp\/Flickr<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n

T is for tinsel<\/h2>\n\n

Like many Christmas customs, tinsel decorations originated in Germany but takes their name from the French \u201cestincele\u201d<\/a> meaning sparkle. In the 19th century, tinsel was made of metal<\/a>. People who could afford it used silver but for much of the 20th century it was commonly made from lead strands with a shiny tin coating, until it was phased out<\/a> in the 1970s over fears the lead would poison children. Nowadays, most tinsel is composed of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) with a shiny aluminium coating. You cannot get away from metal if you want sparkle.<\/p>\n\n

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