Chemical reactions - (the conga way)

[Pink Pink Pink]

Has anyone heard of this way of explaining polymerisation (ie the conga dance)?

I have the gist...
You have your monomer molecules which are the people at the party.
Then, the catalyst is added in the form of music and then the initiator steps up and gets everyone going and creates a chain.

Basically I don't know how to word it better than that at this time of night, lol.
But, what is the initiator and the catalyst? Polymer and heat???????

This is confusing....

Debs x

 

[Nail gal]

Never heard of it explained that way!!!! I struggle trying to explain keratinisation??? I now in my head but whe explaining to smeone else i get confused!! Do you now an easy way to explain that too???

 

[Pink Pink Pink]

Never heard of it explained that way!!!! I struggle trying to explain keratinisation??? I now in my head but whe explaining to smeone else i get confused!! Do you now an easy way to explain that too???

I wish.
All I ever say is 'Keratinisation is the process of living cells to dead'. Think that may be a tad too simple though! (Not that I'm simple, of course) Hahahahhax

 

[Pink Pink Pink]

Actually, my old tutor used to describe it as the newer cells form the 'base' (basal layer) were kids, then as they moved up to the next layer they were adults, then grannies at the 'granular', then 'clearly' past it (clear layer), then dead and gone.

Something like that rings a bell.

Or I could just be talking a load of rubbish and have it all wrong. Lol x

Debs

 

[Nail gal]

Well that kind of helps a bit it just trying to put it in a simple way into my students heads!!!!! Thanx tho!!!!!!!!!

 

[Envy]

Has anyone heard of this way of explaining polymerisation (ie the conga dance)?
You have your monomer molecules which are the people at the party.
Then, the catalyst is added in the form of music and then the initiator steps up and gets everyone going and creates a chain.
But, what is the initiator and the catalyst? Polymer and heat???????

I explain it like when you hold an electric cattle fence. You grab the catalyst and get a shock, you don't like it so you grab the guy next to you, he gets the shock and it passes harmlessly through you, he doesn't like it so he grabs the guy next to him.... etc etc...

In Liquid & powder the catalyst is mixed into the polymer powder, it is actually Benzoyl Peroxide, it acts like the jolt from the fence to make the monomers start grabbing onto each other.

Heat is actually give off during the reaction as the energy accelerates and throws off excess (this is called exothermic reaction)

I struggle trying to explain keratinisation??? I now in my head but whe explaining to smeone else i get confused!!

Keratinisation is the process of keratin cells forming into a solid plate.
As they leave the matrix, the cells are round balls of keratin, a mix of solid chains and liquid keratin pulp effectively.
As the cells push up the plate area thins out and these cells get condensed together... This squashes and flattens the balls together, the pulp is squeezed out and forms a glued up mesh. (Covalantly bonded) they become clear as they flatten and solid as they mesh together...

If some of these cells escape without flattening, then we see white spots.... this is most likely from when the matrix has been traumatised.

hope that helps guys...

 

[Ruth Mills]

Benzoyl peroxide - interesting stuff - it's also the initiator in Plastic Padding (but the monomer in that is styrene rather than ethyl methacrylate) - similar reaction though - polymerisation of a monomer with an unsaturated double bond. Think I've also seen Benzoyl Peroxide listed in the ingredients of spot cream for acne and whatnot...

 

[mum]

The initiator is like a 'starting gun' and shouts "Go".

The catalyst is what decides the speed of the race. A sprint will be very fast and over in seconds; a marathon will be very slow and takes hours to finish.

Keratinisation is where all the cell contents ages and turns into the protein keratin (by keratinocytes) so a plump, soft cell ends up a flattened, hard dot of keratin

 

[Pink Pink Pink]

The initiator is like a 'starting gun' and shouts "Go".

The catalyst is what decides the speed of the race. A sprint will be very fast and over in seconds; a marathon will be very slow and takes hours to finish.

Keratinisation is where all the cell contents ages and turns into the protein keratin (by keratinocytes) so a plump, soft cell ends up a flattened, hard dot of keratin

I'm kind of getting it?!?!?!?!?
Is the catalyst in this case heat?
What is the initiator? Polymer?
Basically I have to 'Describe the chemical reaction that takes place during the treatment in a clear and understandable manner'

 

[Pink Pink Pink]

How does this sound:

• The chemical reaction ‘polymerisation’ occurs when you mix the liquid (monomer) and powder (polymer) together. This is a process that joins single but complex molecules together to form a solid even more complex structure. The term ‘monomer’ is made up of ‘mono’: single & ‘mer’: unit. ‘Polymer’, similarly, is ‘poly’: many & ‘mer’: unit.​

The reaction needs an initiator to start the reaction and a catalyst to control the reaction. This reaction turns the liquid and powder ‘wet mix’ Into a solid, and therefore goes hard on the nail, creating a strong overlay.

If you imagine people at a party as monomer molecules, then ‘initiator’ (polymer) would be the one to get everybody up to form a ‘conga line’ (polymer chain) this is controlled by the catalyst (heat) in the form of the conga music.

Chemical bonds between polymer chains occur called ‘cross-links’ and they are much stronger.

God, I need help!!!​