Artwork for Botanic Garden Chemistry Audio Tour

Botanic Garden Chemistry Audio Tour

Oxford University

A chemistry tour of the Oxford University Botanic Garden.

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20 episodes
Updated Oct 18, 2012

Episodes20

Oct 18, 2012 · 20 sec
21. Thank you and goodbye
Thank you for exploring the Botanic Garden with our group of plant loving chemists.
Oct 18, 2012 · 1 min
20. Pigments from plants
One small part of the plant kingdom makes a different type of pigment to all the rest.
Oct 18, 2012 · 41 sec
19. Plants in extreme environments
How plants manage to photosynthesise in extreme environments.
Oct 18, 2012 · 1 min
18. Why are plants green?
Why chlorophyll and hence plants, looks green.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
17. Ancient pigments
How chemistry can change the colour of dye molecules from plants.
Oct 18, 2012 · 1 min
16. Nitrogen fixation
Hear about natures natural nitrogen fixers.
Oct 18, 2012 · 53 sec
15. Nitrogen uptake by plants
Why nitrogen is important to plants and the communities of microorganisms living in the soil.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
14. The caramel tree
Why the Katsura tree smells of caramel and how analytical techniques have solved the problem of what is responsible for the smell.
Oct 18, 2012 · 1 min
13. New medicines from plants
Many modern medicines are derived from plants.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
12. Healing molecules or poisonous plants?
The notorious history of healing molecules. Many molecules from plants can be used as medicines but are also toxic if the dose is too large.
Oct 18, 2012 · 1 min
11. The machine inside plants
The photosynthetic machinery inside plants is explained.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
10. Colourful vegetables
Pigments from plants are different colours depending on the chemical environment they are in.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
09. The hottest plant in the world
How chillis and a euphorbia are helping to produce new painkillers.
Oct 18, 2012 · 1 min
08. The chemistry of decaffeination
How chemistry impacts on decaffeination of the world's second most popular drink.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
07. The many tastes of ginger
Ginger contains a cocktail of different molecules. The different molecules in dried, cooked and fresh ginger lead to different flavours.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
06. New materials from plants
The lotus plant has inspired the development of new self-cleaning materials.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
05. Energy from the sun
How plants use energy from the sun to make food from carbon dioxide and water.
Oct 18, 2012 · 2 min
04. Robert Robinson, a revolutionary chemist
Sir Robert Robinson used the Botanic Garden in his research investigating the structures of alkaloids derived from plants.
Oct 18, 2012 · 37 sec
03. Take care with the word organic
Hear what the word organic means to a chemist.
Oct 18, 2012 · 27 sec
02. A few words about chemicals
Everything is made of chemicals - whether they are from a natural source or not.