# Chemist eating chemicals, what am I remembering?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemist-eating-chemicals-what-am-i-remembering/639406>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 31, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemist-eating-chemicals-what-am-i-remembering/639406 "2012-10-31T07:52:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemist-eating-chemicals-what-am-i-remembering/639406/1 "2012-10-31T07:52:25Z")

</div>

I could swear I saw some kind of program(possibly on PBS) where a chemist would try to horrify I guess the audience by eating things which were harmless but appeared dangerous.

One thing I remember involved lye or sodium hydroxide, which he would demonstrate and then neutralize the PH so it was salt.

Another involved a synthesis of salt through dangerous reagents, which had people suspicious of the end product.

The whole thing was pretty gimmicky.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [October 31, 2012, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemist-eating-chemicals-what-am-i-remembering/639406/2 "2012-10-31T12:25:53Z")

</div>

It’s not what you’rde looking for, but a lot of chemists used to characterize their results by tasting them. IIRC, Isaac Newton was one of these.  
In grad school, my advisor used to freakl out visitors by licking the cyanide-containing crystals we used.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [November 1, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemist-eating-chemicals-what-am-i-remembering/639406/3 "2012-11-01T02:53:03Z")

</div>

The demonstration I’d heard of started by cutting an apple in half, and then eating away half of the apple with one solution, then eating away the other half with another solution, and then mixing them together and drinking it. NaOH and HCl, of course.

But no, I don’t know who did it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TPWombat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TPWombat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TPWombat)\
**Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chemist-eating-chemicals-what-am-i-remembering/639406/4 "2012-11-02T10:59:43Z")

</div>

Don’t know it’s the one you are thinking of but my first thought was of Nobel Prize winner Andre Geim [drinking liquid nitrogen.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTjA99aT8rA).

When I looked for that clip I also found that a UK student has had her stomach removed [after drinking a liquid nitrogen cocktail.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/08/teenager-stomach-liquid-nitrogen-cocktail). Jesus.