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Questions tagged [taste]

Questions related to the crude analysis of a compound by identifying its taste.

83 votes
7 answers
27k views

Do all salts taste salty?

Recently, I am learning the production of soluble and insoluble salts. My friend and I have done this experiment at the school lab. We wanted to taste them to see whether they are salty are not. The ...
Simon-Nail-It's user avatar
45 votes
4 answers
12k views

Does heavy water taste sweet?

In this YouTube video from Cody's Lab, Cody claims that heavy water tastes sweet. He does some fairly convincing comparisons but still expresses a little doubt that the effect is real. Has this been ...
matt_black's user avatar
25 votes
1 answer
1k views

What causes that foul taste with combination of toothpaste and orange juice?

Ugh, I drank orange juice too soon after brushing my teeth and my mouth feels awful! What causes that foul taste with this combination of toothpaste and orange juice? Is it a reaction between the oil ...
Eliseo D'Annunzio's user avatar
23 votes
2 answers
23k views

Silver and milk (or milk products)

In the title I am refering to silver spoons, which, when used to consume milk products (like yogurt), get a weird taste. It could be described as umami/meaty, a little bit like onions. I came to the ...
Evgeni's user avatar
  • 667
23 votes
2 answers
14k views

Why does meltwater taste different? [duplicate]

I've noticed that water obtained from melting ice cubes (by keeping them in the open) tastes different from water cooled to the same temperature. Furthermore, the taste goes away if you keep it in ...
ManishEarth's user avatar
  • 15.2k
16 votes
1 answer
6k views

Why do green bell peppers become bitter when cooked?

Why do green bell peppers taste sweet raw, but become bitter when cooked (steamed)? What chemical process is responsible for this? I don't believe the temperatures are high enough for the Maillard ...
MWB's user avatar
  • 519
15 votes
1 answer
2k views

Do L-sugars (enantiomers of natural sugars) have a sweet taste?

I'm wondering about how L-sugars taste. They are obviously not digestible by humans, but what do they taste like? If they are sweet, too, why isn't sucrose with the unnatural chirality used as a zero-...
user23965's user avatar
  • 151
11 votes
1 answer
593 views

Why should space whisky taste different to Earth whisky?

I recently read an article about a vial of whisky being stored on the International Space Station for 3 years, and having its taste compared to a control sample stored on Earth. What could cause this ...
JohnLBevan's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
609 views

Discrepancies between smell and taste

In my experience, most foods smell like they taste. Fragrant soaps, however, taste quite awful in comparison to their fragrances. How can some things smell and taste identical while others are so ...
ringo's user avatar
  • 24.1k
8 votes
1 answer
513 views

Is Sweetwater, Missouri, named due to water contamination with lead compounds?

The town of Sweetwater, Missouri is known for its mineral resources, particularly rich lead sulfide (galena) deposits. I am curious to find the origin of the name "Sweetwater" and if it has any ...
docscience's user avatar
  • 2,773
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is it the Na+ or the Cl- that gives table salt its taste?

What gives it that salty taste? I'm wondering if it's the $\ce{Na+}$ or the $\ce{Cl-}$. I know that $\ce{KCl}$ also tastes salty, and other salts have different flavours, but where does the saltiness ...
drunkBrain's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

How is taste of chemical compounds determined?

How do we know the taste of compounds, and their smell too, when some of them are poisonous. My textbook had that Lead is sweet in taste, but it's poisonous. So, how exactly do we determine their ...
Yashasav Prajapati's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
14k views

Why does opened wine develop the sour taste and smell of vinegar?

An opened bottle of wine developed into a sour taste and smell of vinegar. Why?
Kaushee's user avatar
  • 61
6 votes
1 answer
1k views

Why do many organic halogen compounds smell or taste sweet?

Is it just coincidence that many organic halogen compounds (especially chlorinated ones) tend to either taste or smell sweet? Examples include dichloromethane, vinyl chloride, chloroform, and ...
user51326's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
5k views

Can plastic leak into water from a HDPE "2" plastic container at room temperature?

Here in USA supermarkets often sell water in plastic 1 gallon jugs. These jugs seem to all be stamped with the text "HDPE" (meaning that the material is High-density polyethylene) and a resin number ...
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