There now follows two days of yellow, xanthic and well, yellow. Xanthic is a more greenish yellow, a bit like bile or even Chartreuse. It is acidic looking.
I wish I had stuck in with my chemistry at school. In fact, I wish I had stuck in with most of my subjects at school. You don’t realise why you need them until you have left and are all grown up. You should go to school after you have lived a bit.
I did chemistry until I was eighteen and I suppose I used it a bit at college but that was a long time ago now. I preferred carbon based organic chemistry to inorganic. It seemed more logical. The latter just didn’t make sense to me. That could explain why I went on to study zoology.
If I had kept going I would have been able to tell you about xanthic acid. An unstable organic acid, important in the production of cellulose polymers including cellophane. The Sellotape or Scotch Tape lying on your desk, if you have one, is made from it. Other sticky tapes are available. They’re probably made the same way as well. Xanthic acid is also used in mining and the subsequent extraction of certain ores.
Xanthan gum is a food and beauty product additive, used as a thickening agent and an emulsifier.
This is all I can glean about anything xanthic related. Perhaps if I had stuck in at school I would have been able to offer much more. Sorry.
Fascinating.