Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how stuff works dot com
Speaker 1: where smart Happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question,
Speaker 1: what is silica gel? And why do I find little
Speaker 1: packets of it? And everything I buy? Little packets of
Speaker 1: silica gel are found in all sorts of products. Because
Speaker 1: silica gel is a desiccated it adds orbs and holds
Speaker 1: water vapor in leather products and foods like pepperoni. The
Speaker 1: lack of moisture can limit the growth of mold and
Speaker 1: reduce spoilage in electronics. It prevents condensation, which might damage
Speaker 1: the electronics. If a bottle of vitamins contain any moisture
Speaker 1: vapor and cooled rapidly, the condensing moisture would ruin the pills.
Speaker 1: You'll find little silica gel packets in anything that would
Speaker 1: be affected by excess moisture condensation. Silica gel is nearly harmless,
Speaker 1: which is why you find it in food products. Silica
Speaker 1: or silicon dioxide is the same material found in quartz
Speaker 1: that all form contains millions of tiny pores that can
Speaker 1: add zorb and hold moisture. Silica gel is essentially porous sand.
Speaker 1: Silica gel can add zorb about its weight and moisture
Speaker 1: and can take the relative humidity in a closed container
Speaker 1: down to about Once saturated, you can drive the moisture
Speaker 1: off and reuse silica gel by heating it in an
Speaker 1: oven above three hundred degrees fahrenheit or about a hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty degrees c. Do you have any ideas or
Speaker 1: suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me an
Speaker 1: email at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For
Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, go to
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com.