What Do Protons Taste Like?

Our sense of taste is amazing. The way for detect sweet, sour, bitter, salt and savory (umami) flavours is really clever.

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[SteveMould]

This was going to be a short video about the fact that you can taste protons but then I found out how taste works! Hope you enjoyed it.

[explosify]

"who would have thought that a subatomic particle has a specific taste?" obviously Steve has forgotten about the 6 flavors of quarks

[griffenrizzo]

protons taste mostly like up with a bit of down.

[joanmm]

Hello, a chemist here. This video is very very interesting and very well done for the most part. However there is a big mistake that leads to an important misconception. In aqueous solution, like in saliva, protons in an acid solutions are not just free instead they form an cation called Hydronium H3O+ as counterpart of the hydroxide OH-. So instead of tasting protons you are tasting that chemical spicies. Fun fact, Lithium ion in aqueous solution has a lemony taste due to its similar size to the proton in aqueous solution.

[CodeParade]

But how does a deuteron taste? In all seriousness though, heavy water has a distinct, slightly sweet taste, so I wonder if a deuterated citric acid for example would be distinctive too?

[crp]

You probably already know this, but ionized hydrogen does not move around in aqueous solutions in the form of a "naked" proton. Instead, it combines with water to form the more stable "hydronium" ion, H3O+. So then acidity is the taste of hydronium, not protons?

[iafozzac]

You know someone is good at explaining things when you already know what they're talking about and still listen to the end

[paulgorowitz]

“There are all these poisons out there”
Shows broccoli…
I’m guessing your mom forced you to eat a lot of broccoli in your childhood.

[integza]

Did you decided to shave between takes Steve? I don't even take shits between takes keep to continuity

[needamuffin]

When my psychology professor in college asked us how many senses we have, she was surprised when I said 22. I had just happened to have read a paper about it a few months earlier and the paper defined a sense as an external stimulus for which a *unique* cell or structure exists to detect. That word "unique" is what broke down the common 5 into the full 22 in much the same way you describe. Taste becomes multiple senses depending on the reception mechanism, touch becomes pressure and temperature (as well as, I want to say, 2 others that I can't remember). It even broke sight into color and light intensity because rods and cones are distinct cells that work with slightly different mechanisms.

[HienNguyenHMN]

Plants: evolve poisons to avoid being eaten
Humans: mm, delicious bitterness (coffee, broccoli...)

[DavidMiller]

Gordon Ramsay: "This bloody proton tastes sour!!!"

[MrPooPooJohn]

I had a pretty bad concussion years ago that altered the way things taste and smell for me. I used to hate sour foods. Now I can barely notice them. Also most flowers smell horrible to me now. There are other minor things too but I think I've just gotten used to it that this is the new normal.

[TheSpacecraftX]

My favourite sense is proprioception. The ability to sense where your body parts are in 3D space.

[samerrichany]

This is the kind of question that I never knew I needed the answer to

[banisan]

Hey, a genuine curious question here: I've been tought both in school and some chemistry lectures, that acidity isn't technically due to H+ ions in solution. But rather, these H+ ions bind to a water molecule, to form a Hydronium- or Oxonium-Ion H3O+. Would that mean that our taste-receptors aren't actually tasting protons (which would be really cool tbh), but rather just another molecule?

[protokore]

Hey Steve another great video. Have you heard of magic fruit? Its a pill you can take that makes sour things taste sweet temporarily of course. Lemons taste like lemonade after, apparently. Would be worth a look to see how it works.

[johnchessant]

Protons taste sour, but a specific arrangement of 11 protons, 12 neutrons, and 10 electrons taste salty.

[andrewholaway]

This was one of the silliest and most practically educational videos I've seen on this channel in nearly 2 years of watching it. I was entertained throughout, so thanks Steve!

[BrttM]

The multiple flavors in your sense of taste are like the multiple colors in your sense of vision, just somewhat more different. You could also think of feeling heat and pressure as different components of the sense of touch. The angular movement/acceleration of your inner ear is definitely separate from hearing, though, and somewhere in between telling you about internal and external factors.