Pointless ExperimentsPavlov's Frog writes: I once spent 20 minutes with my eyes closed to see what it was like being blind. I smashed my knee on the kitchen cupboard, and decided I'd be better off deaf as you can still watch television.
(
Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Thu 24 Jul 2008, 12:00)
« Go Back
I think most of my in- course experiments at university were pretty pointlessI decided it'd be a good idea to do a straight chemistry course there, and discovered that about 99.9% of the tests we did were titrations, with maybe the occasional gravimetric analysis thrown in for good measure. Fun times.
Anyways, one time in the labs we were charged with preparing some sort of stock solution for use in one of the said titrations, and it involved the boiling of zinc granules with some misc. acid. So there I was, merrily heating this solution away, waiting for this magical reaction to take place.
So I waited.
And I waited.
And I waited.
Blatently, nothing was actually happening, so I checked with one of the lab technicians milling around, who advised me to add some more zinc. I get back to my station, and get a reasonably large spatuala-full to dump in. This is where an important life lesson is learnt.
Don't add cold metal to boiling liquid.
I had the briefest of moments to go "Feck!" as a great plume of boiling hot zinc and acid erupted from the beaker I was using, and peppered the worksurface with this lethal combination. I luckily managed to dive out of the way with ninja-like reflexes, but I'm afraid there was still a casualty from this, and it's one which is scarred for life.
As far as I'm aware, my lab desk still has pockmarks from where I melted hot metal into the varnish.
(, Thu 24 Jul 2008, 16:12, Reply)
« Go Back