So I go to my Chem Lab, figuring it's going to be a total bust. I don't have my calculator or my goggles (the latter of which I STILL haven't found--if it isn't one pair of eyewear it's another), and I've forgotten my drawer combination numbers. But, after all, the staff at the lab seemed fairly easy-going and forgiving of mistakes. The minute I step inside the door, one of the older TA's, probably some professor doing lab work in preperation for her doctorate, says, "Hey, weren't you late last time?"
First of all, am I THAT memorable? Second of all, I'd like to see her try to hike from James City Courthouse to Rogers Hall and get to her lab on time. (I had leg muscles that were sold balls of agony for days after that little fiasco.)
However, once I got past the initial scare of using hydrochloric acid, the lab went okay. I got nice results--98.8% actual yield on my first reaction, 99.2% actual yield on my second reaction--and managed not to hurt myself. Using 12 M (VERY highly concetrated) HCl on baking soda, though--wouldn't it make more sense to use an acid whose vapors wouldn't melt your lungs into a puddle of liquid tissue? I mean, perhaps HCl is easier to find, more effective, etc., etc., but we all know from childhood experiments that vinegar has the same effect and doesn't produce gases more reminiscent of a World War I battlefield than a freshman chemistry lab.
Perhaps there's a conspiracy to weed out the incompetents among us early. Consider this: you don't want the clumsy, stupid, or meglomanical ones to make it to a position of authority. Therefore, you give them dangerous and potentially lethal substances to work with. The ones who are sane and smart enough to use them correctly will emerge unscathed or, at the very least, ambulatory from the various labs they do. The others will emerge in body bags or a Ziploc bag, depending on their manner of demise. So maybe Chem is even more closely related to Bio then we thought previously. Darwinism, anyone?
First of all, am I THAT memorable? Second of all, I'd like to see her try to hike from James City Courthouse to Rogers Hall and get to her lab on time. (I had leg muscles that were sold balls of agony for days after that little fiasco.)
However, once I got past the initial scare of using hydrochloric acid, the lab went okay. I got nice results--98.8% actual yield on my first reaction, 99.2% actual yield on my second reaction--and managed not to hurt myself. Using 12 M (VERY highly concetrated) HCl on baking soda, though--wouldn't it make more sense to use an acid whose vapors wouldn't melt your lungs into a puddle of liquid tissue? I mean, perhaps HCl is easier to find, more effective, etc., etc., but we all know from childhood experiments that vinegar has the same effect and doesn't produce gases more reminiscent of a World War I battlefield than a freshman chemistry lab.
Perhaps there's a conspiracy to weed out the incompetents among us early. Consider this: you don't want the clumsy, stupid, or meglomanical ones to make it to a position of authority. Therefore, you give them dangerous and potentially lethal substances to work with. The ones who are sane and smart enough to use them correctly will emerge unscathed or, at the very least, ambulatory from the various labs they do. The others will emerge in body bags or a Ziploc bag, depending on their manner of demise. So maybe Chem is even more closely related to Bio then we thought previously. Darwinism, anyone?
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