Freshman Chem Lab Stories
submitted by Melissa Auriene
AP Chem Alum '2000
Okay, so it is the first
qualitative analysis lab and my partner and I are working with a whole bunch of
different cations and seeing how they react with 19M NaOH. All of a sudden
my lab partner spills the 19M NaOH all over everything. So she starts to
clean up and in the process, takes my pen out of the NaOH and places it off to
the side, while she cleans the rest of the lab top.
Well, I am not informed that my pen was in the 19M NaOH, so I picked it
up and started taking down observations on the reactions. I am writing
away, when all of a sudden I happened to look at my pen, and it is dissolving in
my hand! I quickly think back to all of my lab experiences and I come to the
conclusion that my pen has never spontaneously dissolved before, at least not
without the help of some chemical. Fortunately, I was wearing gloves, but when I
took my gloves off, my finger tips felt like had just washed them with soap
(which, of course, every DGS chem student knows is the characteristic of a
base). After explaining to my TA what I thought happened, I then got to run my
hands under cold water for 15 minutes and then soak them in sodium bicarbonate
for an additional 15 minutes, which made a 4.5 hour lab, 5 hours. And you're
thinking, "Melissa, you just get to have all the fun!" I know, but I
couldn't have done it without my lab partner, so I would like to give her all
the credit. ha ha
Lesson to be learned: 19M NaOH-->
bad stuff. Lab partners --> worse stuff.
Now the last lab, I am working on precipitating out Cu2+ with H2S
dissolved in HNO3, which has to be done under the hood at the front
of the class. So I sit down at the
stool by the hood and begin to add drops of the H2S, when all of a
sudden I become acutely aware of the fact that I have sat in something. I
stood up and looked at my stool and there is a clear liquid all over the stool
(something that perhaps would have been better noted BEFORE I sat down).
And, of course, all chemists know that a colorless liquid can clearly be
identified as...a million different chemicals. So I went to my TA, who is
quickly growing tired of me coming to him with spilt unknown chemicals, and
explained to him what had happened. After thinking about it for a good five
minutes he came to the same conclusion I did, "I don't know." He
then informs me that in the event that a student spills an unknown chemical on
themselves, they are supposed to make them take off the article of clothing
(meaning, my jeans) and stand under the shower...apparently the look I gave him
explained that that was NOT going to happen. So he said that since my jeans were
still intact and I didn't feel any burning, that it probably wasn't anything too
bad.
Lesson to be learned: Look before you sit.
[Mr. M note: Let's all hope Melissa survives to send us more exciting lab tales!!!]