Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Another Reason to Limit our Access to Chemicals

Another Reason to Limit our Access to Chemicals

Hexavalent - 24-6-2012 at 12:02

I was in biology class on Friday, and we were burning different crisps (chips to the Yanks) to determine their energy content. We were using Bunsen Burners to set the food items on fire, but some of my acquaintances, who are complete morons, decided to set fire to allsorts else - highlighters, pens, other stationery items, the wooden handles on the mounted needles, burning the cork and rubber on the clamps and more, before they started experimenting with lighting the Bunsen at the opening valve "to see what happens".

The teacher didn't notice anything, but I have a hypothesis; if these 'kiddi3 k3wls', at age fourteen, cannot be trusted with chemicals, labware and lab equipment, then isn't that more the reason for authorities to ban them publicly? I'm sure the Government would rather simply control a substance or item of gear as opposed to having to deal with a child who's injured himself with it??

Again, another unfortunate reason we have continually dwindling access to OTC chemicals and even online. My apologies for any, in this respect, damage some of my generation have done.

hissingnoise - 24-6-2012 at 12:08

Quote:

decided to set fire to allsorts else - highlighters, pens, other stationery items, the wooden handles on the mounted needles, burning the cork and rubber on the clamps and more, before they started experimenting with lighting the Bunsen at the opening valve "to see what happens".

Great curiosity! The true spirit of experimentalism?

99chemicals - 24-6-2012 at 12:13

Reminds me of the idiots in my school.

I wish I had done that this year. The only thing that the students did in my class was add food coloring to hot and cold water. Even then some dumb-asses screwed that up.

Hexavalent - 24-6-2012 at 12:15

No, the art of setting things on fire for no reason without a care in the world about their safety and the protection of those around them. They, sadly, are the same people that walk around ignorantly, speak to teachers insolently and spend their weekends on skateboards wearing polyester tracksuits and drinking large bottles of energy drinks unnecessarily.

weiming1998 - 25-6-2012 at 05:40

Quote: Originally posted by Hexavalent

I was in biology class on Friday, and we were burning different crisps (chips to the Yanks) to determine their energy content. We were using Bunsen Burners to set the food items on fire, but some of my acquaintances, who are complete morons, decided to set fire to allsorts else - highlighters, pens, other stationery items, the wooden handles on the mounted needles, burning the cork and rubber on the clamps and more, before they started experimenting with lighting the Bunsen at the opening valve "to see what happens".

The teacher didn't notice anything, but I have a hypothesis; if these 'kiddi3 k3wls', at age fourteen, cannot be trusted with chemicals, labware and lab equipment, then isn't that more the reason for authorities to ban them publicly? I'm sure the Government would rather simply control a substance or item of gear as opposed to having to deal with a child who's injured himself with it??

Again, another unfortunate reason we have continually dwindling access to OTC chemicals and even online. My apologies for any, in this respect, damage some of my generation have done.

Lighting the opening valve just to see what happens? I see a Darwin Award coming in our direction.

Seriously though, if things like that happens, that explains why the government doesn't trust people, especially youth/s, with free access to various chemicals. They have to protect people from accidentally committing suicide because they were playing around with high explosives, etc. But what I think though, is that people should have more sense knocked into them instead of just banning everything and anything because they are "too dangerous". Purposely setting fire to random objects, in a school lab environment, should be harshly punished, like not letting them do any experiments for a month, detention, etc. If the "protecting the masses" attitude carries into the future, soon we'd be doomed, allowed to do nothing but sit in front of a TV, play games, and do worksheets, because everything else would be too dangerous.

But a different attitude to the lab and various chemicals are observed in Australia. Here, people are scared. We hardly do any experimenting in chemistry (but a lot in physics) and one of my classmate got scared to death when a drop of 0.1M HCl got on their skin. The higher years in my school isn't allowed to do the copper cycle reaction from the start because the released NO2 gas is too dangerous. Examples of fear goes on and on, and I can find nobody who is remotely interested in chemistry, let alone a person who experiments at home. This constant fear about this subject has to stop.

Finally, sorry for the very long rant again.

SulfurApothecary - 26-6-2012 at 20:45

It seems that in America we have the attitude that if you learn something, you will do something evil with the knowledge, and so we restrict the learning.

dann2 - 27-6-2012 at 01:31

Quote: Originally posted by Hexavalent

I was in biology class on Friday, and we were burning different crisps (chips to the Yanks) this..........

What are they called in the south?

Dann2

triplepoint - 27-6-2012 at 05:44

These are also the same people who, in a couple of years, will be voting and deciding our futures. That explains how we get some of our "leaders".

Hexavalent - 27-6-2012 at 13:07

I attest, and it is an unfortunate truth.

They are 14 by age, but act sometimes as though they are 4.

A nice little saying they drill into our heads at school is 'Age may make you an adult, but your actions will make you a grown-up.'.

SulfurApothecary - 27-6-2012 at 17:53

I generally agree... I find that the people who just want to see things explode, are not the ones who should be doing chemistry. What happens when they make ether and they decide a bang would be cool? Dead...

White Yeti - 30-7-2012 at 19:09

I can definitely relate to this. I spent countless hours in a class with morons who would melt erasers on hot plates (we weren't trusted with burners). When we'd use burners for flame tests, these people would put things like hair, erasers, and stirring rods into the flames. I have to admit that I played around with bunsen burners as well. I used to put pencil leads into bunsen burner flames because the incandescence was nice to watch

Many would handle burettes without care, just as if they were ordinary beakers.

I think the problem at the root of all this is that children are overprotected. Children are no longer allowed to play with knives and fire (among other things). Consequently they are both unfamiliar and desensitised to the dangers of common objects and processes. This leads to irresponsibility and fosters potentially dangerous situations.

Wizzard - 30-7-2012 at 19:25

White Yeti- Nail on the head, there. Desensitization and ignorance.

Antimony Pentafluoride - 16-8-2012 at 15:12

This reminds me of a time in Organic Chemistry II lab when one of my classmates started taking a melting point of an unknown compound... setting up the melting point apparatus right next to open liter bottle of diethyl ether.

I can't even begin to describe all the things I saw people doing when I was working as the chem lab minion aka chemical dishwasher/gopher/titration robot/lab-nazi.

This is why we can't have nice things.

[Edited on 16-8-2012 by Antimony Pentafluoride]

plante1999 - 16-8-2012 at 15:58

I guess They where not burning thing to know if they where aromatic/long chain alkanes or small molecules....

At my school there are no lab...only textbook so they can't harm themself... Most dangerous thing handled is a balance.

And school learning is chemically ''racist'' the only thing that bother in chem is organic chemistry for the teacher, even when they explain reaction! They said that to burn something need to be organic! And they teach us that to live something absolutely need water and carbon, which is Carbon chauvinism!

chemrox - 16-8-2012 at 17:07

Jesus Hex! are you some kind of child genius?

ItsAChitzen - 17-8-2012 at 06:22

Quote: Originally posted by dann2

Quote: Originally posted by Hexavalent

I was in biology class on Friday, and we were burning different crisps (chips to the Yanks) this..........

What are they called in the south?

Dann2

Chips, lol...

Hex, this is not a reason to ban chemicals. This is a reason to fail students and not let them in class unless they act appropriately.

phlogiston - 17-8-2012 at 13:26

Quote:

I can't even begin to describe all the things I saw people doing when I was working as the chem lab minion aka chemical dishwasher/gopher/titration robot/lab-nazi.

reminds me of the occasion when I was reprimanded by a senior professor, for turning up the radio too loud in the organic chemistry lab. He told me, with a burning cigarette in his mouth and an open 5 liter jerrycan of acetone in his hand that the radio startled him and that therefore -I- was a dangerous element in the lab.

He did still survive to retirement 2 years later.

More on topic, in the defence of your classmates, mindlessly 'trying out things to see what happens' has on various occasions paid off tremendously in human history. At least they apparently still exhibity curiousity

. And admit it, how many of us have not at least once simply mixed some random available chemicals simply to see what would happen at least early in our carreer. I still vividly remember dissolving some sugar in a bit of hydrochloric acid two decades ago, and being dissapointed at seeing nothing interesting, dumping a few pellets of solid NaOH in which immediately produced a very strong red color which to the current day I still have no clue what it may be.

[Edited on 17-8-2012 by phlogiston]

Antimony Pentafluoride - 17-8-2012 at 18:59

Quote: Originally posted by plante1999

At my school there are no lab...only textbook so they can't harm themself... Most dangerous thing handled is a balance.

That is pretty lame. When you get to college you'll have access to some sort of lab.

BromicAcid - 17-8-2012 at 19:44

The burning chips experiment was actually banned at my high school after my class got a hold of it. Not for abusing the Bunsen burner but apparently the BBQ chips someone brought in generated a large amount of soot/smoke and caused widespread sore throats and coughing.

LanthanumK - 29-8-2012 at 09:37

Where are the parents that should be teaching children respect for fire? That should be done way before age 14. No fear, no carelessness, just respect.

[Edited on 29-8-2012 by LanthanumK]

Pyro - 29-8-2012 at 14:22

I don't know about others. but I learnt it at an early age. They let me do anything and if i burnt myself it was my fault