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Author: Subject: Stories of extremely chemophobic parents and yours :p
Fantasma4500
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[*] posted on 7-6-2013 at 04:58


i think this is fitting more in societal issues, despite this i cant agree more, i would even go as far as saying people who are so damn ignorant they yell toxic gasses when you say argon (yes i godfuckingdamn read this on the NEWS IN MY COUNTRY!!!) theyre completely worthless, theyre not even a surface of intelligence
nothing personal but i have the same with my mom, back in time i hid away firecrackers and whatnot for as much as 3-3.5 years until one day something more organized was pushed over my head starting with 2 civil dressed persons ''wanted to talk'' with me

be very very careful on how you step around with this stuff
we live in a world where its completely ok to lean back and agree with the news if they say nitrogen is a nerve agent, not seeming as becoming brighter in the future either

perhaps women are just like that? hysterical? who knows..
if it wasnt because this would have an overhanging danger of her calling the cops on you (if you now happen to have something you arent allowed to have)
i would say you should introduce her to a hydrogen balloon lit in hand with a lighter inside (just a small one)
im saying this because its legal even where i live so check up on it first..

psychologically this should provide a 'peak' or 'shock' effect making ANYTHING ELSE you do not including a huge fireball standing infront of your face in a millisecond make her laugh at how much less dangerous what else you do is..

arguing with her wont be a possibility as you more than usually cant argue a fool wiser
again no offense on anything rather than just advices..
perhaps pull up once in a while that you should perhaps just start doing some hard drugs, if she cares for you that might change her mind abit.. haha




~25 drops = 1mL @dH2O viscocity - STP
Truth is ever growing - but without context theres barely any such.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solubility_table
http://www.trimen.pl/witek/calculators/stezenia.html
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ElizabethGreene
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[*] posted on 7-6-2013 at 08:05


It is an instinct for your mother to be protective. I'm sorry to say she'll be like that permanently. It is an evolutionary trait to maximize the survival of offspring. You can't make it go away.

On the other hand when you are young your definition of "perfectly safe" is rather fluid. This is a result of a seat-belts and safety helmets society where serious injury is really rare. Some experiments are dangerous, especially in a kitchen with poor ventilation. My kitchen range hood doesn't even vent outside, it just recirculates the air in the kitchen. Chlorine gas in the house? Not the best idea.

Could you ask your mom to take you to Goodwill for a hotplate and/or toaster oven for your (outside) laboratory? That's a starting point for a compromise.

(Madame Curie's laboratory was a seed starting shed.)

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I Like Dots
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[*] posted on 7-6-2013 at 09:38


Don't lose interest cou. Im in college right now, and in a club that has access to a well stocked lab. Its mainly used for all kinds of Sputtering, so we have a nice supply of all kinds of gasses,and liquid nitrogen.

Anything that is too dangerous to do in my house I take to the lab. My roommates are all computer science majors and they are fascinated by my experiments I do here (they especially like it when I distill vodka).

So yes it gets better! If anything, tough parents should motivate you to GTFO and get into university a.s.a.p.
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binaryclock
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[*] posted on 7-6-2013 at 21:36


Quote: Originally posted by Antiswat  

i would say you should introduce her to a hydrogen balloon lit in hand with a lighter inside (just a small one)
im saying this because its legal even where i live so check up on it first..

psychologically this should provide a 'peak' or 'shock' effect making ANYTHING ELSE you do not including a huge fireball standing infront of your face in a millisecond make her laugh at how much less dangerous what else you do is..


What? Did you really just give that advice to a 14 year old who's having problems with his parents? :o

Also chlorine gas in the house is many times worse than a hydrogen ballon.


[Edited on 8-6-2013 by binaryclock]




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Finnnicus
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[*] posted on 7-6-2013 at 21:53


-On the subject of chemophobia, but not parents.
Yesterday I tried and failed in convincing my art teacher that Fe2O3 is not dangerous and/or a carcinogen. She was throwing out a tub of it (~400g) and tried to stop her, but apparently its too dangerous to have on school property AND she would be arrested if she gave it to me.

What the fuck society.




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plante1999
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[*] posted on 8-6-2013 at 00:54


I have problems trying to get books my school library is getting rid of, in large recycling bin, what a waste. Apparantly the school direction don't want us to get the books, and I don't really understand why.



I never asked for this.
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[*] posted on 8-6-2013 at 02:50


Quote: Originally posted by plante1999  
I have problems trying to get books my school library is getting rid of, in large recycling bin, what a waste. Apparantly the school direction don't want us to get the books, and I don't really understand why.


Because they don't want you to be too educated ;)




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DubaiAmateurRocketry
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[*] posted on 8-6-2013 at 03:27


Hehehe, poor you, my parents never supported me either, I saved all my money in school and stay hungry the whole day so i can lend some money to buy chemicals :) If i ever asked them for extra they just wouldnt give me.



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[*] posted on 8-6-2013 at 05:06


Quote: Originally posted by Finnnicus  
.
Yesterday I tried and failed in convincing my art teacher that Fe2O3 is not dangerous and/or a carcinogen. She was throwing out a tub of it (~400g) and tried to stop her, but apparently its too dangerous to have on school property AND she would be arrested if she gave it to me.


Get your chemistry teacher to talk to her. He should have the authority to convince her of the harmless nature of it and may applaud his students doing some fun chemistry experiments on their own (ofcourse, he will also understand that you may be planning to make thermite with it)

Quote:
I have problems trying to get books my school library is getting rid of, in large recycling bin, what a waste. Apparantly the school direction don't want us to get the books, and I don't really understand why.


They think you should go sit inside behind the TV all day like the other kids, lest you'll become a nerdy misfit.

[Edited on 8-6-2013 by phlogiston]




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[*] posted on 8-6-2013 at 08:53


Quote: Originally posted by plante1999  
I have problems trying to get books library is getting rid of, in large recycling bin, what a waste. Apparantly the school direction don't want us to get the books, and I don't really understand why.


I had the same problem. The reason they gave me was that they don't want any one student to benefit more than another, meaning if they don't have enough books for everyone to have then nobody gets one. I told the lady that isn't really correct because classes fill up and not everyone gets to benefit from the same class... Didn't work.

But the next year they were changing books I made sure not to ask first. My bag was very heavy by the end of the day. I couldn't let good books die. :(




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Hexavalent
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[*] posted on 10-6-2013 at 08:50


The science department bought brand new books last year at school, and I was told I could help myself to whatever I wanted, in whatever quantity, and the rest would be recycled.



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[*] posted on 10-6-2013 at 14:59


Luckily my parents are not that chemophobic. Well, they were somewhat, when I just began with my home experiments, but after some time they realized that chemistry (and science in general) is something that I would like to do for a living one day, and eventually accepted it.



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learningChem
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[*] posted on 10-6-2013 at 20:12


Cou,

Don't listen to people who say that your parents can be as stupid as they want, and can come with any kind of stupid 'rule' because they own the house.

Rationality has nothing to do with ownership of a little plot of land.



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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 02:50


Quote: Originally posted by binaryclock  
Did you ever get your glassware back? They just took stuff without even finding anything illegal? wtf?


Nope. They found fuck-all and took about $10K of glass & computers. As to searching the rest of the property, I found it more amusing than anything else... Piss-weak retards, chemophobic little fucks... After that I sell mantles and 20L flasks to people who have and did use them.

As for what you believe, I didn't believe anyone could be so fucking lazy, or that they'd ignore the box of 7.62 shells and link next to my front gate, the boxes full of primers and various propellant mixtures over in the sheds, or the rest of it. They did however break every lightbulb in the house to see if they had been used as flasks, despite having found 30-50 flasks IN the house.

Now, I smile and laugh whenever they are shot. Sooner or later, they'll run into someone who knows a little chemistry, phosgene, phosphine, nitrogen & sulfur mustards, just to start the show.




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DrSchnufflez
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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 03:06


Wow, I knew that the que police were bad but that bad? It makes me shudder.:o
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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 04:29


Quote:
Cou,

Don't listen to people who say that your parents can be as stupid as they want, and can come with any kind of stupid 'rule' because they own the house.

Rationality has nothing to do with ownership of a little plot of land.


If you find out how to cure stupid brain syndrome you'll be rich soon.
Uneducated is something else ofcourse.

Regardless of their IQ or level of education, they do get to say what happens on their property. In fact, in most countries, they can be arrested if they allow illegal activities on their property, so the law even requires them to in that case.




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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 05:59


My parents are also chemophobic; for example when I was younger my first experiment (outside of vinegar and backing soda) was a titration.

"Mom, I'll be doing my titration outside. Do you know where the HCl is?"

"No! I don't want you doing that! If you need an acid just use some vinegar, right? I already dumped the other stuff down the drain."

After a little big of arguing, I realized that the only thing she'd let me use was vinegar so I ended up figuring out the percent by mass of acetic acid in it—since I still wanted to do the experiment with something. While that wasn't terribly bad, I was disappointed in my mom for being so—paranoid about it, which going me thinking.

I think you guys are looking at this problem all wrong;you're looking at this problem from a rational, and logical point of view. I agree that it is part of a parents evolutionary instinct to be protective and that's why it may seem rational; however, that is not always the case.

Instead, we must also realize that because it is instinctual it does not have to be based in rationale; rather, it very well could be based much more on our emotions—fear especially.

To be fearful is quite a rational idea (from a evolutionary stand-point), but that fear can quickly become absurd, crazy, irrational, and stupid.

For example, when I was little, I was extremely arachnophobic; even mentioning the word "spider" would freak me out, and I would go and hide. Then I started to read all about spiders. At first it freaked me out even more, but slowly I became more accustomed and understanding of the order Araneae.

This is how I believe parents are many times with regard to chemicals, and how people are in general with regard to fear.

People are fearful of what they do not understand, and of what they think they understand (or know something about), but really have no clue at all.

Example:

Mom, how would you feel if I made some chloroform for an experiment?

Answer: WHAT NO! THAT STUFF IS WHAT RAPISTS USE! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT MAKING IT!

Mom, how would you feel if I made trichloromethane for an experiment?

Answer: Ummm . . . I . . . well I don't know. I'd be worried.

I asked the same question with different wording and got two completely different responses because chloroform is a more mainstream noun, so many people think they know quite a lot about.

On the other hand, trichloromethane is a much less used noun in most news so the response I got was that she'd be worried simply because she didn't know the chemical in question.

Just my 2 cents. Oh, and hello everyone—sorry for the super long first post.


[Edited on 11-6-2013 by BrominatedSicariidae]
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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 06:07


Hello Brominated Sicariidae. Not quoting it because of its extension, but I agree with you completely.



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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 06:10


Quote: Originally posted by BrominatedSicariidae  

On the other hand, trichloromethane is a much less used noun in most news so the response I got was that she'd be worried simply because she didn't know the chemical in question.
[Edited on 11-6-2013 by BrominatedSicariidae]

This! Must be exploited widely, wherever possible.
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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 06:56


You have got to admit that chemistry can be very dangerous. Most of the time it only is so because you're being stupid, but in comparison to watching daytime TV it's a whole new world of risks.

Being sensible will keep you safe but being mature was not something that 8 year old me was very good at, at all really.

Looking back now I realise that I did the next best possible thing you can do if the people around don't think you're ready for chemistry - I got into mineralogy and geology. Even the most chemphobic of people are not going to hate on you for having a beautiful mineral collection - especially if you preach some of that shit about the 'special powers' of each stone.

As long as you don't start reciting their chem formulas too much (iron disulfide? I believe you mean Fool's Gold?) no-one will bat an eyelid.

Like my lump of natural asbestos. People worry when I say that word but then I tell them it came from the ground and they're ok.
'Don't worry, it's natural non of those man made chemical toxic shit.'
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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 07:40


BrominatedSicariidae +1

You can maximally exploit this by picking alternative names that sound benign.

Instead of chloroform you might say:
'how would you feel if I made a batch of Guthrie's sweet whiskey'?

The 'chloro' part sounds especially nasty.
My mother-in-law is a dietician and she told me that patients say they worry about their 'chloresterol' levels. It does sound worse than cholesterol, doesn't it?.


[Edited on 11-6-2013 by phlogiston]




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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 08:03


Unrelated, but it had to go somewhere.

I gave "Guthrie's sweet whiskey" a google and my feelings are mixed. Do I feel sad? Or should I? Why? Why?I feel as if... I don't know. Try it for yourself here.

Please, go back to your chemophobic parent stories.

[Edited on 11-6-2013 by Finnnicus]




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[*] posted on 11-6-2013 at 18:27


Quote: Originally posted by Tdep  
Looking back now I realise that I did the next best possible thing you can do if the people around don't think you're ready for chemistry - I got into mineralogy and geology. Even the most chemphobic of people are not going to hate on you for having a beautiful mineral collection - especially if you preach some of that shit about the 'special powers' of each stone.

As long as you don't start reciting their chem formulas too much (iron disulfide? I believe you mean Fool's Gold?) no-one will bat an eyelid.

Like my lump of natural asbestos. People worry when I say that word but then I tell them it came from the ground and they're ok.
'Don't worry, it's natural non of those man made chemical toxic shit.'
Three things.
<ol type="I"><li>Don't advocate spreading more of that hippie 'crystals have healing powers' nonsense. We're already surrounded by enough ignorance.</li>
<li>I dislike the use of "iron disulfide"&mdash;granted the IUPAC name, bis(sulfanylidene)iron, is just ridiculous. If nothing else, at least specify iron(II) disulfide.</li>
<li>Specify the exact asbestos mineral. For example, I tell people that my specimen is chrysotile. It sounds almost floral, so people don't freak out.</li></ol>
Then I hold it out to them and say "Scratch & Sniff"...




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[*] posted on 12-6-2013 at 00:46


You make some valid points there, and I must say the whole 'powers' thing is completely and utterly rediculous but sometimes that is the only thing you can say when people are at a loss of logic and science. Sad I know.

I believe I have actinolite and chrysotile...
I know this is completly off topic now but here they are, more worried about one in particular, not sure scratch and sniff is the correct cause of action haha

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[*] posted on 12-6-2013 at 10:06


Minerals are a good suggestion; there is also a lot of chemistry behind food. Red cabbage is a pH indicator; there are lots of salts to crystallize; you can extract gluten from flour, or precipitate protein from milk. These have the added advantage that they involve reagents which your parents know to be benign, even tasty. And it can give you a foothold in reversing some of that chemophobia; the next time they're cooking eggs, mention that they're seeing hydrogen bonds break before their eyes.

Just be sure to keep a notebook and keep the kitchen clean.

Come to think of it, you might even sweeten the deal for them by offering to take on extra dishes or something in exchange.
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