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aga
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Yesterday was *almost* a total disaster with glassware.
My glassware shelf is about 2 feet from where i sit, and i noticed a green tint to one of the measuring cylinders.
Reaching down to pick up the cylinder, i startled the 4 foot long grass snake that slithered in there behind the shelving.
In it's panic, it fortunately went Up instead of forwards, so nothing got smashed.
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Texium
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It was a snake-in-the-glass!
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The Volatile Chemist
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Quote: Originally posted by aga  | Yesterday was *almost* a total disaster with glassware.
My glassware shelf is about 2 feet from where i sit, and i noticed a green tint to one of the measuring cylinders.
Reaching down to pick up the cylinder, i startled the 4 foot long grass snake that slithered in there behind the shelving.
In it's panic, it fortunately went Up instead of forwards, so nothing got smashed. |
Sounds close! Where do you keep your glassware, in your shed?  How'd a snake get
in your house?
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aga
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| Quote: | | It was a snake-in-the-glass! |
LOL !
The Lab is just a corner of my shed.
The shed is about 30m from the house, and the snake must have come in through the open doors while my back was turned, which it generally is when i'm
busy.
This is the Wilds of Spain's Costa del Sol.
Snakes have been in the house before, but the dogs tend to keep them away. The cats eat the smaller ones.
Toads, weirdly, only come and troll about in Summer, when there is NO water here !
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Magpie
lab constructor
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Mood: Chemistry: the subtle science.
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kitchen chemistry
I had been using 3A mole sieves to dry some 95% ethanol. Wanting to re-activate them I poured them into a 9"x9" glass cake dish and set them on the
kitchen counter to dry. They were already mostly dry after sitting in a large beaker overnight. After about an hour on the counter they looked dry
so I set the kitchen oven for 500°F (260°C) and placed the sieves in the oven. Some time after the oven had reached temperature I hear a loud bang
while sitting in our family room watching TV. I looked in the kitchen expecting to see some heavy object laying on the floor; but there was nothing
amiss. I then surmised that the noise must have come from the oven - an explosion of ethanol/air pushed the spring loaded oven door open and then it
closed itself with a bang! So I just continued the heating until the time (2 hrs) was up then turned off the oven. A short time later I opened the
oven and retrieved the sieves, after assuring myself that the oven temperature was below the auto-ignition point of ethanol.
[Edited on 23-5-2014 by Magpie]
The single most important condition for a successful synthesis is good mixing - Nicodem
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UnintentionalChaos
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Shortly before I dropped off the radar a few months ago, I had a 125ml sep funnel fall and shatter while full of a product in DCM. Shortly thereafter,
I got a 1L sep funnel from Dr. Bob, which after using a single time, I smashed the drip tip and joint on while cleaning it. I am not used to pieces of
glass that large...
Now, that Im finally getting back into chem, I am running a prep of phenylhydrazine. Inside of 20 minutes, I have my 60ml sep funnel (my last one...)
explode and I drop a stirbar down the drain in seperate incidents. That sep funnel had a hastily fixed star crack in it, so, it's demise was, while
infuriating, somewhat expected.
I fished the stirbar out with magnets, but I now have no sep funnels.
[Edited on 6-4-14 by UnintentionalChaos]
Department of Redundancy Department - Now with paperwork!
'In organic synthesis, we call decomposition products "crap", however this is not a IUPAC approved nomenclature.' -Nicodem
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thesmug
Hazard to Others
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Location: Chicago, Il (USA)
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A few months ago I was distilling something (i think it was isoamyl acetate) when my hot plate just stopped working. I returned it and about 2 weeks
later I was using my new hot plate when it suddenly started melting. It was at a perfectly normal temperature and out of nowhere it melted! I returned
that and last week I was refluxing toluene and potassium permanganate when it just stopped working again! It made me really angry and I'll definitely
buy a different brand of hotplate next time!
Good eyes
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bismuthate
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Curious and upsetting. I mixed some around 40%-55% nitric acid and cobalt. It spent the first minute bubbling lightly without any visible NO2 so I
left it outside. A minute later I came back and found it furiously evolving NO2 and overflowing!
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The Volatile Chemist
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| Quote: Originally posted by bismuthate | | Curious and upsetting. I mixed some around 40%-55% nitric acid and cobalt. It spent the first minute bubbling lightly without any visible NO2 so I
left it outside. A minute later I came back and found it furiously evolving NO2 and overflowing! |
Ouch. Did yoou make or buy your nitric acid?
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bismuthate
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Bought. I use my nitric acid for when I want high purity metal salts. I love my nitric acid. I have plenty of nitric acid the problem is the cobalt and cleanup.
http://iconosquare.com/viewer.php#/detail/737629900139414460...
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The Volatile Chemist
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Keep in mind not everyone (like me) has instagram...
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Texium
Administrator
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Haha, yep, me neither. What is the picture of?
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bismuthate
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Well you should be able to view it without one. I should fix that it's a 2.5 liter jug of 67.5% nitric acid. That's why i wont be running out anytime soon.
EDIT I can look at the picture while logged out. That's odd...
[Edited on 7-6-2014 by bismuthate]
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aga
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nope. cant view it.
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bismuthate
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http://web.stagram.com/tag/nitricacid/
This page won't stay the same forever (but it should have some time).
And in a shameless advertisement attempt anybody who does view my profile feel free to provide feedback (I'm also a nood at photography)
[Edited on 7-6-2014 by bismuthate]
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The Volatile Chemist
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Scrolling down, we can see a lot of your posts  Looks good!
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Texium
Administrator
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Yep, that link works just fine! Looks like you've been having a lot of fun with that cobalt.
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Tsjerk
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Never underestimate the power of a superheated liquid! I found out the hard way, I was melting some agarose medium (300-400ml) in a 3 liter Erlenmeyer
in the microwave, business as usual.
The flask was stoppered with a plug of wool, as usual, very loosely. With just two fingers and without any force you can remove the plug. When I took
the flask I swirled it a bit to check if all agarose had melted. When I did that, the sudden boiling was so violent the flask exploded and my arm and
face were covered in boiling viscous liquid.
Happily the glass in my eye (glasses aren't usual in biology labs) didn't leave any scratches and the burns weren't that severe that they left scar
tissue, but it did hurt pretty bad for a couple of weeks.
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aga
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wow. that is something i personally wouldnt like very much happening to me !
Always wear glasses and a lab coat.
Wearing them hurts less than glass in eyes and scorched skin.
From an employer's point of view, also means you get back to work quicker 
Hope you're ok and mostly unsinged.
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Tsjerk
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I understand Aga, when I was working in chemistry labs I always wore a lab coat and glasses. It's just that in the average biology lab there is not
really any need for wearing them, there are only two things really that can go wrong, and those are the microwave and the pressure cooker... We all
assume we are fine using them as long as you don't forget to unscrew the cap of the bottle you put in the microwave, but a Erlenmeyer that is a bit
weak and a small amount of superheated liquid are enough apparently.
The craziest things I get to work with are 70% ethanol and buffer solutions, although a grain of ammonium sulfate or potassium hydrogen sulfate in an
eye probably wouldn't be to pleasant either
Edit; Ok, and maybe a full blown pathogenic MRSA/extremly resistent tubercolosis... but working with those a lab coat or glasses won't make much of a
difference. If you need a coat for that, you already fucked up.
[Edited on 8-6-2014 by Tsjerk]
[Edited on 8-6-2014 by Tsjerk]
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aga
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| Quote: | | full blown pathogenic MRSA/extremly resistent tubercolosis |
Kanga pants required. Definitely Kanga pants.
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Texium
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Today I was attempting to get some recrystalized copper sulfate pentahydrate crystals out of a 250ml beaker by very very gently tapping the bottom
with a rubber mallet, but I guess it wasn't gentle enough because the whole thing shattered in my hands. Luckily, the crystals, which were fairly
decently sized, came out in a few large clumps, one of which makes a nice display for my desk. Now I need to buy another beaker or two, because that
was the only one I currently had!
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arkoma
Redneck Overlord
Posts: 1763
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*sigh* JUST got it--the supplier is actually (they say) going to warranty it. (deschem, China)
Going to take it to my buddies and cut the neck off and figure out some productive use for the 24/29 joint.
Thank goodness nothing flammable in it!
"We believe the knowledge and cultural heritage of mankind should be accessible to all people around the world, regardless of their wealth, social
status, nationality, citizenship, etc" z-lib
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aga
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Warranty from a Chinese seller ?
Be sure to do another post if they honour the warranty !
Today's Losses :
10 clear test tubes, standing on a wall ...
If one clear test tube should accidentally fall ?
Now there are 6 clear test tubes ...
Proof that Bistromathics is a reality.
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arkoma
Redneck Overlord
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Made the best out of it--managed to get the ground glass neck off in one piece. With a bit of ptfe tape now have an insertable 24/29 sleeve for my
Erlenmeyer!!
"We believe the knowledge and cultural heritage of mankind should be accessible to all people around the world, regardless of their wealth, social
status, nationality, citizenship, etc" z-lib
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