|
|
Add your profile, wishlist, favourites, etc here. You can even consider getting a mini-calendar/reminder thingy at DNW Alarm Me
Archives
Posts
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Fire in the LabGoing to use chemistry terms here, let's see how much you guys remember. ;) I was washing chromate (VI) oxide crystals off a spatula on Tuesday, using acetone. I was making PCC (A mild oxidising agent), and those crystals are one of the starting materials. And then, the waste flask which I was washing the spatula in burst into flames. For awhile I was staring dumbly at the flames while this thought flashed across my mind, "Fire extinguisher, fire extinguisher, FIRE EXTINGUISHER!!!". One of my labmates ran to the next door lab to grab a fire extinguisher. As I watched her run, I was wondering where she was going, because I remembered seeing a fire extinguisher in our lab, ah well, I just watch her. =PShe tried to release the plastic catch, but couldn't. I grab a pair of scissors and cut away the plastic catch so that we can release the safety pin. She then tried to press the handle to release the CO2 but couldn't. (This is partly due to her panic and her small size, she is really small in size.) In the end, she aimed, I squeezed the handle. Hehe.Moral of the story? Never wash inorganic chemicals into organic wastes. We deal mainly with organic chemicals, Chromate (VI) oxide is an inorganic chemical. Well, you guys break glasswares, try setting a fire in the lab! Blah! *Sticks out his tongue* People here are nice, they never blamed me for the fire, well, because I did ask one of them whether I should continue washing with acetone or water before the fire. (So not exactly my fault although I did commit the act...)On Monday, I left at 8:45pm! Had to run a long colunm chromatography and wash up. The PhD students in the lab I do my project in have superhuman strength. They arrive earlier than I do (Which is 7+) and they leave much later than I do (Which is most likely 8+ to 10+). I wonder how they survive daily. Going to get NMR training next Monday. Doing project here seems exciting, with all the journals to read and the reactions to run, extraction and column chromatography. All the spectroscopic techniques. I'm actually doing all the stuff we learn in Pharmaceutical and Organic chemistry but never get to do it in NYP. Fun~Terence Seah.Last blogged at 12:35 AM
|
