A wonder how any of us lived long enough to reminisce

Off-topic conversations and chit-chat.

16 posts Page 1 of 2
A recent post by Peter made laugh out aloud

He then violated SOP A 1 Engage Brain Before Any Action and held the beaker above the FID, leading to rapid implementation of procedure OSHIT 3 applicable in cases of small quantities of flaming liquids held by hand in glass containers.
Sometimes I wonder how any of us lived long enough to be reminiscing on Chromforum.


It set me thinking.

From experience - in chronological order

Boiling benzene in an open beaker over a Bunsen burner in the school lab.

Slightly before my time but seeing photos of the oven door of a GC blown off and embedding itself into the wall after a hydrogen leak in the oven. Later GCs had a spring loaded inner door to relieve the pressure.

In the early days of LC, after gradient elution, the only way to tell if the starting solvent conditions had been re-established was to hold your finger under the eluent and sniff. Hexane could really make your head spin and MeOH/CHCl3 would really sting an open cut- even worse if accidentally spilt onto your lap:-)

Modifying a Pye moving wire LC detector. This was the closest to a "universal " detector. Essentially the eluent dripped onto a fine wire that moved between two spools. The wire went through a heated chamber and the sample evaporated off into an FID

http://www.chromatography-online.org/Tr ... s_5_64.php

My "clever" modification of adding an air jet to change the drips into a spray onto the wire to coat the wire more evenly to improve the detection level worked brilliantly - for about 60 seconds. After which the vapour ignited and set fire to the instrument.

Whilst rinsing out my syringe with Tri-sil BSA in pyridine for a manual injection I accidentally injected my left thumb with 10uL - there was a numb spot for many years afterwards.


From the actuarial tables chemists seem to come off lightly.

Ralph
Regards

Ralph
I once pressed "ignite" on a flame photometric detector that had one of those 100 ml bubble flow meters connected to its outlet. The mixture of hydrogen and air in the connecting pipe and glass tube went off with an impressive crack and a jet of flame shot out of the top of the meter - but everything held together.

Peter
Peter Apps
My best memory from high school chemistry class: The vice principal was subbing for our chemistry professor. He decided to do a demonstration for us to show just how reactive sodium is in water. I'm glad he at least used a blast shield! The resulting explosion burned through the ceiling and dislodged most of the ceiling tiles in the room that it didn't burn. The entire building was evacuated as the fire alarms were set off and the local fire department was called in. We made the local news that evening. I've been a great fan of the sciences ever since.
When I was planning on being a teacher, during my student teaching the co-op teacher had me pour about 25mL of waste acetone into the sink. I think his thought was that it would evaporate just fine. In the first class he had me showing off a Tesla coil and specifically had me show that it could ignite a paper towel. Rather than continue to hold a burning piece of paper as it reached my arm I dropped it into the sink. There was a nice 'woompf' as the acetone that we had forgotten about released its energy.

That woke me up and got the students to all pay attention to my every word that day.
I was a teaching assistant in Organic II lab in college. In the pre-lab lecture the professor mentioned at least four times that when you get to the point of heating the ethanol used in the recrystallization to use the electric heating mantle. Well as the lab progressed I see a student setting up a ring stand, ceramic square and Bunsen burner. I asked him what he was doing and his reply was "I'm getting ready to heat my ethanol." I simply walked over to my stool and sat down to watch.

A moment later he sat the beaker of ethanol on the stand and lit the burner. About the time the ethanol began to boil there was a soft "pooff" sound and a nice blue flame about a foot high appeared above the beaker. He looked at me with the most shocked expression on his face and I said "Now what are you going to do?"

I just walked over and placed a larger beaker over the burning one after turning off the gas to the burner. About that time I looked around the lab and saw the other ten students slowly putting away their Bunsen burners. At least he wasn't the only one not paying attention in the pre-lab, seems every single student was day dreaming during the safety part of the lecture.

Never be the first one finished, let someone else make the mistakes so you don't have to :)
The past is there to guide us into the future, not to dwell in.
A similar story:
In college I was a lab instructor for an intro chemistry class. There was one particular lab that required the use of a dry ice/isopropanol bath to cool something or other. That particular lab room had heavy stone (non-flammable is the important part here) lab benches.

So after everyone has finished up and is quietly writing up the last part of their lab reports, I take a portion of alcohol from the dry ice bath, and walk from one end of the empty bench at the front of the room to the other, discreetly pouring a continuous "puddle" of alcohol along the bench as I go. When I reached the end of the bench, I pulled a lighter out of my pocket and lit one end of the "puddle", resulting in about a 1-2 foot high line of flames that traveled from one end of the bench to the other. I have to say, it was pretty impressive. The students who weren't scared thought so as well.

Luckily none of the students in the lab mentioned that particular "demonstration" to the professor.
My own student teaching experience -

My demo involved making acetylene from water and Calcium Carbide... in a balloon.

Said balloon self inflated nicely after I added the reactants and tied it off. Next step was to tie the balloon to the end of a yardstick securely mounted to a bench top and burst the balloon with a flaming match mounted to the end of another yard stick.

Instead of having a nice little fireball, the match produced a nearly microscopic hole right where it was knotted and fastened to the yard stick. I produced a jet that did two large, level circles around the room before making a bee-line for the curtains.

Fortunately, it ran out of fuel as it reached the curtains.

I followed up the next week with a little batch of NI3.
Did you know that if detonated before drying is complete, that stuff will stick to, dry out, then detonate on every nearby surface leaving lovely purple stains?

I'm far more dangerous in a classroom than in a lab. Be glad I chose labs in the long run.
Thanks,
DR
Image
I'm far more dangerous in a classroom than in a lab. Be glad I chose labs in the long run.
You're not the only one! :lol:

Fresh out of college, my first job was teaching high school chemistry & math (at the same high school from which I had graduated four years earlier). Like you, demonstrating exothermic reactions, but by putting a coffee can over the carbide + water. The coffee can had a nail-hole punched near the open end to which I could touch a lighted taper. The trick was to count to ten before lighting off in order to allow for a good mixture of acetylene + air. Result was a mildly satisfying pop as the can jumped up a couple of feet.

Then I got the bright idea of running some O2 from the glassblowing torch into the inverted can before putting over the carbide. I got a bang sufficient to blow the can up to the ceiling of the lecture room (12 feet), leaving a visible dent in the plaster and accordioning the top of the can by a good centimeter on one side. Fortunately, no one was hit by the ricocheting can.
-- Tom Jupille
LC Resources / Separation Science Associates
tjupille@lcresources.com
+ 1 (925) 297-5374
Just had another thing happen to add. Coworker was at the FID printing data. When he set something aside he put it on top of the GC, covering the FID chimney.

Not just Analytical Chemists, it is a wonder how any scientist makes it this long.
Thank you all for the interesting forum reminiscences to my post :lol:

Regards

Ralph
Regards

Ralph
Someone reminded me this week of another incident that happened a few years ago that almost brings tears to my eyes from laughing every time I think about it.

We had a microwave for digesting metals samples that had been acting up. The analyst calls me into the digestion room and I find he has the covers off the microwave. I poke around inside and find a loose wire and reconnect it, thinking all is fixed I have him start it up. It runs fine, for a minute, then there is a very loud POP! that sounds almost like a gun firing. One of the capacitors arcs and throws a blue spark about three inches long down the other side of the instrument from where I am standing, but just so happens the analyst is standing within inches from it. He jumps back a couple feet when it happens, eyes wide as saucers. It pops again and I tell him to turn it off. Well then the fun begins! Each time he reaches for the switch it arcs again, and he jumps again. It does this about three times while I am still looking into the inside of the instrument. I finally walk around and unplug it, ending his torture.

Of course the rest of the people in the lab are laughing themselves silly from watching the show, me just standing there all calm and cool and the tech jumping like he was having his feet shot at and being told to dance.

Of course to add insult to injury the next day one of the other techs brings in a bag and hands it to the guy who was dodging the arcs and says, "Here you might need these".

Inside the bag was a package of new underwear :lol:
The past is there to guide us into the future, not to dwell in.
this is a trivial one, but goes to show that True Grit is sometimes found where you wouldn't expect it. We had, in a lab I worked in some while ago, two young ladies who were getting work experience over the summer. One was self-assured, confident, very mature and obviously bright, and took the lead in almost everything they did. The other was very quiet, vague, pacifistic to the point of seeming bored, and didn't look like she was going to go very far with anything.

And we had a tap-driven vacuum-pump, the sort of arrangement that sits on a very fast-running cold tap and generates a small vacuum sufficient for driving a Buchner funnel apparatus. As always happens with these, one day the ancient rubber tubing split with the tap running flat out, sending a cascade of cold water over a pile of lab-books, all their paper-work, a bench full of samples, and most worryingly over the side of the LC-MS.

Cool-and-collected-blonde shrieked in horror and ran out the door. Vague brunette took one look, plunged into the deluge, stemmed the flow, and emerged wringing her hair out onto the floor a few seconds later. She was drenched, but earned my permanent respect.
lmh wrote:
this is a trivial one, but goes to show that True Grit is sometimes found where you wouldn't expect it. We had, in a lab I worked in some while ago, two young ladies who were getting work experience over the summer. One was self-assured, confident, very mature and obviously bright, and took the lead in almost everything they did. The other was very quiet, vague, pacifistic to the point of seeming bored, and didn't look like she was going to go very far with anything.

And we had a tap-driven vacuum-pump, the sort of arrangement that sits on a very fast-running cold tap and generates a small vacuum sufficient for driving a Buchner funnel apparatus. As always happens with these, one day the ancient rubber tubing split with the tap running flat out, sending a cascade of cold water over a pile of lab-books, all their paper-work, a bench full of samples, and most worryingly over the side of the LC-MS.

Cool-and-collected-blonde shrieked in horror and ran out the door. Vague brunette took one look, plunged into the deluge, stemmed the flow, and emerged wringing her hair out onto the floor a few seconds later. She was drenched, but earned my permanent respect.


It is normally the quiet ones who are most willing to sacrifice in time of need.
The past is there to guide us into the future, not to dwell in.
lmh wrote:
this is a trivial one, but goes to show that True Grit is sometimes found where you wouldn't expect it. We had, in a lab I worked in some while ago, two young ladies who were getting work experience over the summer. One was self-assured, confident, very mature and obviously bright, and took the lead in almost everything they did. The other was very quiet, vague, pacifistic to the point of seeming bored, and didn't look like she was going to go very far with anything.

And we had a tap-driven vacuum-pump, the sort of arrangement that sits on a very fast-running cold tap and generates a small vacuum sufficient for driving a Buchner funnel apparatus. As always happens with these, one day the ancient rubber tubing split with the tap running flat out, sending a cascade of cold water over a pile of lab-books, all their paper-work, a bench full of samples, and most worryingly over the side of the LC-MS.

Cool-and-collected-blonde shrieked in horror and ran out the door. Vague brunette took one look, plunged into the deluge, stemmed the flow, and emerged wringing her hair out onto the floor a few seconds later. She was drenched, but earned my permanent respect.


Great story :lol:
I once narrowly escaped an incident with HF. I managed to outrun the outpouring of an angry and overheated quench reaction. Not so sure I would be as quick off the mark these days!

GCguy
GCguy
16 posts Page 1 of 2

Who is online

In total there is 1 user online :: 0 registered, 0 hidden and 1 guest (based on users active over the past 5 minutes)
Most users ever online was 1117 on Mon Jan 31, 2022 2:50 pm

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

Latest Blog Posts from Separation Science

Separation Science offers free learning from the experts covering methods, applications, webinars, eSeminars, videos, tutorials for users of liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, sample preparation and related analytical techniques.

Subscribe to our eNewsletter with daily, weekly or monthly updates: Food & Beverage, Environmental, (Bio)Pharmaceutical, Bioclinical, Liquid Chromatography, Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry.

Liquid Chromatography

Gas Chromatography

Mass Spectrometry