Ignoring InstructionsWhen I was small, a friend of mine waved a big plastic bottle at me and asked me if I "wanted some drinking yoghurt?" I pointed out the "do not drink" label, but no, he was convinced this was a big jug of a particularly strange, liquid yoghurt that was briefly popular in the 70s.
He was sick for hours, after consuming a suprisingly large quantity of washing liquid.
What instructions have you ignored?
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chthonic, Thu 4 May 2006, 11:24)
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Not so much ignoring the instructions as following themor how to very nearly get a faceful of boiling acid
At the start of every experiment in the labs we have to sign COSHH sheets showing disposal methods etc. One particular experiment involved me making a supersaturated solution. Basically this required getting the most concentrated acid in the lab and boiling it.
After the exp is complete the acid needs neutralising before you pour it down the sink. On top of the benches there are bottles of alkali, but this solution was so concentrated i'd need a good couple of litres to do it. So i opted for a saturated calcium carbonate solution instead. For those who remember their chem at school this gives out carbon dioxide as it neutralises an acid.
I poured some carbonate into the acid, it fizzed. repeated this a good few times and as the fizzing died down i assumed it was nearly ready for disposal. It wasn't it had separated into 2 layers due to the densities and more or less not really been reacting. I swirled the flask to ensure it was pH neutral, mixed the layers, and was greeted with a high pressure jet of boiling acid shooting over my left shoulder narrowly missing my face.
Not my proudest academic moment...
(, Sat 6 May 2006, 10:44, Reply)
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