AS Chemistry coursework gone wrong...
The idea was to make a range of electrochemical cells, investigating the effects of using different metals to get a higher voltage and whatnot.

My "brilliant" plan at the time was to make a cell using silver wire and a suitable salt in one end, and magnesium nitrate and ribbon in the other. The suitable salt I selected was silver nitrate. It was a combination nobody had tried yet, and I thought I might get more marks for being thorough... so off into the prep room I trot, to get my ingredients (and nick as much potassium perchlorate as possible, but that's another story).

Cells were built and tested, results noted, and when the bell rang for lunch I picked up my bag, swung it over my shoulder and as I turned to leave, heard the ominous BANGsplash of a large bottle hitting the floor.

"Fuck" is about the only word that I could think of - I had just got about 2L of silver nitrate solution EVERYWHERE. Up the walls, all over the floor, all over me, and my lab partner, the fucking ceiling for fuck's sake. We panic, and decide to flee the scene. We were the last ones to leave, nobody saw us do it, job done. So we did.

However, upon getting outside we soon noticed something was amiss. One look at our blackened hands and uniforms reminded us of what exactly silver nitrate was used for when it wasn't being thrown all over classrooms...

That particular room was closed for extensive cleaning for some time. I'm told the only thing that gets it off is aqua regia. We did not pass our coursework.
(keyboardman, Sat 15 Aug 2009, 0:36, 4 replies)

what is aqua regia?
proper name, formula?

/chemistry geek blog

edit: nevermind, it's a lovely mix of nitric and hydrochloric acid, sounds fun

hmm, i've just realised i can shoehorn my chemistry coursework story into this qotw
( weaver., Sat 15 Aug 2009, 1:13, closed)

What
does Silver Nitrate do?
(kitescreech still here, Sun 16 Aug 2009, 12:11, closed)

when the solution dries out...
...the silver nitrate crystals left behind darken on exposure to light. It's used (or was used, dunno if it still is) in photography.

You can google "silver nitrate stain" to get an idea. Now imagine a metric fuckton of it all over everywhere, taking into account it's not the cheapest stuff to buy large quantities of.
(keyboardman, Sun 16 Aug 2009, 15:33, closed)

I had the same thing happen
In my Chemistry coursework. My hands were covered with black spots for over a week. Soap and water does nothing.

Aqua regis, if I remember rightly, is a mixture of acids. Nitric and Sulphuric I think.

Ammonia also removes it. Sadly this is a case of the cure being worse than the disease.
( MatJ LOOK, Wed 19 Aug 2009, 11:22, closed)