Today, 28.07.09

We did TLC in chemistry today and some recrystallising work. I thought nothing could happen again after yesterday's epic desiccator accident, but apparently I was wrong and my days are destined to be filled with chemistry-related adventures.

I didn't panic today, which had obvious benefits. I had really nice conclusive TLC results with no contamination and I did the desiccator again and got it right this time.

When I had to do a recrystallisation which was really strange because it wouldn't crystallise. Even Dr Hinks was puzzled. But thankfully I was able to apply what I had learnt that morning and I used TLC to check if the crystals were in the solvent at all. Apparently they were because the TLC results showed a huge conc of the compound in solution.


So evidently NOT panicking in the lab works. And as a huge bonus I was able to apply what I had learnt before to solve new problems, which is probably the whole point of our studies. That was meaningful. Meanwhile my solution sits on my lab bench at the chemistry faculty slowly evaporating.

Today, 27.07.2009

For electrical engineering and computing students, we visited the high voltage laboratory and were divided into pairs to do our own ion drives, which could fly on their own when electricity was applied. We also managed to get a close look at the library and computer facilities. The sports that we played at the end of the day was absolutely the highlight of the day. Afterwards, we cooked our dinner and celebrated the 18th birthday for one of our groupmate, Yingxiang.


Here is a chemistry joke:
Q. A bear walked into a river and disintegrated. Why?
A. It was a polar bear.

I had to tell you the joke first because what follows is a tale of woe and failure. Get your hankies/tissues now and save the rush later. I was in the chemistry programme and we had to purify an organic compound using recrystallisation. At the last stage of the experiment we had to use an apparatus called a desiccator to dry out the crystals. A vacuum is created in a chamber where the crystals are placed and there's a tap at the top to let air in. But you're supposed to open the tap slowly- I forgot to open the tap and when Dr Hinks pointed it out I panicked and opened the tap full blast and blew my crystals all over the place. I think only 1/3 of the crystals survived, the rest of the crystals I'd spent the last few hours purifying ended up all over the desiccator.

I was very traumatised after the lab accident. Moral of the story: NEVER PANIC IN THE LAB.