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Mess Up Chemistry Experiments

We've all had a disastrous chemistry experment at one point or another, let's hear yours :biggrin:

I can't quite remember what chemicals we were using but one time I put some in one tube and put a stopper in the test tube. It reacted and the test tube exploded due to a pressure build up inside :smile:

Oh and does anyone know any website with lots of these?

Reply 1

Q.E.D

I forgot to take the delivery tube out of the water after doing some random reaction between (I think) HCl and Na2S2O3. The cold water went back up to the hot tube, which promptly exploded. Woops

Reply 2

Ribbons

Q.E.D

I forgot to take the delivery tube out of the water after doing some random reaction between (I think) HCl and Na2S2O3. The cold water went back up to the hot tube, which promptly exploded. Woops

EXACTLY that happened to me too...mind you, it was quite an interesting thing to see after hours of the most boring experiments ever! :biggrin:

Reply 3

cpchem

Pfft, nothing...
A boiling tube full of hot, 4M KOH spiralling through the air is good fun... and very effective at removing the varnish from benches...

Reply 4

beecher

I've put powder on a weighing scale, without a container.

...that's it. (It was pretty embarrasing though)

Reply 5

alispam

occasionally leave reactants out... :frown:

, apart from that our chem teacher once blew a ceiling tile out and set fire to his arm.

Reply 6

birdth

Our teacher once poured ethanol on a bench to prove it was flamible he chucked a match at it and it bounced then went out quite funny, so he did it again it worked then.

We have rubbish test tubes a lot crack when heated one melted so the rounded end grew in the end it looked quite rude!!

Reply 7

NathanM

my old chemistry teacher showed us a reaction between potassium and water. He thought it had finished, and turned around to talk to the class. After a minute or so, there was sparks flying over his shoulder and he burnt all over his back.

This guy hasnt had much luck though. He was in one of the toilets in the school and was drying his hand using an electric dryer when he was electrocuted and thrown across the room

i mean you couldnt make it up :p:

Reply 8

Esquire

I was doing a Calcium carbonate back titration and I put in 25 cm3 of HCl to the volumetric flask then filled it up to the mark with water. Only the calcium carbonate didn't then dissolve or react... My teacher just gave me the worst look ever.

Reply 9

Eau

It was during the practical exam for IGCSE Chemistry. Spilled HCl (hopefully diluted :P) all over exam paper. Was stressed out like ahhhhhhhh!

Consequently did the second experiment first... but it turned out okay afterall.

Reply 10

cobra

in our labs (university) we've had several fires this year, two people set the fume cupboards on fire by using unsopported glassware full of esters and a couple of other people have almost burnt thier hair off by putting water in a sink which someone has left sodium in

Reply 11

stratomaster

Lol yeah during one experiment my partner threw the left over sodium in the sink. The funny thing was he did exactly the same thing a few minutes later.

Reply 12

kazap

I remember at school someone knocking over a glass of ethanol setting the whole desk and my back alight - got my jacket (or blazer heh) off pretty damn quick. I can still picture it, turning around to see a wall of flame, and that wommmmph!

Uni was pretty uneventiful, someone got rushed to hospital once but thats not really a story to share so Ill leave that. Chemisty gets fun when you get free access to liquid gases, but most of that 'experimentation' is intentional.