Share the mistakes you've made during lab practicals

Had my first chemistry practical assignment today and made so many mistakes so thought it would be funny to share them here 🫠

- used hydrochloric acid in my standard solution instead of distilled water...
- overshot topping up my standard solution with distilled water and had to redo everything again
- poured hydrochloric acid into the burette without the tap being closed

share away to make us all feel better about ourselves !

Reply 1

klafow

someone in my group poured out too much acid into the measuring cylinder so they tried to pour it back in and then there was concentrated acid all over the desk

Reply 2

klafow

oh and recently i went to dispose of some organic waste in the fume cupboard but i forgot to wear goggles and gloves and by the time i realised i wasn't bothered to go back and put them on. that could have turned out horribly.

Reply 3

Nitrotoluene

During activities in the chemistry lab, students are responsible for ensuring their safety by strictly adhering to established procedures and protocols. That includes accurately labeling chemical containers according to approved chemical handling protocols and wearing the required personal protective equipment (PPE).
When errors occur, students must acknowledge them and develop an improvement plan. They should take responsibility for their actions and avoid shifting blame or making excuses. Instead, they should focus on implementing strategies to prevent similar mistakes from happening again.
By taking this approach, students will be better equipped to succeed in future training sessions while maintaining a safe working environment for everyone involved.

Implement tangible actions to prevent the necessity of making such a statement: ⚠️"I'm sorry, I didn't do it intentionally. I fuc****ed up! I'm such a dic***head!"⚠️

Bye,
Sandro
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(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 4

SirPoppyThFatCat

Put my solution of salicylic acid and acetic acid into reflux, let it go for too long. We managed to make something that even our chemistry technician didn't know existed.

Reply 5

Nitrotoluene

Original post by SirPoppyThFatCat

Put my solution of salicylic acid and acetic acid into reflux, let it go for too long. We managed to make something that even our chemistry technician didn't know existed.

Do you believe you know how aspirin was made?
Aspirin's active component, acetylsalicylic acid, is more complex than just a blend of acetic and salicylic acids. Rather, acetylsalicylic acid is made by chemists using a specific procedure. A small amount of concentrated sulphuric acid catalyses the reaction to speed it up as salicylic acid is acetylated with acetic anhydride in an acetic acid solution.

Supplement:
In a neutral aqueous media, a reaction between salicylic acid and acetic acid can still be written. The creation of a salt is one potential reaction.

Bye,
Sandro
Italy Flag.png

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 6

TypicalNerd

Original post by SirPoppyThFatCat

Put my solution of salicylic acid and acetic acid into reflux, let it go for too long. We managed to make something that even our chemistry technician didn't know existed.

That’s entirely possible. On strong heating, salicylic acid decomposes to phenol, so it is well known that you can form phenyl salicylate and which in turn decomposes to xanthone upon even further heating.

Ethanoic acid also can decompose on heating to give things like methane and CO2 or even ketene and water, but it’s extremely unlikely these formed as you need to heat it to a ridiculously high temperatures with a catalyst to achieve any of these.

I will now share a bloody stupid mistake of my own from when I was in year 13

Spoiler

(edited 2 months ago)