Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Interesting test of how well you know your labware

Interesting test of how well you know your labware

Dr.Bob - 26-3-2015 at 11:20

http://www.compoundchem.com/glasswarequiz/

I got a 96%, but they have one graphic that is terrible, so it should not count. But I had to guess a few of them, but could elimate most answers, so not too hard. But it is an amusing test.

DFliyerz - 26-3-2015 at 11:40

Very fun!

morganbw - 26-3-2015 at 12:27

Thank you for that.

Sulaiman - 26-3-2015 at 12:29

I got 93%,
one mistake (Friedrich's condenser, not Graham)
one correct guess (Straus flask)
one wrong guess (Kjeldahl flask)

does anyone still use thistle funnels?

Loptr - 26-3-2015 at 13:07

Argh! I got one wrong! I meant to click on another but missed it! :-S

The Volatile Chemist - 26-3-2015 at 14:08

I got a 76%, but then again, according to the world's standards (not those at SM) I'm doing OK having only taken Honors Chem. I only guessed on 2. I just generally mistook a few of them. Real pictures would've been better.

Texium - 26-3-2015 at 14:30

Got a 96%, missed Strauss flask, as I had never heard of it before. Really cool quiz though! Compound Interest has some nice stuff.

The Volatile Chemist - 26-3-2015 at 14:39

I'd never heard of them before. But the quiz was nice. I missed volumetric flask b/c it looked more Florence style...

aga - 26-3-2015 at 14:49

I got 76%. Damnit !

The drawing of a Vigreux was nothing like the two i have.

The others i simply got wrong because i did not know.

We'll never mention the two or three i got right by guessing, ever ...

[Edited on 26-3-2015 by aga]

Texium - 26-3-2015 at 15:34

Quote: Originally posted by The Volatile Chemist

I'd never heard of them before. But the quiz was nice. I missed volumetric flask b/c it looked more Florence style...

It definitely did look rather, err, Florentine, but because it was shown filled halfway up the neck and had a stopper, I inferred that it was supposed to be volumetric. Also not really sure why they put both test tube and boiling tube on there when they look identical.

blargish - 26-3-2015 at 15:52

Scored a 93

I've never seen a Straus or Kjeldahl flask before...
There were also a couple that I knew the names of, but didn't know their application!

That vigreux column was pretty sketchy

Volanschemia - 26-3-2015 at 16:15

96% for me.
I missed the Schlenk flask, thought it was a Straus.

It's funny how much a retort flask is used in chiche depictions of a lab, but it is hardly ever used anymore.

Loptr - 26-3-2015 at 16:30

Quote: Originally posted by TheAustralianScientist

96% for me.
I missed the Schlenk flask, thought it was a Straus.

It's funny how much a retort flask is used in chiche depictions of a lab, but it is hardly ever used anymore.

They also tend to be very expensive. I would like to have one, but have held off due to the prices.

cyanureeves - 26-3-2015 at 16:48

i got a 70 and that's not bad at all for never have taken a single chemistry course.i'm sure everyone i know couldn't name a single one of those. i will pat my back now.

gardul - 26-3-2015 at 16:49

I got a 90% not to shabby. but i'll be honest, while I knew what most of the item were some of the pictures were awful. Vigreux picture is awful in my opinon. I have a few of these colums and they look nothinglike that. but nothing on that list would have made sense. thank you for this little test.

Chemosynthesis - 26-3-2015 at 17:11

That was fun. I think the test would be much easier if the pictures were larger by default. I managed to get them all, but that one column I presume you guys are talking about was a horrible depiction, not that any of them were all that great. The warnings here made me particularly careful. Using two answers which appear similar to me on that one was just cruel. I also only got the solvent drying flask (trying not to spoil it) because it had been mentioned here. I don't believe I have ever seen one in person, though I have seen solvent stills that were not single piece, attached to inert named lines and the more generalized version of the flask itself which was also a question, so I was able to infer the actual item identity itself since it came up here and was presumably a utilized answer. The flask with the long neck is kind of inspiring for me to try to replicate an early 1900s total nitrogen content analyses I had been putting off, though I don't own on specifically for that yet. Not sure how necessary a specific length is.

Additionally, there was one response that wasn't utilized that threw me. I knew it wasn't the answer, but I didn't know what it was. I don't want to use the name, again, due to spoilers, but it is a flask with indentions on it. I have seen them lying around labs before, but was not really sure what they are used for until I searched the Royal Society of Chemistry's site and found they were developed for organosodium chemistry. Very interesting.

IrC - 26-3-2015 at 18:38

Very good link. Don't do just the test and leave. Look at the very large number of articles and information, click on Archives and
Downloads. Spend some time studying what they have on the site. I had to bookmark it as it will take a long time to get through so much interesting information.

diddi - 26-3-2015 at 18:55

missed the Friedrich's condenser

Hellafunt - 26-3-2015 at 23:34

wow, what a great website, thank you for posting that. ive been looking at that website for the last 2 hours!

Jylliana - 26-3-2015 at 23:41

93%
Got my condensers mixed up. I never call them by their name xD

I got the graph that went with it earlier in the mail. I have a subscription to CI's newsletter

Dr.Bob - 27-3-2015 at 04:57

Their Freidrich's is not drawn correctly, it shows water coils, but a true Freidrich's has only one main water tube with swirls in it, so they are not really correct either. But their site is very nice, and I had never seen it before. Glad it was helpful.

Molecular Manipulations - 27-3-2015 at 08:54

93%. I've away's worked with improvised apparatus, so I don't know all of the names for glassware. They should have used real pictures, I got at least one wrong because it looked different than mine.

[Edited on 27-3-2015 by Molecular Manipulations]

Praxichys - 27-3-2015 at 09:00

96%

Had to guess on the Straus flask question, guessed incorrectly. I have always called those 'solvent flasks.'

+1 to Dr. Bob on the Freidrichs condenser drawing. The 105 deg angled take-off was the giveaway. Otherwise it's just a coil condenser.

The Volatile Chemist - 27-3-2015 at 09:31

Quote: Originally posted by blargish

Scored a 93

I've never seen a Straus or Kjeldahl flask before...
There were also a couple that I knew the names of, but didn't know their application!

That vigreux column was pretty sketchy

Lol, I like the pun at the end

(sketchy)
I knew what a kjeldahl flask was b/c I'd seen one on Elemental Scientific (Thanks Tom Holm!

)

Texium - 28-3-2015 at 06:40

Kjeldahl flasks are primarily used in the brewing industry, as that's what they were invented for (Kjeldahl was the lab manager for the Carlsberg brewery), as well as other food industries. It just so happens that my parents work at a brewery, and I have familiarized myself with the analysis procedures run in their lab, one of which is called TKN, or total Kjeldahl nitrogen. The process involves first digesting the organic substance to be tested using sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate, to convert all of the nitrogen to ammonium, then raising the pH to convert the ammonium to ammonia, then distilling the ammonia (using a Kjeldahl flask as the boiling flask, although I'm not entirely sure why this is important) to make a clean solution, which is then titrated, to determine the total moles of organic nitrogen in the sample.

Kitsune1 - 29-3-2015 at 15:09

96%; Like most people, slipped up with the Schlenk, thinking it was a Straus flask. Isn't the Straus actually a Schlenk Flask anyway, they are for the most part interchangable (Air sensitive reactions) and have the same structure. I didn't expect I'd do half as well as I did

tomholm - 29-3-2015 at 19:39

Quote: Originally posted by The Volatile Chemist

I knew what a kjeldahl flask was b/c I'd seen one on Elemental Scientific (Thanks Tom Holm!

)

I agree. A great site. I missed a couple that I should have gotten right.

I'd like to point out that Elemental does carry lots of glassware. Selling the Kjeldahl flask for only $20.

kjeldahl.JPG - 27kB

Here are pictures of additional glassware that we have in stock. We actually have a lot more, but these are the only pictures I have at this time.

Drying Fermentation Tubes (1024x576).jpg - 590kB

Dropping Bottles 2 (1024x576).jpg - 510kB

Hellafunt - 29-3-2015 at 19:59

wow, i want to go on a shopping spree at your store, tomholm! i havent seen a real brick and mortar science store in a long time, i have no idea where there is one anywhere near me. i may have to plan a road trip.

The Volatile Chemist - 2-4-2015 at 12:09

I was about to say the same thing! Maybe in a year or so, a couple of us could drive over to your shop! That'd be fun! I'll be saving up!

tomholm - 6-4-2015 at 16:31

Occasionally, I run across some glassware in my inventory that I don't recognize. Here are a couple of examples. I assume they are a type of manometer, but the stopcocks and the opening at the bottom of the "U" in the tube have me a bit confused. Anyone have a better explanation?

Tom

IMG_20150406_140638944 (576x1024).jpg - 323kB

IMG_20150406_141028958 (576x1024).jpg - 315kB

Steam - 6-4-2015 at 16:50

Missed the Straus flask... Was proud of myself knowing the Kjeldahl flask though! Brewers Unite!

The Volatile Chemist - 10-4-2015 at 16:03

The opening at the bottom could just be a let-out for mercury (Manometers are filled with Hg, right...? sorry if I'm mistaken), and the stopcock a pressure release.

thanos thanatos - 11-4-2015 at 21:49

Quote: Originally posted by Dr.Bob

http://www.compoundchem.com/glasswarequiz/

I got a 96%, but they have one graphic that is terrible, so it should not count. But I had to guess a few of them, but could elimate most answers, so not too hard. But it is an amusing test.

I got a 96% too. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the confusing part you're eluding to, and where I got my only one wrong, was trying to distinguish a Schlenk flask from a Straus flask. They looked almost identical. Furthermore, if you look up a Straus flask on Wikipedia, it doesn't have its own entry, but is mentioned - in the entry on Schlenk flasks!

smaerd - 14-4-2015 at 04:20

I got an 80 but I also very sleepily said a beaker was an erlenmeyer.

I think I know the graphic your talking about. Those test tubes like images were really screwy. I'd never heard of a "boiling tube" before. Or a Strauss flask. Was fun though

Trevor9424 - 29-5-2016 at 10:21

73%

Wasn't sure what some of the particular round bottom flasks with extra necks and stopcocks were. I'm also not so familiar with some of the organic chemistry glassware.

However, I did get a good laugh at the 119 people who got 0-9% who apparently thought that flasks and beakers were the only glassware used in chemistry.

arkoma - 29-5-2016 at 15:16

meh, 80 %

IceDahl - 30-5-2016 at 06:34

I got 66%.

One thing that is find strange is that when i only clicked the top answer i got 33%

. Is it even possible to get 0-9 with random guessing?

aga - 30-5-2016 at 06:50

83
It took one mouse click and passed thru two questions, twice, so no idea what they were.

Daffodile - 30-5-2016 at 07:02

Chem quizes like this are awesome, its fun to see what we all do and don't know. If all SM members enjoy these as much as I do, it might be worth doing another one through socrative or something. Socrative is just a website where someone can make and deliver a quiz to anyone who has a 'room number'.

Maker - 30-5-2016 at 07:14

86%, not bad but there were at least 5 guesses

woelen - 30-5-2016 at 07:16

I had a score of 83%. Not bad, given the fact that I do not have any formal education in chemistry besides my high school stuff. My profession is in software engineering and consultancy. I teached myself chemistry and also about different kinds of glassware.

100PercentChemistry - 30-5-2016 at 09:29

76% I have to review some of the glassware

The Volatile Chemist - 3-6-2016 at 12:45

man, some of those pictures of the BME store have my mouth watering, definitely going to stop by there when I graduate HS...