Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Stocking a home lab

thesmug - 31-1-2014 at 21:47

I have a small home lab set up to augment my chemistry learning (my school only teaches chemistry once every two years) and was wondering which chemicals to buy to stock said lab. I already have some NaOH, copper sulfate, ammonia, acetone and ethanol. I am not really ready for any really strong chemicals yet, especially ones that give off dangerous fumes. If you would also be able to also recommend quantities of each chemical, that would be much appreciated.

alexleyenda - 31-1-2014 at 23:09

You may not be ready for really strong chemicals yet, yet NaOH is one of the most powerful chemicals that exists :p. It attacks even usually inert things such as glass and platinium (when molten). Be careful with it. At least it is not toxic, just extremely corrosive.


Must have reagents:

You lack hydrogen peroxide in medium quantity, maybe 250-500 mL of 30%. 30% is quite dangerous however, it is a powerful oxydising agent, as you start I would advise 10-15%. You can concentrate 3% H2O2 by boiling it down.

You will need a lot of sulfuric acid, the magic acid in my opinion! H2SO4 is weak when diluted, very strong when concentrated, extremely dangerous when concentrated and mixed with peroxide or when concentrated and heated. It gives no fumes (except when concentrated and heated but you should just not do that :p ) it also deprotonates in almost not reactive HSO4- or SO4 2- ions compared with other acids like HCl that gives Cl- ions. It is in my opinion the most important reagent as it can be used in so many situations. I would say get 500 mL concentrated (92-98%) and 3L diluted ( around 35%). It is still quite strong at 35%, when I said weak, it was relative, don't be misleaded. You can dilute it even more.

You will need large amounts of sodium bicarbonate and vinegar. Sodium bicarbonate being a weak base, it is the thing you'll use to neutralise acids when you spill them or just want to neutralize a solution and when you need to use a base that does not need to be strong. It can also make some salts and generate CO2. You'll need vinegar for the opposite reason ; neutralise bases as it is a weak acid and use it as an acid when power is not needed, though for that last one dilute H2SO4 is better, especially if you look for purity. I would say get at least 1 Kg NaHCO3 and 4 L vinegar.

Finally, distilled water. Tap water is incredibly impure, while making my own distilled water out of it, a surprisingly large amount of cristals began forming in the tap water after only 1/4 of the water had been boiled down. Get a good 5 L or more of distilled water. Whenever you need to add water or give a final rinse to your glassware, you'll need it.


Not must have reagents to begin with, but very useful:

Bleach is an useful reagent and oxidiser. (Chlorine bleach, NaOCl)

HCl is very useful too, chlorine is part of many compounds and HCl is the best way to add chlorine atoms to something. However, as you probably know, HCl is in fact HCl gas dissolved in water so of course it tends to give off quite bad fumes. However, I've worked a lot with it without much problem. The fumes are very suffocating, as soon as you start to breath some, you don't even have the time to take half of your breath, you feel it immediately and cough and get away. As long as you work with it outside/fumehood or inside with very diluted solutions, you should be fine as you just won't be able to breath the fumes of concentrated HCl (25% to 40%) completely and half a breath is not that bad, it happened to me quite many times. 1L 27%

You should also get some magnesium, it is always nice to burn it (don't look at it while it burns, it damages your eyes) but it is also a very good reducer. Maybe just a 50-100g ribbon coil.

Zinc is also a very useful metal to have, around 100-200g to start with is enough. Once again, a very good reducer.

Some small quantities of copper can be nice to have, in general it is not much used, but personally I worked quite a lot with it to make my own copper sulfate, for electroplating experiments...

List of some other things I have that can be interesting that I have on my mind ; Take note that some are quite dangerous, I just write them to inspire you.
KMnO4, KOH, KClO3, NaHSO3, Iodine cristals, sodium acetate, pure oxygen, glycerine, MnO2, Bismuth, mineral oil, aluminium powder, Lithium metal, iron oxide, Boric acid, trichloroisocyanuric acid, methylene blue, bromothymol blue, phenolphtalein, vitamin C, KCl, sugar.

Whatever you do, forget nitric acid, NOx gas is extremely toxic, it can kill you very fast. You'll need a lot of experience before using that :p Never mix two chemicals together if you don't know what the product will be, some mix as the peroxide/ sulfuric acid are very dangerous while other bad mixes can create toxic gas such as chlorine and chloramine. Nitrile/Neoprene gloves and eye protections are a must.

I wrote a lot but I guess it is better than not enough :p Have fun and be safe.

Edit: By the way, I'm a fan of medium scale (50-500 mL), I rarely use my test tubes for other things than very dangerous or very dirty reactions. For that reason, some people may finds some quantities I gave a bit high, but that's me.

[Edited on 1-2-2014 by alexleyenda]

[Edited on 1-2-2014 by alexleyenda]

Hoffnung - 1-2-2014 at 02:39

You can do a lot of very nice and safe experiments with copper sulfate. Try making copper carbonate by mixing dissolved copper sulfate with the stoichiometrical quantity of sodium bicarbonate. Then you can heat the pale-blue copper carbonate solution to get the black copper oxide precipitate, then you can filter and let it dry.

You can also make the beautiful dark-blue copper acetate. Just filter the copper carbonate and mix it with vinegar (very diluted acetic acid, look at the reaction, the concentration on the bottle and calculate). Then heat the solution until dryness (the acetic acid fumes will be not really toxic but they can be annoying, do it in a well-ventilated area).

And there are many more copper compounds, you can get all the practical information in this forum, but you should look for the compounds alexleyenda points above, they are easy to get. Have a nice time.

blogfast25 - 1-2-2014 at 06:25

Quote: Originally posted by alexleyenda  
You may not be ready for really strong chemicals yet, yet NaOH is one of the most powerful chemicals that exists :p. It attacks even usually inert things such as glass and platinium (when molten). Be careful with it. At least it is not toxic, just extremely corrosive.


Yep, that's right, go put the frighteners on a chemical that even housewives sometimes use!

Of course it's highly corrosive but who other than an idiot would try and melt it in glass, for instance? Plenty of stuff isn't really affected by it or hardly at all.

For NaOH only elementary precautions are needed. Stop using highly subjective and emotive terms like 'powerful': in a chemistry context that word means very little.
Quote: Originally posted by alexleyenda  
Whatever you do, forget nitric acid, NOx gas is extremely toxic, it can kill you very fast. You'll need a lot of experience before using that :p


More nonsense from our resident scaremonger. Nitric acid is a very useful, precious chemical that many here couldn't do without. Few of the less electropositive elements could be dissolved without it, for instance. NO<sub>2</sub> is very toxic but can be handled easily and safely in small amounts and scrubbed out in larger amounts.

For home experimentation it will usually suffice to limit quantities used, use fairly dilute acid (35 % e.g.), work outside and be upwind from any emissions. Small amounts of NO<sub>2</sub> won't kill you either, otherwise undersigned wouldn't be here to write about it.

[Edited on 1-2-2014 by blogfast25]

hyfalcon - 1-2-2014 at 06:27

Copper carbonate solution? Mine has always fallen out of solution.

blogfast25 - 1-2-2014 at 06:34

Quote: Originally posted by hyfalcon  
Copper carbonate solution? Mine has always fallen out of solution.


Copper carbonate (in its various guises) is insoluble. There are no 'copper carbonate solutions': if you've dissolved it, you've destroyed it. :D

[Edited on 1-2-2014 by blogfast25]

Hoffnung - 1-2-2014 at 06:55

HAHA sorry it's my English. I expressed myself badly. "Then you can heat the pale-blue copper carbonate solution to get the black copper oxide precipitate". I meant heat the solution(!!!), maybe I should have said "you can heat the solution that contains the copper carbonate in it (is it clearer?), to give the copper oxide (another precipitate)". In fact, you can also filter the copper carbonate and heat it directly but it is a dirtier way.

neptunium - 1-2-2014 at 10:13

one day sooner or later if you continue to experiment and your interest grows in the science of the atoms and molecules, then you WILL have to deal with dangerous chemicals .
as long as you

do your research
wear the safety gear
and always small amount

then you should be safe (for the most part)
there will be accident and clumsy mistake but i would not let the potential danger turn me away from
the wonders of physics and chemistry the rewards vastly overcome the danger , the sooner you become acquinted to them the better in my opinion

[Edited on 1-2-2014 by neptunium]

Zyklon-A - 1-2-2014 at 10:52
Quote:

You can concentrate 3% H2O2 by boiling it down.

Don't do this, concentrate it by carefully heating it, not boiling for much better yields.
Sulfuric acid is quite useful, you just have to wear gloves (always wear gloves), nitric acid isn't a must, but it's also very useful.

Getting the right glassware is a must, and you might consider doing that before you blow you chemistry budget on chemicals- a mistake that I made.

Edit:
Quote:

It is still quite strong at 35%, when I said weak, it was relative, don't be misleaded. You can dilute it even more.


Also don't be "misleaded" (misled) by that word at all, (strong), it's the wrong word to use period, it refers to the ionization of the acid, not the corrosiveness by any means.
A strong acid, is an acid that ionizes completely or almost completely, like HCl(aq), HI(aq), HBr(aq), H2SO4, HNO3, HClO4, ect.
HF(aq) is a weak acid, but it is extremely corrosive.






[Edited on 1-2-2014 by Zyklonb]

thesmug - 1-2-2014 at 11:16

Thank you all for responding, it has helped a lot. I do still have a few questions, though. alexleyenda, where do you suggest I should buy the reagents you reccomended? I currently buy most of my chemicals from a company called Home Science Tools, but they only sell chemicals in relatively small quantities.
And neptunium, although I would be fine working with more dangerous chemicals, the major problem that I have is with ventillation. I work inside, and since it is very cold where I live, working outside during the winter isn't something I really want to do. What do you suggest to work around this problem?

Zyklon-A - 1-2-2014 at 11:23

I know you were not asking me, but Elemental scientific, is a great source for chemicals and equipment, for the right price.



[Edited on 1-2-2014 by Zyklonb]

thesmug - 1-2-2014 at 11:41

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklonb  
I know you were not asking me but, Elemental scientific, is a great source for chemicals and equipment, for the right price.


I will definitely try them.

neptunium - 1-2-2014 at 12:33

Quote: Originally posted by thesmug  

And neptunium, although I would be fine working with more dangerous chemicals, the major problem that I have is with ventillation. I work inside, and since it is very cold where I live, working outside during the winter isn't something I really want to do. What do you suggest to work around this problem?


i have a basement where i live and a crude fume hood.
if not how about a garage?
a fume hood can be homemade and the fume can be sucked out. its not often i deal with heavy fumes though this shouldnt be much of a concern you know.

woelen - 1-2-2014 at 13:24

I have written some information on setting up a home lab:

http://woelen.homescience.net/science/chem/misc/homelab.html

You need some basic equipment, and some chemicals. What types of chemicals you need depends on what kind of experiments you intend to do. When you have read the webpages, linked above, then you probably have a somewhat better idea of what you want and what you need.

thesmug - 1-2-2014 at 13:44

Quote: Originally posted by neptunium  
Quote: Originally posted by thesmug  

And neptunium, although I would be fine working with more dangerous chemicals, the major problem that I have is with ventillation. I work inside, and since it is very cold where I live, working outside during the winter isn't something I really want to do. What do you suggest to work around this problem?


i have a basement where i live and a crude fume hood.
if not how about a garage?
a fume hood can be homemade and the fume can be sucked out. its not often i deal with heavy fumes though this shouldnt be much of a concern you know.


I also work in the basement and have been considering making a fume hood, but working in the garage is not favorable, as it is really cold outside where I live.

neptunium - 1-2-2014 at 13:48

well then! h

Zyklon-A - 1-2-2014 at 13:55

Make a fume hood: https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=11...
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=14233
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=21....

thesmug - 1-2-2014 at 14:35

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklonb  
Make a fume hood: https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=11...
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=14233
https://www.sciencemadness.org/whisper/viewthread.php?tid=21....


Thank you for those links, they're very helpful.

Zyklon-A - 1-2-2014 at 14:43

No problem, I haven't built one yet because I work in my garage, (its not too cold outside) and I just go outside to do an experiment that produces smoke or toxic fumes. A hood would be nice though, its just not going to be worth it when I can go outside.

alexleyenda - 1-2-2014 at 16:16

@ blogfast For NaOH, I meant that even NaOH is a strong reagent, so if he feels ready for it, he is ready for "strong chemicals" as he said. Never in the world did I say stay away from it. I admit it was not clear though.

About NOx, yes nitric acid is very useful but I read quite a lot about NOx gas and yes you can deal with it, but if it goes wrong for whatever reason you are in big danger and I would consider irresponsible not to warn someone who is just starting in chemistry against it. It is extremely destructive for the organism and the symptoms can take a while before you feel them. I found two sentences that says clearly why I fear NOx "there may be little pain or shortness of breath, and a seriously damaging dose can be delivered to the lungs while a worker is not immediately aware of the danger. There is a latent period of from 3 to 30 hours from the time of initial exposure to the onset of potentially fatal pulmonary symptom". source: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pdfs/79-116-e.pdf

@Zyklonb, I recommend boiling the peroxide down because I did the test and found that very little decomposition occured so that is was not worth the struggle using other longuer evaporation techniques. I should test it again however to make sure I did no mistake as so many people on this forum tend to think it really decomposes a lot but I doubt I screwed something.

You are right about the use of strong and weak, I should speak of more or less corrosive. My first language being french, my vocabulary is often limited and I tend to use simple words when I express myself such as "beautiful/ugly big/small weak/strong" :p I know it can cause confusion. By the way, a random counter-intuitive interesting fact about acids dissociation in case you or thesmug didn't know, weak acids such as CH3COOH react more strongly when diluted in water than when pure because when diluted in water, the acid dissociates more, so more ions are able to react at the same time.

@ thesmug Some easy sources of OTC chemicals, their purity is not guaranteed but most of the time they are fine as long as they do not say they are mixed with other things:

Hydrogen peroxide 3-6% in pharmacy in the first aid section or the hair coloring section. It will contain stabilising agents such as H3PO4 to prevent too much decomposition, that is normal.

NaOH : hardware stores. Sold as drain cleaner, but often mixed with other things. I managed to find pure NaOH cristals at Home Hardware as a cleaning agent.

Sulfuric acid: Sold for car batteries in car pieces shops, usually something like 30$ for 20 L with a 35% concentration. You can find concentrated ( around 96%) as drain cleaner in hardware stores in 1L bottles. Some brands color it and sell it a bit contaminated (In my area for exemple) while other brands sell it quite pure (according to some people on this forum).

Sodium bicarbonate in groceries made by arm and hammer.

Distilled water in pharmacies.

HCl in hardware stores. Where I live they sell 27% bottles with the "things that removes paint and stains" (décapant in french). I also saw 15% HCl to lower the PH in pools in a pool store.

There are also many other useful chemicals that can be found in pool stores, pharmacies and hardware stores, take the time to take a good look in these stores near where you live to see what they have. Ebay/Amazon are great sources of affordable chemicals you can't find anywhere else and for metals like magnesium and zinc.

Of course the better would be to use lab grade chemicals from chemical suppliers, but the prices are fairly high so as long as absolute purity is not important, go for OTC chemicals. However there are many chemicals that you'll only find there. I cannot really give you advices about chemicals suppliers as there is only one near my town that deals with individuals and all the others are so far it would cost me double the price in shipping so I can't compare them.

Finaly, a special warning about HST (I dealt with them too) : If you buy glassware from them, go for pyrex, don't choose their homemade brand. It is cheap chinese bubbled glass, it works for casual uses but it won't survive falling on the ground and thermal shocks. Also, never buy their organic chemistry glassware. Their joints are 24/29, a random almost impossible to find joint size. If you buy o-chem glassware, go for usual joints such as 24/40 or 19/22.


[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]

thesmug - 1-2-2014 at 19:17

@alexleyenda, thanks for the advice. I already knew that you could get H2SO4 for car batteries, but I wasn't sure about purity. I live in Chicago, so buying chemicals OTC should be pretty easy to find.

thesmug - 1-2-2014 at 19:28

Quote: Originally posted by alexleyenda  
Finaly, a special warning about HST (I dealt with them too) : If you buy glassware from them, go for pyrex, don't choose their homemade brand. It is cheap chinese bubbled glass, it works for casual uses but it won't survive falling on the ground and thermal shocks. Also, never buy their organic chemistry glassware. Their joints are 24/29, a random almost impossible to find joint size. If you buy o-chem glassware, go for usual joints such as 24/40 or 19/22.


[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]


I forgot to ask when I posted before, I have a (somewhat large) glassware kit from HST that I got for Christmas, but it is all the homesciencetools brand. Do you think that it would be ok to continue using the same glassware, or should I replace it?

alexleyenda - 1-2-2014 at 19:33

Quote: Originally posted by thesmug  
@alexleyenda, thanks for the advice. I already knew that you could get H2SO4 for car batteries, but I wasn't sure about purity. I live in Chicago, so buying chemicals OTC should be pretty easy to find.

I did not test the purity, however, the acid is very clear, I titrated it and got something around 35,1 %, and I concentrated it to 96% and it is still very clear. I also used over 5 L atm and have never seen anything not normal during reactions. For these reasons, I guess it is pure or almost pure. It makes sense as you don't want impurities to cause failure of a battery.

Zyklon-A - 1-2-2014 at 19:34
Quote:

I forgot to ask when I posted before, I have a (somewhat large) glassware kit from HST that I got for Christmas, but it is all the homesciencetools brand. Do you think that it would be ok to continue using the same glassware, or should I replace it?


It such be fine, unless it's heat resistant, don't use it for high temperature reactions, but for everything else it should be fine.

[Edited on 2-2-2014 by Zyklonb]

thesmug - 1-2-2014 at 19:42

Quote: Originally posted by Zyklonb  

Quote:

I forgot to ask when I posted before, I have a (somewhat large) glassware kit from HST that I got for Christmas, but it is all the homesciencetools brand. Do you think that it would be ok to continue using the same glassware, or should I replace it?


It such be fine, unless it's heat resistant, don't use it for high temperature reactions, but for everything else it should be fine.

[Edited on 2-2-2014 by Zyklonb]


How high temperature? For reactions hotter than 100c I stick to porcelain and steel containers.

alexleyenda - 1-2-2014 at 19:48

You can continue to use the glassware, It may be cheap chinese glassware with some bubble in it, it is still borosilicate glass. I heated it gradually to 300°C for several minutes without problem. Just keep in mind that the risks of failures are higher. This glassware is especially sensitive to thermal shock and more fragile than good old pyrex/kimax glassware. Just remember not to trust it too much, if you have to do highly dangerous experiment where a failure could put your life in danger (such as synthesis of some "energetic material"), you should consider buying good quality glassware. (read this : http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=22554 ) The extra dollars are worth it. By the way, in general, good glassware can work safely in temperatures up to 250 + °C and can be pushed up to around 500°C for a short period of time if used properly and if you avoid thermal shocks. For the exact temperatures, look at the datas on corning's pyrex website. They should survive a 160°C thermal shock while I shattered an HST beaker after only a 60°C thermal shock.


[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]

[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]

Zyklon-A - 1-2-2014 at 20:07

Like alexleyenda said, even cheap glassware should be able to withstand >250-300°C easily, no need to use porcelain and steel containers for anything less than that.

thesmug - 1-2-2014 at 20:41

@alexleyenda None of my glassware has any (visible) bubbles in it, and I don't usually do very high temperature reactions anyway. I don't have intentions to make any energetic materials at this point, and that link has only further strengthened my opposition towards pyrotechnics/explosives. I will consider buying higher quality glassware if it becomes necessary.

@Zyklonb I knew that the glassware was able to withstand thermal stress, but 300C is much more than I expected. If I'm ever working with temperatures like that, I'm still going to use more thermally resistant containers just to be safe.

Also, somewhat off topic but, I have a large bottle/beaker type thing from a German scientific company (I can't remember their name right now, but their logo is an eagle) and I am not sure what kind of glass it is. Because of that, I am not trusting it with heat and have so far only used it for mixing large quantities. Is there any way to tell what kind of glass it is?

alexleyenda - 2-2-2014 at 09:51

You're lucky then, their flat bottom flask and side-arm flask especially tend to have bubble in them. Just in case, they're small, so look closely :p Anyways bubbles are just part of the problem, the glass is cheap, the one I shattered with only a 60°C thermal shock had no bubbles in it. Also, you'll have a hard time finding more thermally resistant containers than glass able to withstand a reaction, almost anything at such temperatures as 300°C will be rapidly attacked by acids and bases.

For the beaker, at my knowledge there is no way to know the type of glass only by looking at it. The only way I would see is maybe by finding it's refraction index by passing a laser through it and measuring the deviation but without professional material it probably won't be precise at all. Try to google it's model/serial number or something like that.

[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]

thesmug - 2-2-2014 at 10:24

Quote: Originally posted by alexleyenda  
You're lucky then, their flat bottom flask and side-arm flask especially tend to have bubble in them. Just in case, they're small, so look closely :p Anyways bubbles are just part of the problem, the glass is cheap, the one I shattered with only a 60°C thermal shock had no bubbles in it. Also, you'll have a hard time finding more thermally resistant containers than glass able to withstand a reaction, almost anything at such temperatures as 300°C will be rapidly attacked by acids and bases.

For the beaker, at my knowledge there is no way to know the type of glass only by looking at it. The only way I would see is maybe by finding it's refraction index by passing a laser through it and measuring the deviation but without professional material it probably won't be precise at all. Try to google it's model/serial number or something like that.

[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]


Ok, I don't have any lasers that I could use so I guess I will just have to not heat it too much if at all. If any of my glassware does break (hopefully not while containing something dangerous) I will be sure to replace it with a higher quality version.

Zyklon-A - 4-2-2014 at 11:50
Quote:

@Zyklonb, I recommend boiling the peroxide down because I did the test and found that very little decomposition occured so that is was not worth the struggle using other longuer evaporation techniques. I should test it again however to make sure I did no mistake as so many people on this forum tend to think it really decomposes a lot but I doubt I screwed something.


I will test this today (or a least some time this week), I've heard you and someone else say that the decomposition is much slower than most people think. If it is true, than it will certainly be worth the trouble. I'll post my results later.

nannah - 16-4-2014 at 06:56

Quote: Originally posted by alexleyenda  

NaOH : hardware stores. Sold as drain cleaner, but often mixed with other things. I managed to find pure NaOH cristals at Home Hardware as a cleaning agent.
[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]


One question only. If the drain cleaner, like the one we use, is mixed with other stuff, what can you do? Extract the NaOH, or just go for it and you use it like it is?

The one we got here at home contains Sodium Stearat and NaCl other then NaOH.

Love, Nannah.

[Edited on 16-4-2014 by nannah]

Zephyr - 16-4-2014 at 11:19

I used to be able to get pure NaOH at Home Depot, but now I can only get a mix of NaOH, Al, and CuSO4 :(

ElizabethGreene - 16-4-2014 at 20:31

Questions:
What kind of chemistry do you want to do?
Is this your first time, or are you an old hat?

Greene

Artemus Gordon - 17-4-2014 at 09:05

Quote: Originally posted by Pinkhippo11  
I used to be able to get pure NaOH at Home Depot, but now I can only get a mix of NaOH, Al, and CuSO4 :(

What brand is that, Pinkhippo? I looked up Drano "professional strength" crystals and it doesn't have CuSO4 but it does have NaCl and NaNO3.

NaOH, Al, and CuSO4 crystals, if those are the only ingredients, are easy to distinguish by eye so maybe there is a way to mechanically sort them:

"Gold panning" - Put a small amount in a pie plate and gently tilt and tap the plate to try to separate the crystals by density.

Winnowing - Hit the bottom of the plate to make the crystals jump into the air and try to separate them by gently blowing on them.

Differential adhesion - Maybe a piece of duct tape (or other type of adhesive) would stick more to one crystal type than another. Possibly a rubber balloon rubbed on your hair could do the same thing using static charge.

Failing all these, maybe there is a non-polar liquid that could float off one type from another without dissolving the crystals.

Artemus Gordon - 17-4-2014 at 09:20

If you have an Ace Hardware store nearby, their website says you can have Rooto lye delivered for pickup at the store. They also can get Floweasy Professional Strength Drain Opener, which claims to be "virgin sulfuric acid". (The MSDS says it is >94.19% H2SO4 by both vol. and wt., but doesn't say what the other <6% is.)

[Edited on 17-4-2014 by Artemus Gordon]

thesmug - 18-4-2014 at 09:32

Greene, are you asking about what I want to do in chemistry?

ElizabethGreene - 20-4-2014 at 18:25

Quote: Originally posted by thesmug  
Greene, are you asking about what I want to do in chemistry?


Yes! It seemed like a good place to start instead of making assumptions on your behalf. :)

thesmug - 20-4-2014 at 18:32

Oh well I've gotten pretty situated at this point. Thank you for trying to help, though!

AJKOER - 21-4-2014 at 04:56

While I have some fine italian made glassware, but when I heat things up in an old microwave (one option), I use jars previously used for food.

I have had only one instance where the glass cracked when I boiled down a salt that left crystals on the glass surface just above the solution level. Not exactly a disaster either, as the jar separated just above the solution line, but was easily removed. After a few runs, I frequently use a new jar!

Save the good glassware for pictures and experiment with the free stuff!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On acids, read my on thread on Oxalic acid, a strong acid producing generally insoluble oxalates that provides a path to many other acids.

gardul - 22-10-2014 at 12:18

most of my glasseare is from HST. I havn't had any issue with their glassware of yet. Granted I'm not doing anything highly exciting. I have gone up to 150C without any damage to the glass. I have abused their test tubes. So as of right now I have never really had an issue with their stuff. But maybe I am just lucky?

Actinium - 1-11-2014 at 22:39

Labglass is the shit. their glass is made from heavy walled tubes, so really thick and durrable. Compared to my Kimax which in all honesty is garbage and over priced..
As far as chems, Chem saver inc. is chill and have an amazing selection. Hi Valley Chemical out of yes....! Utah of all places, and of course Ebay.
Im Super green myself and my suggestion is any chemical you can make yourself do it. Its part of the learning process, and its fun to accomplish a reaction no matter how elementary it may be to some. Everything you do in chemistry prepares you for the next step and teaches you about gaining the ability and confidence to handle those chemicals with notably more hazards.

gardul - 2-11-2014 at 09:49

Quote: Originally posted by alexleyenda  
You can continue to use the glassware, It may be cheap chinese glassware with some bubble in it, it is still borosilicate glass. I heated it gradually to 300°C for several minutes without problem. Just keep in mind that the risks of failures are higher. This glassware is especially sensitive to thermal shock and more fragile than good old pyrex/kimax glassware. Just remember not to trust it too much, if you have to do highly dangerous experiment where a failure could put your life in danger (such as synthesis of some "energetic material"), you should consider buying good quality glassware. (read this : http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=22554 ) The extra dollars are worth it. By the way, in general, good glassware can work safely in temperatures up to 250 + °C and can be pushed up to around 500°C for a short period of time if used properly and if you avoid thermal shocks. For the exact temperatures, look at the datas on corning's pyrex website. They should survive a 160°C thermal shock while I shattered an HST beaker after only a 60°C thermal shock.


[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]

[Edited on 2-2-2014 by alexleyenda]


HST will survive every day abuse of 150C or right around there. it is what I use for most basic things.. But as everyone else said, if you are doing something that is on the iffy side and need to heat about 250C use pyrex. no need to risk your life just to save a few dollars.. Remember it not just you you have to concider. If you have family or neighbors too.

[Edited on 2-11-2014 by gardul]