phangue - 4-11-2006 at 19:09
Sometimes it's just convenient to ask a friend a casual question without taking valuable time to research it. You know--a quick answer. Perhaps such a
person is really the smart one, and those calling people "asshole", lazy, or implying they are stupid are really the dumb ones.
Why don't we just answer the question helpfully?
Seems to me that I read the other day that phenol may be derived by simply distilling salicylic acid.
Darkblade48 - 4-11-2006 at 21:56
Is this supposed to be in response to KFC's thread on whether or not neutralizing salicylic acid with NaOH would yield phenol?
These types of "casual questions" should be of second nature to people like KFC if they had spent a little time reading, or even those with a general
chemistry background. It should be easily assumed that salicylic acid, like any other acid, on reaction with sodium hydroxide would form a salt and
water, and not phenol.
In addition, is it often better to research and learn the knowledge yourself? It is not for us to spoonfeed knowledge to people, rather, an active
research and reading should be undertaken by the uneducated before asking "stupid" questions.
Also, if you say that phenol may be derived by distilling salicylic acid, do you have a source on this? References? Experimental data? Anecdotal
evidence is not strong enough in a science based community.
phangue - 5-11-2006 at 08:41
Thank you Darkblade47
The ref. phenol from salicylic acid by distillation is an old one for sure. See A DICTIONARY OF CHEMISTRY AND ALLIED BRANCHES OF OTHER SCIENCES VOL 4
p. 389 prep. 2 about half way down the page.
You say that, "it is not for us to spoon feed knowledge to people...". What do you mean, "us"?
Out of our vast membership, there must be many teachers like myself who are willilng to spoon feed whomever needs it.
God, I wish I knew 10% of what you know, but I believe that there are no stupid questions, and that it is better not to respond to any that we
consider stupid with any kind of put-down.
phenol again
phangue - 5-11-2006 at 17:19
Anyone interested it phenol should consult A DICTIONARY OF CHEMISTRY AND ALLIED BRANCHES OF OTHER SCIENCES, vol. 4 p. 389—phenol from distilling
salicylic acid, phenol from a derivative of white willow bark (provided it tastes bitter), even a procedure involving pee-pee! This book is at the
old-book site, if anyone is interested.
chemoleo - 5-11-2006 at 17:42
It is spelled 'synthesis'. Not senthesis. Please change it.
Would you like to tell us what this rambling is about? I am not following.
phenol
phangue - 5-11-2006 at 19:27
Sorry! two points well taken. This forum thing is new to me. I don't type well and I ramble a lot. I will be more careful.
dapper - 11-11-2006 at 17:41
It's alright. Your just on the receiving end of some attitude.
It is perfectly reasonable that one who has spent a lot of time studying and learning about something would feel a connection to, even protective of
their knowledge... and not understand why someone couldn't 'quickly learn' any particular part of their understanding... but the simple fact is that
the learning curve for some topics is very steep.. and we all are at different points in our search for understanding/quest for knowledge..
That said - I don't know much .. but what I have I'll share, even in little bite sized, pre-chewed morsels - If you can pry my attention away from my
notes/texts.
solo - 11-11-2006 at 20:05
The more one learns the more there is to learn....sometimes sharing what one knows helps to reaffirm and hammer into those little gray cells the
information for a long stay......here is a book that will assist you in your inquiry.................solo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Chemistry of Phenols
http://rapidshare.com/files/2975933/Wiley_The_Chemistry_of_P...
Jdurg - 11-11-2006 at 20:44
There is also a reluctance to just spoonfeed things to people for safety reasons. If someone is asking a relatively simple question in regards to a
highly dangerous substance/topic, we don't want to be spoonfeeding them. If they go and try to work with that substance and get themselves or others
hurt/killed, we as a community will take the blame. The more often people do stupid things and hurt themselves with chemicals, the harder it is for
the responsible chemists here on this board to acquire the materials they need.
This forum IS about learning, but not where we just tell people complex procedures when it's obvious that they have no clue what is being said.
Chemistry isn't like cooking where you get a recipe and mix things together and get a cake. To think that it is would result in people getting
severely hurt. When you bake a cake and add flour and sugar together then mix it, you don't have to analyze what's happening. When you conduct an
experiment in chemistry and mix two substances together, you have to account for everything that might take place and prepare for it.
Finally, we don't like to just spoonfeed the same answer over and over and over again. It is insulting to expect the forum members here to do all the
work for someone when they could have easily typed into the search engine and found their answer. 