chornedsnorkack
National Hazard
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Exploding melting point capillaries
Melting point capillaries normally have an internal diametre of about 1 mm, and 3 mm length is usually adequate to measure melting point of a solid.
This makes less than 2,5 cubic mm of contents.
If this explodes, it is not a large explosion.
How much damage does a melting point capillary exploding usually do? How do you set up the apparatus to minimize the damage?
How many cubic mm of solid are needed to fill the melting point capillary? How much damage happens when a substance explodes on filling a melting
point capillary, and how do you minimize that damage?
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macckone
Dispenser of practical lab wisdom
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It would really depend on the compound being analyzed.
cyanogen tetraazide is going to behave differently than benzoic acid.
The former will explode potentially damaging the heating block or thiele tube.
If you are using a thiele tube, you could wind up with hot flaming oil.
If you ruin a heating block, that will be expensive to replace.
If you are doing benzoic acid, it is unlikely to break the tube no matter what the abuse.
My guess is you are doing something less energetic than cyanogen tetraazide.
Because we know you can't get a melting point without it exploding.
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