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Author: Subject: Little things that surprised you in chemistry
repo1030
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[*] posted on 26-1-2014 at 22:01


The first time I dealt with concentrated sulfuric acid. I know it sounds like a given but it is amazing (and a little scary) just how nasty this stuff is. I bought some battery acid from AutoZone which was something like 34% according to the MSDS.

I poured this on some sugar and, of course, nothing happened. I then concentrated it by boiling it for over 4 hours (outside; it was cool out so it took longer than I thought). I was amazed by the little black spot it left on my workbench when a drop fell from my funnel after transferring it to storage bottles. I ended up with about 94% concentration at that point.

Another thing that surprised me was; when I was in 8th grade chem class, we put zinc in a test tube, poured HCl in it, and then held a lit match in the opening. The ignition of the hydrogen was surprising and it's what really hooked me.

Simple things, yet very fascinating.
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Brain&Force
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[*] posted on 27-1-2014 at 15:51


I spilled some 6 M HCl on my hand, quickly rinsed it off, and suffered no ill effects. I expected stinging and peeling skin. No wonder why they use it in schools.

The truly gray flame created by methyl nitrite. It's almost creepy.

How shiny iodine is for a nonmetal. And silicon too (even though it's a metalloid).




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Zyklon-A
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[*] posted on 27-1-2014 at 17:27


I once spilled 10 Molar HCl on my skin, within an arms reach away, I had a NaHCO3 solution, so I put my hand in there for a few seconds and my skin looked and felt fine. Con sulfuric acid is another story though...



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plante1999
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[*] posted on 27-1-2014 at 19:06


The skin of hands and arms is quite though, I already spilled conc. sulphuric, hydrochloric, nitric, phosphoric, various organic acid, and many other corossive liquid and solutions, but on the hands or arms it does not do much, really, else then for the nitric acid, if action is taken in the 5 next minutes I can't see any change really on my skin. But when I got some acid on my face, well I was amazed by how easy it is to burn the face using acid, probably even 20% HCl could work.



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cyanureeves
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[*] posted on 27-1-2014 at 19:21


the bang just a puny amount of silver acetylide can deliver is something to be respected and certainly surprising.i always thought things that went bang, had to be wrapped tightly in paper like firecrackers.even my neighbors dogs were like WTF?? it aint no where near 4th of july!!honestly i was a bit embarrassed to find myself curious enough to make silver acetylide.
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Zyklon-A
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[*] posted on 27-1-2014 at 19:48


I still don't know how silver acetylide can make such a big bang, when no gasses are evolved. It just makes silver and carbon.



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[*] posted on 28-1-2014 at 14:45


How ammonia gas reacted so rapidly with a CuO coating on a Cu wire to reduce it (during heating). Rather unexpected, I was thinking "why the hell does heating this burnt wire turn it brilliantly shiny?". Then, the awesome NH3 odour hit my nostrils and I realised. NaOH+NH4H2PO4 is quite vigorous, even more so than I had expected.



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Brain&Force
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[*] posted on 30-1-2014 at 19:59


Ferric nitrate is so weird. It starts off as purple crystals, but dissolves to give a yellowish-brown solution. I know that iron(III) salts tend to hydrolyze easily, but that kind of color change isn't hydrolysis (at least, not to my knowledge).

[Edited on 31-1-2014 by Brain&Force]




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[*] posted on 30-1-2014 at 20:41


the corrosive power of fluorine gas is beyond anything i`ve ever seen,
the density of bromine
the aboundance of chemical availlable in nature
the light outup of white phosphorus
the oxidation ability of KMnO4
the power of freezing water

[Edited on 31-1-2014 by neptunium]




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DraconicAcid
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[*] posted on 30-1-2014 at 20:44


Quote: Originally posted by Brain&Force  
Ferric nitrate is so weird. It starts off as purple crystals, but dissolves to give a yellowish-brown solution. I know that iron(III) salts tend to hydrolyze easily, but that kind of color change isn't hydrolysis (at least, not to my knowledge).

[Edited on 31-1-2014 by Brain&Force]


It is, actually. It starts off as [Fe(H2O)6]3+, which is purple, and then deprotonates to give [Fe(OH)(H2O)5]2+, which isn't.




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Brain&Force
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[*] posted on 30-1-2014 at 21:59


Quote: Originally posted by DraconicAcid  
Quote: Originally posted by Brain&Force  
Ferric nitrate is so weird. It starts off as purple crystals, but dissolves to give a yellowish-brown solution. I know that iron(III) salts tend to hydrolyze easily, but that kind of color change isn't hydrolysis (at least, not to my knowledge).

[Edited on 31-1-2014 by Brain&Force]


It is, actually. It starts off as [Fe(H2O)6]3+, which is purple, and then deprotonates to give [Fe(OH)(H2O)5]2+, which isn't.


That's right I completely forgot about the deprotonation (I thought they were two seperate phenomena). I'll try adding some nitric acid to my solution to revert it to purple.

I just never knew the deprotonation happens so fast. When I was preparing ferric nitrate I thought it was reacting with some contaminant.




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[*] posted on 4-2-2014 at 21:27


I acidified the ferric nitrate and what do I get? A clear, colorless solution. I guess a d5 high spin complex forms.
Nickel and cobalt coordination chemistry are also pretty interesting. Especially the deep blue of cobalt hydroxide.
For the first time I witnessed the raw power of 6M nitric acid. I dissolved a ~10g Nd magnet and it was completely destroyed in a sudden, massive puff of blood-red NO2. I was shocked at the speed at which it disappeared - and glad I did this in a fume hood.




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[*] posted on 4-2-2014 at 22:05
Glass


1. Glass is:

a. transparent b. inert c. cheap d. easy to make into any shape

Such a perfect material

2. I hated cold weather until I started doing certain procedures which work much better in the cold or need cooling in order to separate. Still hate cold weather but I now see a very good purpose for it.

3. Im also surprised at how much chemicaphobia there is out there. Most people truly are dumb
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[*] posted on 5-2-2014 at 20:35


I was amazed when, upon heating, crystals of sodium thiosulphate dissolved into their own water of crystallization, and then became a solid again.
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[*] posted on 6-2-2014 at 12:52


Quote: Originally posted by neptunium  
the corrosive power of fluorine gas is beyond anything i`ve ever seen.


You have handled fluorine??

[Edited on 6-2-2014 by Zyklonb]




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[*] posted on 6-2-2014 at 13:11


I'll never forget the first time I walked into a synthetic chemists lab. That beautiful smell of chemistry at work… It just put a big smile on my face.
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[*] posted on 7-2-2014 at 12:52


I am always amazed by the density of solid lead nitrate.

Precipitating a solid from two clear and colorless solutions, no matter how unsurprising, still puts a grin on my face.

The violence and rapidity with which chemical explosives release energy, and the heats of formation stacked through various precursors to bind said energy into the compound. Fascinating.

That peculiar way physics and chemistry meet, generating all manner of unexpected and often beautiful sights during a reaction like "Perfect" foam with completely uniform bubble size, rainbow colored thin-film interferance of oily layers on aqueous ones, the striking shimmer and mezmerizing structure of freshly dried crystals, little hydrophobic beads of liquid skittering across the surface tension of others...

I love chemistry!




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Brain&Force
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[*] posted on 11-2-2014 at 18:50


How fast CuCl2 coordinates to ammonia and chloride, even when solid. The gamut of color changes is quite attractive.

The needle-like crystals of CuCl2 and KMnO4 differ immensely from the stocky ones produced by NiSO4 and octahedral alum and make for interesting variation for those who collect crystals.

[Edited on 12-2-2014 by Brain&Force]




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[*] posted on 12-2-2014 at 09:46


How I saw a film in my eighth grade science class entitled Thixotropy whereupon a solid thixotropic black solid rod tapped on the counter to show it's solid and then stood on end and hit with a hammer, undergoes a change of state into a black syrupy liquid and nobody here has heard of it or knows how to make it.


[Edited on 12-2-2014 by Morgan]
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Zyklon-A
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[*] posted on 12-2-2014 at 12:19


My old physical science book talks about that, it says, "In the earth, there is a small portion of the mantle called the asthenosphere. At the pressure and temperature found in the asthenosphere, rock is not completely solid. It behaves more like a very thick syrup, flowing around the mantle. When subjected to abrupt force, however, the "syrup" hardens into a firm solid. Scientists call this Plastic Rock."
I found a link that shows how to make a similar substance from cornstarch and water. http://appliejuice.wordpress.com/2007/10/29/physical-science...
The link is kind of stupid and messy, but it does describe it a little. I just retyped what my 9th grade science book said, I don't really think that scientists call the stuff "Plastic Rock".

[Edited on 12-2-2014 by Zyklonb]




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[*] posted on 12-2-2014 at 12:24


I find it annoying how diethyl ether seems eager to sneak out of its bottle. Teflon tape, aluminum foil under the cap and more Teflon tape and it still comes through creating the Exxon Valdiz odor in storage. This is from a manufacturers bottle by the way, you think they would know better. Crazy stuff.
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[*] posted on 12-2-2014 at 18:21


Quote: Originally posted by Mailinmypocket  
I find it annoying how diethyl ether seems eager to sneak out of its bottle. Teflon tape, aluminum foil under the cap and more Teflon tape and it still comes through creating the Exxon Valdiz odor in storage. This is from a manufacturers bottle by the way, you think they would know better. Crazy stuff.


Try wrapping the cap with metal tape (the kind for ducts) then another to seal the cap to the bottle. Maybe the ether will dissolve the glue!




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[*] posted on 13-2-2014 at 06:25


I ended up discovering that one of my Qorpak jars has a teflon lined cap that fits the bottle exactly. Its a pity I had to waste a cap on a bottle that should have a good one to begin with but oh well... at least that horrible odor is gone :)
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[*] posted on 14-2-2014 at 21:20


Has anyone else found benzene and halobenzenes to be oddly "foamy" before? Most of the other organic solvents seem to have far too low surface tension to support bubbles, but benzene manages just fine if you shake its container.

[Edited on 2-15-14 by UnintentionalChaos]




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[*] posted on 16-2-2014 at 18:03


Gonna agree on the density of mercury - just ampouled some, and a drop hitting the side feels less like a drop and more like a very small hammer.



Elements Collected:52/87
Latest Acquired: Cl
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