Australia's Science Forum

Hi Annette, we use a Waterproof pHScan 2 Tester from Eutech Instruments. They are a hand held, pocket sized, very easy to use piece of apparatus that many suppliers carry. (Serrata, Lab Supply, etc) Ours are from a local water testing supply lab (Vendart P/L). We could not be happier with them. They...

Thanks Carol, very reassuring.
Any known supplier for our standard 18 x 150mm tubes??
~Robyn

Hi All, and if it's not too late - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Can my colleagues give me any feedback about using rimless test tubes instead of rimmed ones?? I am so tired of the rims chipping off leaving a nasty sharp edge which we are forced to flame to polish off. The repaired test tube does not always loo...

Hi Rhonda, a good idea would be to have a copy of- the SI Chemical Data book by Gordon Aylward & Tristan Findlay published by John Wiley & Sons, 33 Park Road, Milton Q. 4064 ISBN 0 471 33554 1 It has all the formulae and data on each chemical including its solubility and much, much more in a...

Thank you, Sue - I saw the apron but am not sure of the gloves in the Q Stores catalogue as they do not specify chemical handling, I guess I'll try the nitrile solvex gloves, 33cm, $42 for 12. Have you seen any documentation regarding this PPE? It crept up on me....if we hadn't gone to the Inservice...

Hi All,
a colleague came back from the Inservice at St Marys with the recommendation we need full length leather aprons and the thick long nitrile gloves for acid work.
Can anyone advise what they bought and where?
I would be very grateful,
Cheers,
~Robyn

Thanks all for your comments, I notice that the bible, The Laboratory, has the recipe for Universal Indicator. I have been tempted to make my own again after getting in the necessary 4 stains years ago (and guessing the 4th decimal place with methyl red). When I made it up, it looked so 'watery' com...

Hi Helen, the teacher tried the tainted one against the green one and found the resultant pH colour was different. They had to give the student who had not the knowledge that she had a different one to the others the benefit of the doubt. Haven't had a chance to test the red one myself yet but will ...

Hello Sassi,
very possible and probably does happen, however it is happening to bottles that the students had not access to as yet. Very frustrating!
~Robyn

Hi All, here in Science we have a mystery! We buy the Chem-Supply Universal Indicator and use it undiluted. From time to time we find the contents in the small 25mL dropper bottle has gone from a nice deep green to red. This is despite ensuring all of the bottle and dropper assembly are clean & ...

Hi Bindi,
it sounds like they want a Risk Assessment, doesn't it?
The Chemical Safety in Schools package has in the Curriculum Support Section, 3.2.4.6 Ionising radiation,
documentation regarding the safe handling of radioactive sources.
Hope this helps,
~Robyn

G'day all, this must be the most visited topic (except the Astronomy thread) ever. It shows how concerned we are for ourselves and our teachers when it comes to fulfilling the requirements by law. It concerns me how we are expected to carry the teachers work when it comes to these requirements.........

Hi Donna,
we use 600mL beakers bearing in mind that the solution sometimes can be hard to clean out. At least with the beakers you can get inside them to scour.
Good Luck,
~Robyn

.............more importantly, I need also the cyan coloured cardboard that compliments the transparent one..............
~Robyn

Hiya all, I am looking for a supplier of cyan coloured projection slides to be used in the Hodson light kits. These seem to be the old type and may be no longer supplied as the new ones are solid transparent plastic. (more kid friendly but not the same as most of our current stock). Hope you can hel...

Hi Ellice,
I will certainly try our textbooks, you never know - thanks,
~Robyn

Hi All,
can anyone advise me of a website that one can print off a copy of the Universal Indicator colour chart?
I am trying to match up colours to some pH buffers I have made....
Thanks,
~Robyn

Hi Rosalie, I can sympathasise with your dilemma. Our bible, the book The Laboratory, has pages devoted to plastics for storage, pages 27-29. If you don't have a copy, I can fax them to you. A quick look does not show the 2 for recylcing, however if you look on the bottom of the container, they usua...

Hi all,
is anyone aware of any specific regulations for keeping hermit crabs??
Cheers,
~Robyn

Thanks Rhonda, we have been doing this as well for many years. I think for the lower years (7-10) it may be all they need but the teachers are now asking for the mounted minigrids for the seniors as they should probably be having practise with these for Uni Biology work. We really should also look i...