Australia's Science Forum

Similarly, I use 1M in the bottom and then put water on top. It works well. The leaky electrodes are a worry. My electrodes are in small Rubber stoppers, which can be pushed in tighter to make a better seal if they leak. I think that this is one of those dem's that always works better for the Lab As...

My teacher did the prac this morning and just used the 6% peroxide straight from the bottle. She varied the pH and the temp but kept the concentration of H₂O₂ constant.

Ian

We had the "Rat Freezer" go off one holidays because of a lightning strike. We came back to the smell on the first day back. Fortunately we had a "Maintenance Man" who could be delegated the job. Unfortunately, at the time, I WAS the Maintenance man!!!!!. Some how, I doubt that t...

Thanks Lindy for your reply. I had already sorted out the "Hard Reset" bit. My problem is that Data Harvest no longer write software for Mac Computers! The data loggers work fine and collect all the data we want, but we can no longer transfer it to a computer for processing, (which kind of...

My list is the same as Sue's. It comes from the "Geological and Mining Museum" (Dept of Mineral resources). The title on the sheet is "Geological Specimen Bulk Pack", available from the old Government Stores and I guess the numbers would be an aid to ordering new specimens. Under...

Be careful! We are in a child related industry. We could get in trouble for trading photos of kids over the internet!
Bye the way, I wonder what happened to the photo of the cute curley haired angora doe that I posted a few weeks ago?
Ian

I'm glad to see that I am not the ONLY labbie that has to work this week! (although it was nice to have last week off, with the kids! My Bio teacher has a good little sheet that she uses. It identifies colonies according to shape of colony, colour, how flat/concave/convex the surface, etc. I will tr...

What Serrata sells for $45, is a double slit, with 1mm spacing mounted in an ordinary 35mm photographic slide. You will also need a light source. I have found that an ordinary "Key chain" laser or laser pointer works very well and is cheeper than $500 odd for a bench mounted laser. Just ma...

So there!
Dont you love the cute little curls!

Ian

Good idea Ian, I have some at home I use for model railways - I could make a super bunsen if I use a bigger drill bit! So, are you going to the model train expo at Hurstville on the long weekend Richard? I hear that it will be "Bigger and Better" this year, taking up TWO venue rooms. I ho...

Don't let the cake balls get wet, or the silver will wash off, leaving a white ball. What about galena or sphalerite minerals or pyrite. They might react with acid, but will fail the mallerability and ductility tests. Not sure about conductivity, but I would be suprised if they conducted electricity...

Thanks for the recipe Julie. "They" reckoned that I should have brought tea and scones down to the shearer yesterday when he came to shear our goats (Angoras. Even cuter than Brian!!) so I thought I should have a recipe on hand and "suprise" them one day by actually doing morning...

Must be a "Public System" thing. I marked 500 multi-choice exam papers this week (Yearly, 7 - 10 Yearlys) and then got in trouble for not having the pot of tea made on time for morning tea! I did get a chocolate frog on my desk though, so can not complain too much. Does anybody have a reci...

Hmmmm! I have known a few people of this type. They all seem to function perfectly well on 2 hours sleep a night. To make matters worse, they get more done in an hour than the rest of us can get done in three and then they have 22 hours to do it, compared to our 16. I think it might be some sort of ...

Yeah! you could pit your "Flame thrower" against the Sydney PD's new water canon, and see who wins!!

Ian

Hi. We might be a bit "rough and ready" around here (after all, I spent a few years as the GA, before being "promoted" to the lab) I have had success cleaning out the jets by first removing the barrel and then holding the jet/base assembly in another Bunsen's flame while I blow h...

So, are you telling me Robb, that there is more to Phosphoric Acid than just "Rust Converter" and soldering flux?

regards
Ian

Hi gang! It is budget time again! My Head Teacher has asked me to get a price for a Dish Washer to put in as a budget request. Can anybody advise me what is a good or appropriate dish washer for a Science Department? Do we have special ones or will a domestic one do? What should I avoid? Where do yo...

One of my Chem teachers favourites is to collect both the H 2 and 0 2 from a voltameter in the same orchy bottle. (bigger bottles are obviously better!). He seals the bottle, inverts it and burns through the lid with a wax taper on the end of a metre rule. I knew he was doing "the Dem" but...

Hi all,
Does any body know where I can get Ferrous (Iron II) Nitrate? I can get Ferric (Iron III) Nitrate from Q-Stores, Serrata or Science Supply, but my chem teacher wants BOTH Ferrous AND Ferric, but nobody seems to stock Ferrous Nitrate!

Thasnks for your help.
Ian