Australia's Science Forum

Thanks heaps brains trust!!

Robbie

Hi all,

I am having great trouble trying to insert glass tubing into rubber stoppers. I don't know if I am just using tubing that is too big.

Is there a knack to holding the tubing? Any help appreciated...

Robbie

Hi Marilyn,

Thanks for the info. That is worth looking into. It would save doubling up on stoppers/lids.

By the way, I'm a her not a him I'm actually surprised, impressed at the number of labbies who are males - it used to be an all female domain!

Cheers

Robbie (Robyn)

Greetings all, We also use Acetic Acid and Potassium Hydroxide as well as the ones Robb mentions. When pouring into dropper bottles I use a plastic jug which has an excellent pouring spout and a handle (Q Stores 2006 Catalogue p196, item 2504243). This is very easy to hold and is one less piece of g...

Hi everyone,

We store ours in old cans, eg. soup cans. Works well.

Robbie

Hi Estelle,

We have used tablets which fizz and are used to soak dentures. I think they are called Polident and they are about half the price of alka seltzer.

Cheers,

Robbie

Greetings all, If water and oil fail, soak the troublesome part in honey. Yep, honey. This will penetrate a hole too small for water. You may need to leave it overnight or over the weekend but it always works for us! This way you don't risk breaking the voltameter (which is very expensive) by tappin...

Greetings all, I am in the process of making up signs for our fridge and freezer after reading all these posts. On another related matter, I guess we should also have signs on incubators which can contain biological hazards much greater than we store in the fridge or freezer. Has anyone done this so...

Greetings, I use Morning Fresh ultra shine tablets. However, the glassware comes out just as dirty as it was to start with, so I would be grateful for any suggestions also. I put an extra tablet in the machine but with no better results. I have gone back to scrubbing, soaking and washing everything ...

Carol, I know the feeling well. I have just been away on sick leave for two days and what a mess to behold when I walked in this morning! I have always been nervous about heating in large glass beakers. To make up agar I boil up the distilled water in an electric jug and then transfer to a pyrex jug...

Thanks Robyn! Much appreciated.

Yes, we have learned they can be dangerous!

Robbie

Greetings Brains Trust! Our Senior Physics teacher has asked for some very powerful ceramic magnets - disc shape, 2cm diameter and 1cm deep. Does anyone know of a supplier for these? I remember we bought some quite a number of years ago but don't know who the supplier was. Hope someone can help. Che...

Hi Nicky,

I use basically the same method as Lorrae but the ingredients are:

750mls distilled water
15 grams agar
1 gram sucrose
3.7 grams sodium chloride
3.7 grams peptone
2.5 grams beef extract (Vegemite)

We always get plenty of growth with this food source.

Best of luck,

Robbie

Hi Robyn

When I did an OHS course (quite a few years ago) I don't recall anything being mentioned about this but it certainly sounds like a good idea.

Setons have all manner of signs, if you plan on getting one.

Cheers,

Robyn

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Greetings all! I too find Chemwatch on the internet unbearably inflexible. When I try to use the CD I get as far as it telling me it is out-of-date. Also not exactly helpful. When I was doing the Chemical Register last year the fact that I had never used macros before made the whole job a nightmare....

Hi Rhonda ole pal,

Glad you are still in the land of the living!

We might have heard the explosion here at Asquith!!!

That is truly something that shakes you up.

Thanks for giving us all a warning to think first and label everything!!

Robbie

We have several large glass jars - lids are about 10cm diameter - to store limewater . We use ladles to extract the liquid without disturbing the sediment. You can easily make a ladle by bending the handle of a soup spoon so the handle is at rightangles to the spoon.

Works well for us.

Robbie

Hi there! We use Phloroglucinol as an indicator for the presence of lignin in plants. An alternative to this is Toluidine Blue. Receipes for these were given earlier this year in a post. Have not met up with Lycopodium though I seem to remember it being used as a homeopathic treatment. All the best!...

We have stored our thermometers vertically in gas jars for several years - ten thermometers to a jar.

The gas jars are reasonably heavy and we have not had any breakages. If you store more than ten to a jar it may get unstable.

Hope this works for others!

Robbie

Greetings, We use plastic wash bottles (about 300mL capacity) and a third fill them with vinegar. Then using tea bags (the ones with the strings and tags) take out the staple and empty out the tea. Then put about a teaspoonful of bicarb soda in the tea bag and re-staple. Hold the tea bag inside the ...