Glass wool

[vlclabbie]

Hey everyone (It's either a feast or famine from me - mmmm feast today!)...

I'm trying to source some glass wool.

Also, I did read it's not recommended for Year 10, which is who the teacher wants to use it with. Does anyone have it at all?

Thanks! Kel

Discuss (again!)

[smiley]

Sounds like you're setting essay topics - blah blah blah....discuss (using referenced examples!).

Yes, we have glass wool. I've had it SO long I don't know where we got it from - probs Westlab. We use it in a U-tube (the bent glass type, not the internet type ) to create a salt bridge for wet cells (galvanic cells). However, I only have one teacher who wants to that it that way, and in every other way he is an angel, so I accommodate him on this request. The rest of the teachers use filter paper soaked in KCl and that works just fine and is less messy etc etc!

What are you using it for?

[dime]

Yeah, we've had it here forever and only seem to use it in fish tank filters. Although I saw an experiment the other day somewhere,.... and it used the glass wool... and then I thought that is why we have or had heaps. But in the last 18 years it has only been used for filters.

[RosalieM]

We use it in a fractionating column for distillation. I think you can get it from pet shops.

[Lyn]

Just been surfing some of the science suppliers. If you actually have any glass wool stocked use sparingly cause it's pretty expensive. SSA have 500g lead free for $143 (GST??) supplied by Ajax and 250g acid washed for $81 supplied by Scharlau which is also Ajax. Serrata have 500g lead free for $162 - school price or RRP + GST $195 approx. Haines didn't appear to have this and I didn't try Livingstone International. Couldn't find anything in Omega Scientific catalogue but that's not to say that the supplier can't source the product for you. I use the glass wool for filtering potassium permanganate and it is also used for burning different alcohols. The stuff I have has been there since the day dot or about thirty years or so.
Lyn.
P.S. If you go looking for just glass wool, some of the web sites have articles on health issues associated with glass wool i.e. different sorts of cancers and respiratory issues because of the nature of the material.

[Judy R]

Be aware that glass wool should only be handled with forceps and never by hand.Wear gloves as well.
I would never give it to students to handle and I avoid using it.The filters for fish tanks don't use it these days and there is no experiment done in schools these days that require it,to my knowledge.

[Ocker]

Remember Safety First
Don't breathin the vapours, It's as bad as Asbestos
A cheap alternative is Fibreglass insulation, but remember to use a mask!

[vlclabbie]

Thanks everyone, it's for making detection tubes.

I actually wondered if cotton wool would do as a sub? Fibreglass sounds better - wearing masks of course! All I need is something that holds the silica in place but allows air to pass through it easily too.

Yep Smiley - it does sound like I'm setting essays for you! Actually, it's what Rove always used to say....

Discuss.

[smiley]

OK Brain not working yet this morning - what is a "detection tube"?

[vlclabbie]

Ahhh detection tubes - to detect various gases. Like a home-made breathalyser...

Glass tube filled with non-indicating silica gel (soaked in the chemical you want the gas to react with) & then glass wool tucked at both ends to keep it all packed in nicely. You whoosh some ethanol in a conical flask & use a syringe to collect & then release through the glass tube. A colour change occurs.

Similar to Drager tubes.