Australia's Science Forum

WOW THANK YOU ALL HEAPS!!!!!!
It's just so helpful. I feel so much better knowing I'm not the only one having issues with this pracs "fade-out" and now I know how to remedy it. EXCELLENT. Thanks again to you all.

I am about to do "body shape vs diffusion" and in the past my NaOH jelly loses its colour as it cools. I follow the recipe, wait til it cools to whatever etc but as far as I can recall it still fades. What strenghth phenolphthalein and how much should I use to ensure a good pink? And to ge...

Yes agreed, but maybe a 0.1M HCl will prove the point. Or set up a quikfit, with calcium in the bottom and a bit of dilute acid in a separating funnel with tubing off the middle-joining-bit (the name of which I cant remember) and bubble it up thru' a beehive (in a trough of water, in a fume hood), a...

Try a grain first, if you have really good calcium it will probably be EXTREMELY reactive in water and HCl. As ours is ancient we use a glass rod to take the oxidization off, a couple of grains with water is ample and reacts well ( H collected in an inverted Test Tube and subjected to the pop test)s...

I soaked frozen brains in metho from first thing in the morning, turning them every so often to ensure complete immersion, and then last thing before I went home I drained them and put them in fresh metho. Then the following day, when they looked good I drained them, dried them on paper towel and fr...

Maybe try them in hot or even boiling water. I use old bits of glass tubing and a capilliary tube. I just tried my stuff and it worked better with a 250ml beaker than a 100ml. Can only guess why....Pressure??? 3 brands of capilliary and all work tho Kimax are longer.

Are your bottles "sweating"? My decanted stuff does but the bulk acids seem to also but only a little bit. Does this stop in an acid cupboard or is the "sweat" merely contained?????

I have a recipe for the indicator not sure if this will work as a stain. According to my lab manual (which I will be buried with) : Weight of indicator and volume of ethanol for 1 litre: 1.0 g to 500ml ethanol up to 1 litre with water. (pH range 11.6 -14, colour change blue-yellow) Hope this helps y...

I too, have had a "death fridge" or two or three over the years. And the "I just left the hearts in the fume hood to breed blow flies, but I didnt realise it would smell so bad" teacher????? And now as the new fumehood was to go in over the holidays the HOD cleared out the displa...

Oh No, they give with one hand and take with the other. There used to be a home group in the main science room every morning so I started putting out warnings about the dangerous chemicals in the fume hood and on the benches ready for senior pracs etc and the non science teacher requested and altern...

Finally we are getting a refurbishment. 1 of 3 Vic schools to share $1,000,000. Have already looked up ideas/discussion on chemtalk and may ask for more next year. Currently in a 1960's type set up with prep and storage in the same room and one exit point which is into a classroom. I've been here 20...

Linotas, is the sodium silicate a solution or the solid do you reckon? I did have both but I think I made all the solid up. And the latex/HCl is the recipe for rubber, a Yr 11 prac.

Try a strong bicarb soln or I use sand soap or just a green scourer and morning fresh. good luck!

Thanks for these ideas. Have made the silver/copper ones before but had forgotten! And managed to watch youtube clip (awesome) once.... but now my computer wont let me watch it again. Will have to try on another. Looks so cool hope we can do it, wonder if those cheap kits you get from discount store...

Finally back on line, will be trying the crystal tree tomorrow, sounds like most sat solns for crystals should work? What's the silver crystals on copper? Is it silver nitrate and how do you get it on the copper? We have just done the lead acetate and zinc but I've lost the lead acetate recipe and t...

I ring up and order them from the abbatoirs. Cost nothing.

The ehow prac worked but it only glowed for a little bit. Was a yr10 design your own prac thing.

So do you cut out a tree and soak it in the solution or what? I'll be doing crystals gardens etc next week and would like to try lots of different ideas. and how do I make Prussian Blue? thanks in advance!

We use porous pots for biology. Inverted with a big stopper and tube into eosin. It gets sucked up and pot turns red. They are about 250ml and have always been here. I would look at southern biol maybe?????
And the broken bits we use in chem are boiling chips.

Anyone have an easy safe recipe for glosticks? The existing thread veers off to lipstick ideas and there's no actual recipe. If there is one what's it under? The one the kid wants to do is off ehow and looks ok, but just wondering what you all do. thanks.