Australia's Science Forum

I use 0.1M HCl to wash the sand. Put sand in glass beaker about 5-7cm on the bottom and cover in HCL. Stir with gass rod and wait until fizzing stops( when all shells and CaCo3 had dissolved), decant the acid and repeat until no more reaction. Then give it a very good rinse in tap water, last wash i...

Hi, I have two sizes 32mmx 24mm and 36mmx 30mm. Ask Serrata to send you one of each and try. The smaller one should fit.
Good luck, Lada

Hi, for 0.1M you will need 15.8g of permanganate in 1L of solution, or 4g in 250mL of solution. Is this what you need???
Lada

I have not used it by my recipe recommends o.1M permanganate in 4M sulfuric acid.
4g KMnO4 in 250mL of 4M H2SO4. This seems very strong.
Lada

My de-ionised water is also acidic(about pH6) but water going in is 7-7.5
Lada

I have a great one called Rainbow experiment. You need: 1L measuring cylinder sodium carbonate decahydrate(washing soda) vinegar long stirring rod universal indicator Method: fill measuring cylinder with water stir in about 10-15mL universal indicator add 30gm washing soda add 80 mL vinegar stir wit...

After the solution turns blue, filter off residue and use the clear blue filtrate. I use two graphite electrodes immerse in solution, connected by plastic coated copper wires to a power supply. Use setting 6-9V. Make sure the electrodes dont touch .After few minutes, pinkish deposit appears on one o...

Never used ammonium phosphate, but in our recipe we use citric acid(only a few crystals). Not sure what it does. We have used it without and still work well.
Lada

We have a fish tank. It is largiesh(about 5') and I used to have tropical fish. They need more care that goldfish and need heating. Holidays used to be problem. Now I have goldfish and purchased an autofeeder so fish get their dinner every night the same time. We also have spiny leaf insects. They a...

I also have to sterillize my plates in pressure cooker(and hate it). I wish I had a microwave.
Lada

Yes, we also use amylase for that experiment.
Lada

Our yr 12 chemistry are doing polymerisation exp. PVA( polyvinyl alcohol) 4%, or pva glue, (straight from bottle) Borax soln 4% Mix 50ml of PVA glue(or 4% PVA) with 5-10ml borax soln and stir rapidly. The mixture will form a gelatine like slime. More borax, thicker the mixture. Material can be knead...

No we do not have this contraption, but boiling the water is brilliant. If I store in in airtight container fiiled to the top, that should work well.
thanks Lada

Try to beat this one. A science teacher was retrenched at the end of a year, so to get back at the HD he put one frozen rat in the back of a chest of draws( not in the draw) before the xmas holidays. Can you imagine the smell when we all came back and it still took a week to find it. Lada

I never use conc sulfuric acid. I use 1-2M. It works very well. Good luck
Lada

I just got some from Fiegerts Iceworks Pty Ltd
55 Salisbury rd
Asquith
Ph 94772011
They will deliver.

Not sure what you need it for, but it is an oxidizing agent, so if you want to avoid it, you could use acidified potassium permanganate.
Tell me the prac, I might be able to give you a sustitute for the future.
Lada

Hi I would not think, that laboratory glassware would be recyclable. We too have a bin in pre rooms just for broken glass. I tape up the bin(large icecream container with lid) and place it in the skip when full.

Yes, I buy an onion and grow new root by sitting it on the conical flask or small beaker and have enough water to just touch the roots.
Not sure about the exp, but they genly crush or slice the root, colour it and observe under microscope for mitosis( so root must be freshly growing)
Lada

I can just imagine, Kristin. I store my cobalt chloride papers in a desiccator.That way they last for ever.
Lada