HELP

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ellice
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jul 2007, 15:29
Job Title: Lab technician
School: The Illawarra Grammar School
Suburb: Figtree
State/Location: NSW

HELP

Post by ellice »

Hi gang in lab land,
I am trying to make those heat conduction metal rod things with globs of wax on them, and can't get the wax to stay on the rods!!! Is there a trick to this?
Needed by last lesson today!!
Grateful for any help.
Ellice.
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dime
Posts: 703
Joined: 13 Jun 2007, 09:55
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by dime »

They use drawing pins stuck on with vaseline here. So when the rod heats up the pin drops off. I keep the same drawing pins from year to year in a specimen container as they have vaseline on them, but of course you could use new ones. But the teacher gets the students to stick 'em on as part of the experiment. :D
ellice
Posts: 193
Joined: 27 Jul 2007, 15:29
Job Title: Lab technician
School: The Illawarra Grammar School
Suburb: Figtree
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by ellice »

I love it!! Thanks Dime.
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lurra
Posts: 114
Joined: 23 Mar 2011, 07:54
Job Title: Lab Tech
School: Greystanes High School
Suburb: Greystanes
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by lurra »

I have the ready made ones that you put the wax beads on and put over the bursen burner they work great.
Lurra AKA Noona
Rosalie Cassar
Lab Tech
Greystanes H S

ROSALIE.CASSAR@det.nsw.edu.au
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rodannt
Posts: 107
Joined: 27 May 2008, 14:58
State/Location: VIC

Re: HELP

Post by rodannt »

Our classes use small balls of plasticine..no complaints so far
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sunray18
Posts: 1488
Joined: 14 Feb 2008, 12:30
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by sunray18 »

try blu-tac
RosalieL
Posts: 483
Joined: 28 Jan 2021, 13:24
Job Title: Lab Assistant
School: MCS
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by RosalieL »

Does anyone use the conductivity stars? They have little wells at the end of each metal rod for wax. I’m just wondering what methods you use to get the wax in there? Do you just scrape a bit off the cube of wax that comes with them? They are tiny!
Ines
Posts: 25
Joined: 23 Mar 2012, 13:56
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by Ines »

Hi Rosaliel,
We use Paraffin wax pellets (beaded) from Chem-Supply PT200-500G, the pellets fit nicely in the wells of the conductivity stars. I scrape the wax of the wells after they have been used so that they are clean for the next class.
bigmack
Posts: 816
Joined: 15 Dec 2015, 10:49
Job Title: Lab Technician
School: FCAC
State/Location: QLD

Re: HELP

Post by bigmack »

RosalieL wrote: 22 Jul 2021, 16:06 Does anyone use the conductivity stars? They have little wells at the end of each metal rod for wax. I’m just wondering what methods you use to get the wax in there? Do you just scrape a bit off the cube of wax that comes with them? They are tiny!
Just be careful , they weren't all created equally .
we had an old IEC one which we would stick a Bunsen burner under ....it worked fine .

Got some from Serrata and missed the fine print where it said " don't use on a Bunsen , use a spirit lamp " .....they melted :-(

regarding the wax .
When we had one as a teacher demo , we ( I) would stand a match stick in each wax well ( melted in with wax) . The kids could see which order the matches fell . Now we have a class set , the kids just watch and observe the wax as it melts . We have pellets . Some teachers prefer to hand out fresh pellets with each unit , some just say there's enough wax already there for the kids to see melt .
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melsid
Posts: 355
Joined: 07 Apr 2013, 07:11
Job Title: Lab Rat
School: PHS
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by melsid »

I light a candle and drip the wax onto the wells, it works every time!
kimmy68
Posts: 19
Joined: 21 Jul 2021, 12:22
Job Title: Lab Assistant
School: Quirindi High School
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by kimmy68 »

our teachers have changed from using Vaseline to small balls of plasticine, so much easier.
karend
Posts: 57
Joined: 10 Aug 2012, 14:13
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by karend »

Like the sound of that, Kimmy
RosalieL
Posts: 483
Joined: 28 Jan 2021, 13:24
Job Title: Lab Assistant
School: MCS
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by RosalieL »

We have one star that one of the arms/prongs/whatever you want to call it has snapped off. I am assuming this is irreparable? Seems such a waste to throw it in the bin though…
mtg
Posts: 510
Joined: 15 Aug 2011, 10:48
Job Title: Lab Tech
School: NDSC
Suburb: west gippsland
State/Location: VIC

Re: HELP

Post by mtg »

melsid wrote: 26 Jul 2021, 12:09 I light a candle and drip the wax onto the wells, it works every time!
Same. I used to put a bit of a toothpick in the wax but so hard, so now just melt a bit of wax too.
Matt_Coffs
Posts: 38
Joined: 29 Jul 2011, 12:21
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by Matt_Coffs »

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for something to put on the end of our metal conductions stars that won't smoke too much. I've tried candle wax, vaseline and plasticine but all end up smoking a lot before the end of the experiment, even though small amounts are used. Any thoughts?

Thanks
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macca
Posts: 992
Joined: 10 Dec 2008, 08:38
Job Title: Mind Reader
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by macca »

I've only ever used candle wax to hold paperclips on. My problem is metal conduction stars just about to try ordering some more; ones without zinc and fixed so they can't spin them. I've tried so many different ones. Going to give the Westlab ones a go.
RosalieL
Posts: 483
Joined: 28 Jan 2021, 13:24
Job Title: Lab Assistant
School: MCS
State/Location: NSW

Re: HELP

Post by RosalieL »

Does anyone know what to burn in the spirit lamp? Is metho hot enough to heat the conductivity stars? Tea light candles aren't hot enough and bunsens are too hot.
bigmack
Posts: 816
Joined: 15 Dec 2015, 10:49
Job Title: Lab Technician
School: FCAC
State/Location: QLD

Re: HELP

Post by bigmack »

Metho is fine Rosalie .
Trick is getting the right distance between the spirit burner flame and the star . Blocks of wood etc work but are a pain .
We ended up getting some adjustable jacks to lift the burners up under the tripods .

You can buy them from usual suppliers for about $70 .-$100 each .
I found some on eBay for $20 each work really well .
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