RMweb Premium 45156 Posted October 10, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 10, 2016 We own a mercury barometer, which had a replacement tube fitted by its maker, and while we were waiting, his wife expessed real concern at the way that he handled the material. I suspect that his safety precautions were rather lax, though we never found out, as he wouldn't let anybody into his workshop. Now then, at school we had a temporary science teacher who was not fully qualified, and who knew that sodium and phosphorus were stored under water and oil, but mixed up which was which, with pretty disastrous results..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 The whole point of chemistry lessons, in my view, was the hope of seeing something go *kaboom* Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 OK, I know this is going further off topic but that reminds me of the time someone went into a room where the lights were off, removed the bulb, carefully placed a piece of tin foil across the contacts then replaced the bulb and sat down and waited for someone to turn the lights on, It was sixpences in my day... I also still have a toy with mercury in it - a sealed plastic maze-type thing in which mercury rolls around to get from one end to the other without breaking up into little globules. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 The whole point of chemistry lessons, in my view, was the hope of seeing something go *kaboom* The other thing was learning about distillation. After that lesson, home-produced alcohol became possible.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 The whole point of chemistry lessons, in my view, was the hope of seeing something go *kaboom* How about an Irish maths teacher who took chemistry and poured glycerine straight from the bottle on to a large pile of potassium permanganate, the pile was about 4 inches high, to demonstrate spontaneous combustion, he did not put an asbestos mat on the bench.......which the resultant fire burnt through, causing evacuation of the school block. The smoke was amazing....... On another occasion he shook up a bottle of hydrochloric acid with the glass stopper out, with his thumb over the hole....had to find the School nurse! We had large bottles of mercury at home, and the school lab stocked it as well. Mercury in short term contact is pretty harmless, it was the long term contact with industrial mercury processes that caused troubles. Mercury fumes from hot mercury is very dangerous, but cold it is not unsafe... within reason. Mercuric oxides are another matter..... The other school incident was rather like Lord Percy's discovery of "Green" in Blackadder,.....I simply mixed all the available water soluble school lab chemicals to hand, added a grey powdered acid, plus a little hydrochloric acid, in a 1 litre glass container, The brown sludge did nothing till it was stood on the window sill, when a curious green foam appeared, growing like expanding poly foam from the container. I promptly put it on the outside windowsill, and it stood there foaming "green" for about half an hour. All I know is it made a superb concrete, mortar, and brick cleaner, as when washed away it left a clean streak all the way to the ground below the lab window, but killed nearby plants in the borders. Oddly it did not smell bad, which was a deep disappointment to 9 year old school children. Stephen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Another delight I got my hands on was grey acetylene powder, manufactured by BP, where my Uncle was a chief chemist. He brought home Biscuit tins of the stuff, and by biscuit tins, I mean the foot square tin boxes. There were usually two or three in the garage, there in theory in case of the return of acetylene lamps for vehicles. In fact this was used in the war period, as the light was bright in narrow beams, and the stuff was free, unlike torch batteries. I used to make torches out of tobacco tins, soldered tight with a spout, pack with powder and add water, then ignite.....Also great added to home made fireworks, especially giant Catherine wheels! It also adds a good bang and colour to rocket mixes and payloads.......Also good for starting exciting bonfires, or making fuses along the damp soil......He also demonstrated Thermite to us kids, but refused to reveal how simple it is to make. Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkC Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Another delight I got my hands on was grey acetylene powder, manufactured by BP, where my Uncle was a chief chemist. He brought home Biscuit tins of the stuff, and by biscuit tins, I mean the foot square tin boxes. There were usually two or three in the garage, there in theory in case of the return of acetylene lamps for vehicles. In fact this was used in the war period, as the light was bright in narrow beams, and the stuff was free, unlike torch batteries. I used to make torches out of tobacco tins, soldered tight with a spout, pack with powder and add water, then ignite.....Also great added to home made fireworks, especially giant Catherine wheels! It also adds a good bang and colour to rocket mixes and payloads.......Also good for starting exciting bonfires, or making fuses along the damp soil......He also demonstrated Thermite to us kids, but refused to reveal how simple it is to make. Stephen Ah, you mean Calcium Carbide powder. When water is added, acetylene is given off . Those of a sadistic bent would coat bread in it, then allow seagulls to eat said bread... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
soony Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 In the last war , my Dad , too old to fight was put in charge of fire watching and the equipment ( THE stirrup pump and bucket) and when it was known that Magnesium was being dumped on us, he asked for a sample - for familiarisation and 'practice' . He was given a box full - Ithe size of a shoe box, which he kept in a cupboard at the side of a fireplace till the day he died. I have no idea what happened to it , but I took my share to play with at school.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 ....I have no idea what happened to it , but I took my share to play with at school.. I think the mystery is solved.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wombatofludham Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 One of the more entertaining lessons I remember from A Level Physics was how to make an implosion Atomic Bomb. For some reason, we were unable to induldge in a practical experiment to prove the theory and fortunately for the residents of Fairbourne I've yet to locate a reliable supplier of materials on eBay when I'm in one of my darker moods. We never persuaded Mr Corke (our Chemistry teacher, yes that really was his name and he was the archtypal mad proffessor type) to show us how to make a fertiliser bomb. Wimp. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Oooooooh yes! Just look at it wrong and it goes bang ... And the iodide residue will poison you.............. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
soony Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Probably goes some way to explaining why our emergency services are so overstretched these days, Too busy chasing 'Killer clowns' in Northampton.. See Sky news today . see the idiot quote that if "anyone in a clown garb comes near me there will be trouble..".. so threats are fine , just don't wear a clown garb... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted October 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2016 No! Don't remind me. I took a thin strip of magnesium home with me (naughty boy) one day. When I arrived home, the rest of the family were out; so I decided to light the magnesium with a match and watch the bright flame at close quarters. Unfortunately, while my knowledge on bright flames was spot on; my knowledge, on the conduction of high heat along the strip and into my fingers, was very lacking. Because of the heat I dropped the flaming magnesium onto my mother's almost new kitchen table and before I could extinguish the flame it had burned a neat black circular shape on the table top. Boy, was I in *big* trouble when mother came home. I borrowed some magnesium from school and then ground up some coal, put it in a Kraft* margarine tub and soaked it in Potassium Permangenate, I allowed it to dry out. I repeated the soak/dry procedure for a few days. Eventually mum and dad went out so I decided to light my fire, I put it on top of the concrete coal bunker and attached the magnesium to a stick (see - I wasn't completely stupid) and lit it on the gas stove, the magnesium burned nicely so I dropped it into the coal / pot permang mix - which promptly turned white and burnt through the top of the concrete bunker in a perfect circle - fortunately the heat was so intense that the coal in the tub was completely consumed in an instant so the coal bunker contents didn't go up (I did have to put water on them to extinguish completely) The hole took some explaining and eventually I had to come clean - the guinea pig had chewed it. * other margarines were available. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted October 10, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 10, 2016 Having a father who was a chemistry teacher and friends with his oppo at my school limited some of my practical experiments but we used to make flamethrowers out of lead pipe (thick walled stuffed with weedkiller (Sodium Chlorate) and sugar mix. One wrapped a cloth round the pipe, held it and lit one end. It worked a treat on a wasps nest. There were certainly no more after that. It's probably as well that we didn't do it too often as it is better to have both hands. As to my own chemistry teacher, Mr Brocklebank, he was great. He had worked at Windscale for a while before coming into teaching and to make atomic chemistry come alive went through the processes of making both A and H bombs though no doubt missing out some of the finer details. he also gave us a full account of the Windscale fire in IIRC 1957. A great bloke and an inspiring teacher. He died young of a rather strange cancer which may have been related to his earlier work. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesysmith Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Anybody remember the anarchist cookbook that used to be avalible on the web. I think it`s been banned for years. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sp1 Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Anybody remember the anarchist cookbook that used to be avalible on the web. I think it`s been banned for years.Now you've mentioned that I think we're all going to be investiga........,excuse me- someone at the door ......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Ah, you mean Calcium Carbide powder. When water is added, acetylene is given off . Those of a sadistic bent would coat bread in it, then allow seagulls to eat said bread... I'm afraid so. I didn't realise others did it, too... With some admitted shame, it's quite astonishing just how nasty little school boys were [can be ?]. We got the carbide from pot-holing lamps. Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prometheus Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Mr Corke (our Chemistry teacher, yes that really was his name and he was the archtypal mad proffessor type) What was it about chemistry teachers in those days ? Our's, Doc Watson, was completely barking. He also drove an AC Cobra, which made him everyone's hero. The other chemistry teacher was called Percy Haddock - it could have been straight out of Tin-Tin..... Tony Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
2750Papyrus Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Hanging by your feet? Regards, Ian Batman! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 What was it about chemistry teachers in those days ? Our's, Doc Watson, was completely barking. He also drove an AC Cobra, which made him everyone's hero. The other chemistry teacher was called Percy Haddock - it could have been straight out of Tin-Tin.... My chemistry teacher, Tony Watts, looked a bit like this: ...and could exude a sort of effeminate malevolence. It wasn't just chemistry teachers, though, who were barking - our school music teacher, Colin Myles, had a stereotypical wild musician's barnet (think Sir Simon Rattle and you'd be pretty close) and would wave his arms about like Dr. Magnus Pyke. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Lest anyone think that a malovent sense of humour was confined to schoolboys; our General Science teacher was admitted to the local hospital, where his intakes and outputs were monitored. Knowing that several of his ex-pupils worked in the Pathology Department, he managed to half-fill a spécimen bottle with Lucozade, topping it up with urine. This apparently caused a panic when the fluid was tested. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 ....malovent.... Is that like vol-au-vent? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted October 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2016 1. You're still here. 2. You're in Spain. Thank you for your support, I shall always wear it. Mike. Edit. PS. To the 4 likes and 2 funnys, I know where you live. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted October 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2016 I was once about to demonstrate some relatively unexciting physics experiment that required a Bunsen burner to what would now be a year 9 class but in those days would have been something like 3ZZ-. Unbeknownst to myself the previous teacher in the lab had disposed of a large quantity of petroleum ether down the sinks. The result of Bunsen ignition was flames shooting out of a number of sinks around the room. It was reckoned that my instruction to get out now and wait downstairs was the first time that class had followed any instruction. Well they all left except for one lad who was very clearly excited by the flames. Having a convicted arsonist in ones class did cause the odd problem. Anyway after ejecting him I smothered the few remaining flames and went down to find the class really hamming it up to the head of dept and senior technician. Things like , "we thought we were going to die" and so on. A memo went round to all staff reminding them about organic solvent disposal procedures. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold beast66606 Posted October 10, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2016 and would wave his arms about like Dr. Magnus Pyke. I had the great pleasure of meeting Magnus and spending 5 minutes explaining my chemistry project to him (Anodising Aluminium) - he showed lots of interest, a great guy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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