9 Jan
2017
9 Jan
'17
5:30 p.m.
On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 3:30 PM, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:
I have some Xcelite tools from the early 1980s. They
have been stinky
for over 30 years.
Same experience. I have some in a drawer on my work work-bench that
were purchased in the early 80s and they still smell.
Definitely a butyrate stink (I used to
run chemistry shows at The Center of Science and Industry - one was on
Esters... we mixed a variety of alcohols with a variety of fatty acids
and let the audience smell the results... it was all fun and games
until I spilled 200ml of Butyric Acid on myself... :-P )
In high school chemistry we did some experiments with that stuff. I
think the teacher just liked to stink up the school every year.
Now I also have a bunch of drawers filled with Allen-Bradley carbon
composition resistors from around 1970. All the leads have a whitish
film on them that has a peculiar odor. They've been in the electrical
lab at work, in an office environment since that time. I've always
been a little curious about what caused it.
-chuck
9 Jan
9 Jan
9:48 p.m.
On 01/09/2017 04:30 PM, Charles Dickman wrote:
it was all fun and games
until I spilled 200ml of Butyric Acid on myself... :-P )
YIKES! 200 ml?
Nowadays, that would cause everybody from
the EPA to Homeland Security to get involved!
I think that might be worse than being sprayed by a skunk
point blank.
Jon
10:30 p.m.
On Mon, Jan 09, 2017 at 08:48:14PM -0600, Jon Elson wrote:
YIKES! 200 ml? Nowadays, that would cause everybody
from the EPA to
Homeland Security to get involved!
I'm not sure the statute of limitations has run out on what my friend
(we'll call him "Joe") and I got up to in high school chemistry.
But in today's edition of Did You Know:
Did You Know that canisters labeled Hydrogen act differently than
canisters labeled Helium?
mcl
11:31 p.m.
On January 9, 2017 9:30:57 PM CST, Mark Linimon <linimon at lonesome.com> wrote:
On Mon, Jan 09, 2017 at 08:48:14PM -0600, Jon Elson
wrote:
oh ya... and Did You Know that those little rubber bumps on the top of a 3/4" test
tube stopper can inflate to about 4" diameter before they burst when they are used to
try to stop the flow of natural gas from the spigot that supplies a Bunsen burner?
Did You Know you can evacuate 600 students in about 5 minutes due to "gas
leak"?
These are the things you learn while having to _wait_ (and wait and wait) to use the
Teletype 33 and dialup modem in the room next to the little chemistry lab.
cje
--
Chris Elmquist
YIKES! 200 ml? Nowadays, that would cause
everybody from the EPA to
Homeland Security to get involved!
I'm not sure the statute of limitations has run out on what my friend
(we'll call him "Joe") and I got up to in high school chemistry.
But in today's edition of Did You Know:
Did You Know that canisters labeled Hydrogen act differently than
canisters labeled Helium?
mcl 
11:51 p.m.
On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 9:48 PM, Jon Elson <elson at pico-systems.com> wrote:
On 01/09/2017 04:30 PM, Charles Dickman wrote:
Most likely.
it was all fun and games
until I spilled 200ml of Butyric Acid on myself... :-P )
YIKES! 200 ml? Nowadays, that would cause everybody from the EPA to
Homeland Security to get involved! I think that might be worse than being sprayed by a
skunk point blank.
You'd think that based on the looks on the faces of everyone around
me. I am not exaggerating when I say that everyone shouted "No!" when
I said I was going to take the bus home...
-ethan
10 Jan
10 Jan
1:27 a.m.
On 01/09/2017 08:51 PM, Ethan Dicks wrote:
You'd think that based on the looks on the faces
of everyone around
me. I am not exaggerating when I say that everyone shouted "No!" when
I said I was going to take the bus home...
Ah, high-school--and 7 AM zoology lab. I definitely recall the
expressions of the students around me after working on my tiger shark
dissection. Start the day by rolling up your sleeve and fishing around
from your "project" in a barrel of
formaldehyde. Not just the odor of
formaldehyde, but also that of rotting fish.
You couldn't wash that
stink out--it just sort of wore off during the day.
Today, of course, there's no way the authorities would let their
young'uns splash around in formaldehyde...
--Chuck
2735
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cclist＠sydex.com -
chd＠chdickman.com -
chrise＠pobox.com -
elson＠pico-systems.com -
ethan.dicks＠gmail.com -
linimon＠lonesome.com