2 thoughts on “Chemical and Engineering News Safety Letters”

1. wanderer July 9, 2008 at 5:41 am

   The amazing one is the detonation of H2/O2 ballons by static electricity. For me this is another data point weighing against the age old practice of merely demonstrating chemistry as pedagogy. Students should Do Chemistry or don’t do it if there isn’t justifiable educational benefit and leave being entertained for YouTube.

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2. gaussling Post authorJuly 9, 2008 at 4:11 pm

   People ask the question- “why do you use dangerous chemicals?” I usually interject with a point of clarification- “By dangerous I think you mean ‘reactive’. Reactive chemicals can undergo a transformation. Reactive chemicals are useful chemicals. Unreactive chemicals tend to be not so useful.”

   Examples of unreactive chemicals are petrolatum and nitrogen. Barring asphyxiation, exposure to either is not ordinarily a problem. Both can be made to react under forcing conditions. But as starting materials for complex molecules, unless you are a nitrogen fixing microorganism or a fungus, you have some tough sledding.

   Learning to do useful things with chemicals involves practice in the lab. Eventually, a chemistry student has to handle or be around something that is hazardous. Eventually you have to pour something or weigh something. As long as there are people in labs there will be spills and mishaps.

   Too often chemistry demonstrations turn into whizbang magic shows. They are fun to do and it can be a great way for students to experience what reactivity is all about. But I have seen too many chemistry demonstrations that are just infotainment. Every demo must have a take-away lesson.

   The passive approach to learning – viewing video- is a poor substitute for actual experience. Let chemistry students watch explosive reactions on TV. But they need to know how to handle a buret and do a synthesis of some kind with their own hands.

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