lab skills
|the right tool for the right job
Short of taking a formal college or high school chemistry course, there are few resources geared toward teaching proper laboratory techniques, describing glassware and apparatus, demonstrating equipment setups, and defining technical chemistry terms for non-scientists. Lack of the most basic laboratory know-how can be an insurmountable barrier for amateurs and hobbyists wishing to get their hands dirty with chemical experimentation. Just as it would be dangerous to operate a motor vehicle without some form of driver's education, so too would it be dangerous to work with chemicals and laboratory equipment without knowing basic safety or techniques.
This section provides a basis, a starting point if you will, for amateur scientists and students to begin enjoying chemical experimentation by explaining some of the technical jargon and equipment setups. This is not a comprehensive one-stop shop providing in-depth instruction on the many nuances of laboratory skills, but it is a step in the right direction for those who have no practical experience in the lab.
When certain terms, techniques, equipment setups, or non-standard pieces of equipment are mentioned on Rogue Science, a link will point to a page within this section containing the relevant explanation. Links to outside laboratory safety and laboratory skills websites will be provided as well. Archives of these outside pages will be maintained here because these types of sites tend to have a brief existence on the Internet for some reason.
Don't know a beaker from a pickle jar? How about the difference between an Erlenmeyer flask and a Florence flask or when it is appropriate to use them? Laboratory glassware comes in all shapes and sizes to fill the role of completing chemical reactions. Modern scientific glassware has evolved over many centuries into a myriad of crystalline containers, all of it with a purpose.
Once all the glassware for an experiment has been assembled it still needs to be held into place with clamps and stands. There is also the matter of thermometers, stirrers, tubing, pumps, meters, heaters, stoppers, and other tools of the trade. All those bits and pieces are the flourishes that let chemistry happen.
Chemists have developed a discourse of their very own to describe the act of "doing" chemistry. When a procedure says reflux this or filter to collect that, an entire sequence of events and special equipment is summarized in just a few words. The next time you here "nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer," think "MRI for chemicals."
Hot glass looks just like cold glass. Acids always go for the eyes. There is no shortage of safety information on the Internet — nor should there be — and Rogue Science is no exception. Half the reason laws are passed banning chemicals is because some idiot did something so asinine he ruined it for everyone. Don't ever be that idiot.