Lessons in Analytical Lab

Today involved thermodyamics (which was terrible - mnemonics instead of derivations?), biochemistry (kind of bad), random errands (meh) and analytical lecture (good). Today also involved analytical lab.

I love analytical lab, really I do. Even when I had to dump seven carefully pipetted samples because I didn't have time to analyze them and they don't keep well. Three main lessons learnt today:

A 25 mL volumetric flask costs 30 dollars, but the chemistry store person's displeasure is free (it's never a good idea to break a volumetric flask). I broke a 100 mL Griffin beaker too, which I still need to pay for.

When the procedure says "boil to dryness", they mean "boil to dryness, which will probably take all night".

When one chars samples on ashless filter paper (in procelain crucibles) using a Bunsen burner, the result looks filthy black/dark brown even if the sample is supposed to be another colour (say, white). One stops heating when the evolution of smoke ceases. Interestingly enough, the smoke initially is somewhat brownish (reminescent of NO₂), then turns grey. Also my samples shouldn't, but did, catch on fire; they burned with a rather pretty shade of blue with some yellow edges (kind of like burning isopropanol). Smouldering filter paper also looks cool (in a baleful, pulsing, deep red sort of way) as well. The ashless paper residue disappears after half an hour on a Meker burner. My final residue looks yellow, though. Hmm. Oh well.

Incidentally, my bangs are now, um, rather brittle and curly because I leaned just a tad too close to the Bunsen burner (a side affect of being vertically challenged). Good thing I don't have any more interviews.