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/sci/ - Science & Math

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10600083 No.10600083 [Reply] [Original]

Broke 2 erlenmeyer flasks full of silver nitrate and Potassium Chromate during a lab exam and couldn't understand what i was doing. Chemistry is harder in theory than in the lab supposedly. But somehow i can understand the theory but not the lab part. What is wrong with me?

>> No.10600418

Erlenmeyer flasks already have a hole in the top to get solutions out, you don't need to break them open.

>> No.10600436

>>10600083
Autism/nervousness.

>>10600418
kek

>> No.10600730

>>10600083
Try studying up on particle physics, electrodynamics, etc. And see if the physics equations of what you do in lab match up with what the physics equations predict. Remember, all chem equations are based off of past trial and error and outdated physics.

>> No.10601205

>>10600730
>i dont understand stoichiometry and functional group reactivity

>> No.10601232

>>10600083
>tfw switched from ChemE because I was a lablet

>> No.10601253

>>10600083
is chemistry your major?

>> No.10601254

>>10600730
We have exams about the chemical and physical processes first and then we go to the lab and apply them. I solved the whole exam im hoping for a good grade but my lab exam was a complete disaster. The teacher even said that its the simplest lab exam we will ever do this semester. The other ones are tough. Im fucked.

>> No.10601257

>>10601253
No, its energies and environmental engineering. We have lots of chemistry tho.

>> No.10601261

>>10600436
Forgot my lab jacket at home so the whole exam got off to a good start. Kek.

>> No.10601264

>>10600418
Kek. I just cleaned it up, didn't even say a word and continued my work like it never happened. Didn't even pay for it.

>> No.10601285

>>10600083
Chemist here. I don't think any undergrads ever had any idea what was going on during the labs. Not enough understanding of what's happening or why, not enough time to work it out. You're rushed in and given a time limit to get something done following instructions
Some of my classes were really good at explaining what we did in the lab but for some reason they always scheduled the explanations after the lab. So during the lab you're "I have no idea what the fuck I am doing" until the class a week later when you realise "oh that's why we did X, I had no reason to be so careful during step Y it wasn't important that reagent was in excess anyway".

>> No.10601356

>>10601285
Its refreshing to know that not even undergrads in chem know wtf they are doing.
Thats so true. You are rushed with instruction. There is new machines that you dont even know how they opperate and then u have a time limit. Lab exams suck!

>> No.10601361

>>10601285
I burned myself on a hotplate and spilled chemicals on my first experiment in organic chemistry, so I just dropped out of school.

>> No.10601368
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10601368

what are the worst 2 chemicals to accidentally spill in your lab partner's underwear?

>> No.10601374
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10601374

>>10601361
Omg ahah. Thats extreme anon. You shouldn't have drop out of school right away. Shit happens. You cant let that affect you.

>> No.10601381

ChemE major here. Yeah lab can be tough sometimes but honestly there are generally clear instructions and not breaking a ton of shit isn't that hard.
If you are in higher level classes though the chem labs tend to get much easier to understand and follow just because of more training, better direction, and better GSI's. Don;t worry about the future, lab gets better

>> No.10601394

>>10601368
HF

>> No.10601600

>>10601368

A solution of silver nitrate.

>> No.10601845
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10601845

>>10601368
Iodine, then concentrated ammonia.

>> No.10601860

>>10600083
Chem labs was always my favorite part of college, despite the fact that the only part I remember is having to mix concentrated Nitric Acid with concentrated Sulfuric Acid during one experiment in Orgo II

>> No.10603103

>>10601368
dimethylmercury

>> No.10603401

>>10600083
Wet chemistry is leitimately hard. Theory is easy because in theory, everything always works.

>> No.10603626

>>10601285
thanks for sharing that,, I'd felt that my experience was unique

>> No.10603871

>>10601860
Low concentration right?

Normally it is i have worked with sulfuric acid as well.

>> No.10603873
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10603873

>>10603401
But then.. i got my theoric exam and my grade was 4.1 out of 10 kek
I need a 5 out of 10 next exam.
The rest of the class almost all got either 0 or 3 and failed. Chem is just hard in
general.

>> No.10603988

>>10600083
chemlet

>> No.10604015

>>10601361
>>10601356
>>10603626
Yeah, honestly don't worry about the labs too much, unless the instructor is brand new you won't be the worst person they've seen.
I was a lab demonstrator for a couple months during my degree and just in that short time I had 1st year undergrads absolutely crush my impression of the entry requirements for the uni.
As long as you don't pick up a multimeter and ask if that's the buffer and you don't go around wondering how to get 10mL of solid metal (electrochemical cell prac, they were meant to use the solids as electrodes, the 10mL was for the solutions which were clearly labelled and we pointed to at the start of class when we ran through the prac).
tl;dr all you really need to do to get through pracs is physically be there and make an attempt.

>>10603401
This is true but pracs are tested and made to be easy (unless you have some shitty budget unit head who writes barely legible lab instructions).

>> No.10604054

>>10604015
>and you don't go around wondering how to get 10mL of solid metal

Kek there were legit undergrad students who asked about that? Now thats dumb.

The lab part i kinda get the hang of it if the teachers give me some confirmation and clues that i am doing it the correct way although i do it with no actual understanding of what i am doing. My problem is when after the lab experiment they give me a work sheet and i have to explain what happened with calculations and justifications..
I mean i know the formulas and all but trying to apply them to the experiment is just hard for me. Also this was done in group work. So me and many others were clueless.

>> No.10604080

>>10604054
>Kek there were legit undergrad students who asked about that?
So many. I was standing around the bench where the electrodes were and kept overhearing groups discussing how to get 10mL while looking between the solid metal and their lab notes.
Protip: Half the time the demonstrators themselves have no idea what you're doing until they show up that day. Good chances it's not even a prac they did themselves since they often get changed.
Also not sure how they do it at your uni but where I was unless they also took tutorials the demonstrators have no real idea where you are up to in the course (besides what can be intuited from the prac itself) so sometimes it's hard to explain the calculations at a level you will understand.
>tfw had multiple students who couldn't rearrange equations even by end of first year