Not water = Acetone

[poofy_puff]

That's a bit risky. I can think of a few clear liquids that you really don't want to breathe the fumes off of, and I'm sure you can too (ranging from the merely unpleasant to the nearly-instantly lethal).

Like I said, I have years of experience which keeps me safe.

I know that what you say is correct. That's a rule of thumb, but since I kind of have an idea what people are doing, I knew that it was probably acetone, isopropanol, or ethanol. Whoever wrote that label committed a worse sin because they actually put forth the effort to do it, they could have done it properly with the same or less effort.

We have squirty bottles that already have something printed and colour-coded onto them, but we also have the ones that are plain. Sometimes, people scribble over the pre-printed ones and write "Not" and THEN put a piece of tape with the word of the solvent, but as you can see from the picture, it was one of the generic bottles.

Well if it isn't water it must be........vodka! Now where did I put the lemon sour? Oh yeah, it's in a bottle labeled 'Not window cleaner'.

I do have the 100% anhydrous non-denatured 200-proof ethyl alcohol, but I have never tried it. Don't need to; don't really like vodka. I prefer Irish whiskey, but I'll also take ether over toluene any ol' day of the week.

[Greenday]

...just add a little water...

Everything can go down the sink with enough water lol.

[Broomjockey]

What I love is for my inorganic chem lab, acetone was a big, scary chemical that we needed a primer on the one time we used it. Unfortunately, it came halfway through the semester, when we'd been using it weekly as a cleaner in my organic chem labs.

[Cyphr]

What I love is for my inorganic chem lab, acetone was a big, scary chemical that we needed a primer on the one time we used it. Unfortunately, it came halfway through the semester, when we'd been using it weekly as a cleaner in my organic chem labs.

our first experience with acetone was two beakers... one with water and one with acetone

the teacher asked which was water and then poured both into a foam cup and the bottom fo the one with acetone immediately melted and fell out... scared most of us into not wanting to even breathe in the room

[loveisuneven]

one of the TAs this summer had a kid who was thirsty
so decided to drink clear liquid out of a beaker in lab
since he didn't die, we assume it actually was water
but he did get kicked out of that class

extremely stupid decision

[Cyphr]

one of the TAs this summer had a kid who was thirsty
so decided to drink clear liquid out of a beaker in lab
since he didn't die, we assume it actually was water
but he did get kicked out of that class

extremely stupid decision

I actually hope it chemically rendered him sterile... we have too many stupid people in this world as is...

[poofy_puff]

one of the TAs this summer had a kid who was thirsty
so decided to drink clear liquid out of a beaker in lab
since he didn't die, we assume it actually was water
but he did get kicked out of that class

extremely stupid decision

It's nice to see that some schools still hold people accountable for doing the wrong thing. Our students are the cream of EW's. And the faculty enables it. For all their "safety orientations", still when someone comes into lab in shorts and flip-flops, it is DISCRETIONARY for the TF's to make them put on the scrubs and rubber shoes we keep for this reason. There is one professor who gets all, "They're just LITTLE KIDS, they're away from home for the FIRST TIME, they're under SO MUCH PRESSURE."

So, now you know which school has a degree program for a BS of Suck with a concentration in The Customer is Always Right.

[Greenday]

For all their "safety orientations", still when someone comes into lab in shorts and flip-flops, it is DISCRETIONARY for the TF's to make them put on the scrubs and rubber shoes we keep for this reason.

Why would your school waste money on those? Should just do what my school does. No shoes? No goggles? Kicked out of the lab until you put shoes on and get your goggles. Don't do the lab as a result? ZERO.

[poofy_puff]

Because this is Harvard, and we can't let people with money feel bad about themselves.

My school (UMass - Lowell) was like your school. No shoes no shirt no safety glasses no service.

[Cyphr]

Because this is Harvard, and we can't let people with money feel bad about themselves.

My school (UMass - Lowell) was like your school. No shoes no shirt no safety glasses no service.

we had goggles they kept for years at a time just dumped them ina cleaning solution after the semester was over. we had the paper pants for when someone wore shorts. sometimes i wore shorts just to get a pair... great for garden work

[Dips]

My school (UMass - Lowell) was like your school. No shoes no shirt no safety glasses no service.

Cool! My daughter goes to UMass Lowell. [waves hello]

The pic in yout OP made me laugh. I worked in various research labs for 12 years before I took the job I have now. Some of my co-workers were Just That Special.

[Primer]

Everything can go down the sink with enough water lol.

Adding a little bit of chemical to a lot of water is not necessarily a problem. Adding a little bit of water to a lot of chemical can be a BIG problem!

What I love is for my inorganic chem lab, acetone was a big, scary chemical that we needed a primer on the one time we used it.

If you needed me, why didn't you call??

[Naaman]

Just remembered this chaps blog.

He's an Organic Chemist (who does a very good job of communicating to the layperson) who has a subsection called "Things I won't work with". This includes such beauties as chemicals which will burn the sand in your fire bucket and Triazadienyl Fluoride which is made in a reaction between two chemicals that are already on the list.

Also worth checking the comments for the "yeah, we did this and then.... <story about nearly blowing lab up>"

[Horsetuna]

I'm still facepalming at the picture.

I did somethign stupid in science class once - I licked sulfur.

I never told anyone, and I'm still alive, but still... stoooopid.

[poofy_puff]

Cool! My daughter goes to UMass Lowell. [waves hello]

The pic in yout OP made me laugh. I worked in various research labs for 12 years before I took the job I have now. Some of my co-workers were Just That Special.

I can't believe people are so interested in this topic! Awesome! I should have been posting these stories long before this!

What is your daughter taking for classes / major?