[neact] Re: FW: [DCHAS-L] Possible cause for this HS chem accident-tsw reply
- From: "Brush, Edward" <EBRUSH@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "neact@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <neact@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:00:42 -0500
Colleagues,
I thank Dr. Cue ("Buzz") for his comments, and admit to being frustrated with
the mentality that it takes fire and explosions to get students excited and
engaged about chemistry. We "engaged" over 200 8th graders last year doing
hands-on experiments related to green chemistry, but also building on MA state
educational frameworks. We hope to get grants soon that will allow us to host
year-long workshops on integrating green chemistry into the high school science
curriculum.
I've also notified Jerusha Vogel that BSC is very interested in hosting the
summer NEACT conference again in either 2012 or 2013....after completion of our
new science building, and green chemistry outreach lab! The green chemistry
theme is a given, as will be sessions on greener demonstrations!
Best,
Ed
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
***************************************
Ed Brush
Department of Chemistry
Bridgewater State College
Bridgewwater, MA 02325
ebrush@xxxxxxxxxxx
508-531-2116
http://webhost.bridgew.edu/ebrush/
***************************************
From: neact-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:neact-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Ted Wysocki
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 9:26 PM
To: neact@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: ted w
Subject: [neact] Re: FW: [DCHAS-L] Possible cause for this HS chem accident-tsw
reply
Dr. Cue,
I agree with you 100%.
Murphy Law never seems to take a vacation and if something might go wrong it
will.
And I did work in a DOD facility,...and survived several unforseen accidents
with only minor injuries. Thanks to the proper safety gear and procedures.
I have been a member of ACS for over 30 years, and would like to see more
"green" and safe demonstrations that would "ignite or spark" ( pardon the pun )
a young scientist mind in the pursuit of chemistry.
I have also been doing such safe chemical Demostrations to Elementary school
students for the past 25 years, and plan to continue as long as I am able.
Best regards,
Tadeusz ( Ted ) S. Wysocki Jr.
Wales, MA
________________________________
To: neact@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [neact] Re: FW: [DCHAS-L] Possible cause for this HS chem accident
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:27:22 -0500
From: ctcuefamily@xxxxxxx
I have been reading with interest the email string since the initial report of
an explosion conducting this experiment where a teacher and several students
were injured.
I agree that a video is preferrable to conducting this experiment live. No
matter how many times you have conducted this experiment so far without
incident, it is inherently dangerous and the cause(s) for the accident are pure
speculation at this point.
Having said that, after watching several videos on You Tube, I find none where
the proper safety precautions have been taken. Some conduct the experiment in
the open, without a safety shield or a closed fume hood door. Instructors are
not wearing gloves or any personal protection equipment, hoods, bench tops,
desks are more cluttered than they should be. I have suggested to the ACS
Education division that they consider making videos of properly conducted
experiments available.
More to the point, why are we teaching students that chemistry = fire and
explosion? Having worked n industry for almost 35 years I guarantee that is
the last outcome of a chemical experiment we want to see, unless you are
working in a DOD lab. I recommend that the purpose of this experiment be
rethought, and a safer (and greener) alternative be found to demonstrate the
chemical principle. That was one of the points of the green chemistry lectures
at Bridgewater State a few years ago. Chemistry should not equal boom!
Buzz Cue
Berkeley W. Cue, Jr., PhD
BWC Pharma Consulting, LLC
Green Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences
ctcuefamily@xxxxxxx
Cell 860-287-7544
135 Highland Avenue
Nottingham, NH 03290
603-244-2768
12 Eska Drive
Ledyard, CT 06339
Phone 860-464-6341
-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Stepenuck <sstepenuck@xxxxxxxxx>
To: neact@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <neact@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Mon, Jan 25, 2010 6:06 pm
Subject: [neact] FW: [DCHAS-L] Possible cause for this HS chem accident
NEACT Folk: There have been a number of posts to the Chemical Health and Safety
list about the chlorate-gum accident, most of which I did not think merited
cluttering your Inbox even more on this topic. [FWIW, suggestions have been
made postulating presence of paper from the gum wrapper, powdered sugar,
tartaric acid, granulated sugar, dirty test tube, using perchlorate, etc.]
However, this one has some interesting suggestions, and also links whereby
you could show your students the reaction without having to actually run it.
[I know-videos are nowhere near as effective, but...]
In particular, there is a suggestion for a safer alternative to the oxygen
stoichiometry aspect.
I'm also including the header on this one so you can dig more deeply if you
wish.
Cheers,
Steve Stepenuck
------ Forwarded Message
From: List Moderator <ecgrants@xxxxxxx<mailto:ecgrants@xxxxxxx>>
Reply-To: DCHAS-L Discussion List
<DCHAS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:DCHAS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx>>
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:50:38 -0500
To: <DCHAS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:DCHAS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx>>
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Possible cause for this HS chem accident
From: "Koster Sandra K" <koster.sand@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:koster.sand@xxxxxxxxx>>
Date: January 25, 2010 11:44:50 AM EST
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Possible cause for this HS chem accident
There are many examples of YouTube videos of the reaction of potassium chlorate
with various candies. See this one using a candy cane. Sugar counts as
organic matter and this is the result.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbO-1C_BP_khttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbO-1C_BP_k
YouTube will give you links to other similar videos. These are pretty
violent reactions. The organic starts the decomposition of potassium chlorate
to generate oxygen gas; hence the combustion and inability to blow out the
flame. The reaction is generating its own oxygen and it is exothermic. If you
just have to wow your high school students with this reaction make absolutely
sure you follow suggestions 3 & especially 4. The shield is crucial. The
metal base needs to be heavy and the instructor should be wearing a face shield
and heavy gloves. If they elect to use the hood sash as protection as in this
video, opening the sash exposes nearby students to considerable hazard.
Flinn Scientific's catalog gives several warnings for those who might purchase
potassium chlorate, e.g. in part: "...Because this substance is so frequently a
source of accidents on school premises we have elected to list some of the
incompatible substances which should be avoided....." and "Molten KClO3 is a
powerful oxidizer of organic materials like the rubber in the stoppers used in
the generating apparatus. Explosions can and do result...."
If you actually want to demonstrate a chemical principle there is a much safer
way to carry out a decomposition reaction to generate oxygen and relate it to
the reaction stoichiometry or as a gas law experiment. Add Baker's yeast to 3%
hydrogen peroxide solution at room temperature. The hydrogen peroxide is the
composition available in discount stores. You can weigh before and after to
get the amount of oxygen produced and calculate the actual % hydrogen peroxide.
You can also displace water with the oxygen generated and check gas laws.
This is the method we use at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. There are
articles in the Journal of Chemical Education about the hazards of the
potassium chlorate method (1982) and detailing the proposed alternative method
to generate oxygen (1988). We use a simpler apparatus than the one in the
article. Note the dates. This is not a new problem. Doing a hazardous
reaction many times without an accident does not prevent one from happening.
Sandra Koster
Senior Lecturer
UW-La Crosse
------ End of Forwarded Message
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