Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Fish has ability to learn like humans

I took 3 quarters of Chemistry my Freshman year of college, with a 4 hour lab every Wednesday morning. One of our earliest labs involved testing an unknown for the presence of alcohols, using Acetyl Chroride. In the presence of alcohol, Acetyl Chloride "gives off heat and vapor" (per the text).

After testing my sample, I had 20-30 ml of Acetyl Chloride left over to get rid off. I knew better than to just pour in down the drain in a sink, so I set it in the sink and started to dilute it with water first. It turns out that in the presence of water, Acetyl Chloride gives off lots of heat and vapor. Lots and lots and lots.

I shut off the water quickly and after the small Acetyl Chloride geyser in the sink stopped erupting, I looked around. No one had noticed! I took the leftover Acetyl Chloride back to the original container and decided I would just pour it back in there.

I must have had more water than Acetyl Chloride in the leftover sample by then, because I got an even bigger geyser erupting in the big container we all had obtained our Acetyl Chloride from. I closed the vent hood door to keep the geyser contained and quickly walked away. I remained nonchalant, even as I heard a loud "WHUMP" noise coming from the vent hood. Glanced around the lab one more time; STILL no one had apparently noticed. Whew!

Eight months later we had our last Freshman Chem lab. Before leaving, we all said farewell to wise, kindly Mrs. Loats, who had been our lab instructor for all three quarters. As she in turn said goodbye to each of us, she said how amazing it had been that I had made it through three quarters of labs without blowing anything up or killing anyone.