Ask the r/chemistry intelligentsia your research/technical questions. This is a great way to reach out to a broad chemistry network about anything you are curious about or need insight with.

Folks...Sorry to say but I'm back again. Original question is below for context

https://www.reddit.com/r/chemistry/comments/1hjy4m6/naphthalene_toxicity/

I've tried EVERYTHING that was suggested and more and I still can't get the smell of what I believe is Naphthalene out of our washing machine. We washed some clothes in it and they now also smell like naphthalene. Can you chemist folk please explain some stuff to me:

- If the original clothes were stored with mothballs/naphthalene, do the balls evaporate and then cling to the clothes? I've read naphthalene isn't soluble in water, so why did it spread and make the whole washing machine stink?

- If the clothes I washed in the contaminated washer still faintly smell of naphthalene should I not wear them? Would it be considered dangerous? If I can smell it does that = bad news? I've had the clothes drying in our flat and the smell isn't quite giving me a headache but it isn't pleasant.

- I've ran a couple of 90 washes, a vinegar wash, a baking powder wash, I've done a washing machine deep cleaner powder wash. None of it seems to work. I did a wash with some bio laundry detergent and I thought that worked as all I could smell was the detergent, but when that smell faded the naphthalene came back.

I'm so baffled that people still use these balls, surely this must happen a lot?!

I think we may have to throw our washing machine out...

Like in title a large container containing about 1litre of potassium dichromate which was prepared to be used in a test for chemical oxygen demand shattered in my hand. I immediately rinsed my hand under running water for about an hour and approximately 2 hours 15 minutes I was able to remove my clothes upon which I noticed some on my pant and underwear. The pant appears undamaged but the exterior of underwear was severely discoloured. While the interior had mild discolouration.

I didn’t feel any irritation near my crotch region until after taking a bath after rinsing that area first for about 5-10 minutes. And even that is minimal when compared to what I felt on my hand.

After checking online about consequences I’m genuinely afraid what might happen so here I am asking it on Reddit.

Dissolve 4.913 g of potassium dichromate, 33.3 g of mercuric sulphate, add 167mL of Sulphuricacid (Conc.) and and make up to 1000 ml of distilled water (very slowly)

The dissolved solution was made in the above process if that helps.

So Reddit please tell me how badly screwed am I?

Or do you regret having studied Chemistry?

Hello,

Question a little bit off topic but I never had a real trai ing in Ochem and now I will be soon doing non target analyses on Lc and GC MS and I wonder if you had some ways of getting better in Ochem to be able to interpret fragmentation and be able to figure out molecules analysed.

Any suggestion?

Unfortunately, my tenant let laundry stain remover soak into sink and as a result the sink has discoloured and it appears as if the copper has been tarnished. Do you have any idea how I can fix this or if I can fix this?

I used some hydrochloric acid and water in our plastic watering can to clean our driveway.

I washed it out but my wife is adamant that the plastic watering can is ruined forever for plants. She claims it smells and foams up... I think it's just natural tap water aerated from the tap.

So is it ruined?

So I have the opportunity to acquire an old used Agilent 1100/1200 from my company. Is it worth the hassle of getting it from them and trying to sell it? And if it is what would be the easiest way to sell it?

I'm using a popular YouTube method consisting of 12 parts kno3 8 parts sugar 10 parts paraffin wax.

Pour mix into cardboard tube, and place a rod in the middle to make a hole. The. Create a nozzle with plaster. Insert fuse and dry mix of 50/50 kno3/sugar.

The fuse will light the dry mix and will create a small puff of smoke, but the dry mix doesn't ignite the wax mixture.

Any ideas? It is a very simple set of processes, but for whatever reason I am not able to recreate the result.

Here is the reference video.

https://youtu.be/4v1fMDXVM0Q?si=liJdKigphpOiRzYN

I'm curious if there are some people who are chemists that either know or came across something in chemistry that you discovered or saw etc that made you question life or the universe in general?

Hi! I work in a biology lab that is doing some optogenetics and we are having difficulty finding a ~488 nm (cyan) light source that isn’t a laser or a single LED and isn’t ridiculously expensive. We’re trying to get an optogenetic system up and running, so we’d ideally want something that isn’t crazy expensive OR something that can be returned after like 30-60 days if the system isn’t working.

We found some places that have lights like this for photochemistry (Kessil, HepatoChem) but they are more expensive than we’re willing to spend for a system that we don’t know works. If anyone has any ideas for where to find something or any ideas of what to search for, I’d be super grateful :) As far as size goes, we’re wanting to illuminate 2 microfuge tubes at once, so it could be decently small (like flashlight size). DNA gel transilluminators are more of a true blue than a cyan, unfortunately, but something similar to that could work as well.

(We already have an LED light board that we use for optogenetic experiments by putting cell culture plates on top of, but we are thinking that this light board won’t be strong enough to penetrate through the polypropylene microfuge tubes)

What the heck is this fluffy white substance growing out of this spot on my garage floor? It returns after removal. I might have photographed the offenders paw in the image. I'll let her know, as soon as I do, if she created something.

Hi, what are some tips to be super accurate while doing an analytical chem lab? I’ve taken one in the past and oddly really struggled with getting a good grade although I felt I did a good job at first. Thanks!

Can someone recommend me a Chemistry Lab for Gas Laws? Preferably one that can be conducted in a classroom of High Schoolers and Materials that can be easily acquired.

What should I dissolve Ruphen2dppz in its PF6 salt form for cellular studies?

Tried 50:50 DMSO:Cell culture media for a 10 mM sln but it precipitates as soon as the media is added. I can’t have my volume of vehicle solvent higher than 0.5% v/v in 100 uM of the sln.

Hi everyone,

I’m considering purchasing an older HPLC system from eBay and planning to pair it with an inexpensive computer to run the necessary software. My main concern is finding the appropriate software to operate the instrument, specifically LabSolutions.

I’d prefer to avoid going through Agilent due to the high cost of their software packages. I came across a separate seller offering LabSolutions along with a key for operation—it’s still expensive but significantly more affordable than going directly through Agilent.

Does anyone have experience with purchasing software like this from third-party vendors? Is this a viable option, or are there potential risks I should be aware of? Any insights or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance.

Any ideas ?

Hey everyone,

I'm feeling pretty confused and frustrated when it comes to cleaning products. For me as a Physicist it's pretty hard to judge the huge amount of cleaning-information on the internet, which mostly sounds pretty unscientific to me. On one hand, there's the cleaning product industry pushing me to buy five different types of bath cleaners—one for the shower, one for the toilet, one for tiles, etc. On the other hand, there are countless DIY recipes floating around online, some of which seem ineffective (like vinegar + baking soda) or even potentially harmful (like hydrogen peroxide + vinegar).

So far, I've settled on these simple homemade solutions:

Kitchen cleaner: Water + dish soap + a little citric acid

Bathroom cleaner: Water + dish soap + more citric acid (for hard water stains)

Scrubbing agent: Baking soda + dish soap

Acetone: For removing stickers, glue, and nail polish

These work pretty well for me, but I'm considering adding hydrogen peroxide to my cleaning arsenal for its disinfecting, odor, and stain-removing capabilities. The problem is, I’m not sure how and where to use it. This led me down a rabbit hole of conflicting advice and overwhelmed me with less-than-credible information. Now I'm reconsidering my approach to cleaning products in general.

So, I’m turning to you knowledgeable folks for some scientifically sound advice:

1. What cleaning products do I actually need? My cupboard space is limited, so simplicity is key.

2. Should I buy ready-made products or stick to mixing my own solutions? (I have no problem with buying pre made stuff, but for simple products it seems unnecessary and wasteful to carry solutions of 95% water in disposable spray bottles)

3. If I decide to use hydrogen peroxide, what’s the best and safest way to incorporate it into my cleaning routine?

Thanks in advance for any tips and recommendations!

Second year BSc chemistry student here - apart from the usual sources (lecture notes, exam papers, textbook), where can I find good resources to get my chemistry/maths brain back into gear after the xmas break? online multi-choice tests, apps, etc.

Thanks :-)

I’m in my mid twenties, and I’ve been curious about the experience of women in chemistry based industries having children. If you work with chemicals, what has been the outcome of your colleagues or yourself after finding out you were pregnant?

My job involves running an ICAP DUO (6000 series, ik it's ancient) and it decided it can't read its radial lines anymore today. I cleaned the mirror, and changed all the internal glassware but it still won't read. Anyone have any ideas?

Should I learn chemistry as a hobby?

I never learnt it passed year 10 chemistry because I was so shit at it. So it was never a subject I picked up ever again. Should I? Frankly I’m embarrassed for even trying to when I’m already graduated high school and now on break till university. It would probably be useful because I’m trying to use this bridging course to get into vet.

I’m not sure where to start. What are the best resources for learning chemistry? I know it’s hard. Are there any good textbooks (cough, I can 🏴‍☠️).

Is it stupid to learn it now? Honestly I want to sharpen my mind because there’s no benefit in becoming a doom scroller.

So, I work with a few organic farmers who are experimenting with microbial stimulants and inoculants for their soil. Naturally, many of these growers have been interested in way of estimating the microbial density of their soils. It seems reasonable to imagine that the amount of CO2 generated by a soil under controlled temperature and moisture conditions would correlate with respiration rate. I am trying to concoct a relatively low-tech method of estimating CO2 given off by a soil sample.

My current idea is to dry soils to a standard moisture content, then weigh out standard weights into flasks. We would then hydrate the samples, enclosed, and leave them. I initially imagined using a lightweight bag or balloon to capture gases evolved from the soil...

next I thought that by bubbling my captured CO2 through a concentrated solution of Ca(OH)2, I could use change in pH of the solution, or CaCO3 precipitate, as a proxy for CO2 dissolved in solution. Maybe the flask could bubble directly into this calcium hydroxide. I worry that a large portion of the CO2 would not passively dissolve into solution by bubbling, and this may require pressure to force the majority of CO2 into solution.

I'm struggling to imagine reasonable setups, as I am not sure what are the most likely constraints or points of failure in my process. If anyone who doesn't mind rough chemistry has any ideas or suggestions, I would be very excited to hear what you think.

Cheers

So there's a winter school happening for computational chemistry and being a recent graduate of chemistry and physics, I am considering presenting a poster(it's more of an SFP = 3-minute thesis)on the same, so will it be alright to go ahead with it?