I recklessly stirred 99% lidocaine HCl powder into 4% topical cream, intending to make it 50% strength. It worked great a couple times on a couple consecutive days for surface foot pain (venous ulcers on one foot, maybe heel damage from footwear) and then abruptly did not work at all. Finding out the hard way that I don't know WTF I've been messing with has awakened me to the fact that this is dangerous. I am curious though about the dynamics of this. It seems like the pH being off can do a lot, ranging from not passing into the skin, to skin irritation, maybe to skin damage. I suppose I'm curious whether there's a pH "sweet spot" I missed in order to pass the skin barrier. Yes, because of some pain I'm still tempted to mess with it but no, I'm still keeping my distance. I don't want to let overconfidence or arrogance injure me, including from accidental overdose (yes, lidocaine overdose).

Looking for PCMs that can be heated in kitchen microwave & hold heat 30+ minutes (insulated). Polymer based PCMs. Organic-Inorganic hybrid PCM's. Inexpensive as well. Any help would be appreciated. Must be able to be reheated many times without breaking down.

Hi All,

I want to make a vacuum distillation setup at home. I do have a soxhlet setup so i want to use that glass ware as well for this new setup. I don't know yet, what i need exactly.

Also, what vacuum pressure do i need to make it efficient and to avoid any implosion of the lab ware...
Looked with Amazon at some 'stonylab' equipment is this any good?

Sorry for this post, it's not as clear or detailed as i wished for. But it's a start of my journey into vacuum distillation.

Thanks all

Can anybody help me identify this? It came in a lot of glass.

Hi everyone. I ended up with a huge lot of lab glassware, more than I could ever use in a lifetime, or for a lot even know how to use. All Pyrexx and Kymex. Flask speakers hanging beakers, condensing flasks, filter flasks, separators, plugs, stands, vials... just a whole bunch of stuff. Where do you think the best place would be to post to try to sell minus the pieces that I needed? What's the best way to even sell this stuff? I called a couple use laboratory equipment people and they don't buy glass because of the shipping and not so much that it's used. I'm in Colorado and I figure there's gotta be a ton of places around here researching psilocybin as well as extracting cannabis, but I don't know where they go to purchase there glassware. Any ideas? Subs I should post in?

I recently purchased an auction lot of used laboratory glassware. Most of the pieces were straightforward (erlenmeyer, beaker, volumetric, reagent of various size and configuration) but the one in the photos was new to me.

Bottom glass is 150ml and i assume manufactured by Virtis (embossed label). Top cap is plastic with a red rubber flat washer where it meets the bottom glass and a red rubber ring washer in a slip fitting where the upper glass "nipple" connects.

Any insights on name or typical usage appreciated.

P.S. I am generally aware of precautions needed with used glass (acid bath, etc.) but if you have any recommended cleaning protocols I'd appreciate it.

A classic piece of glassware but does anyone sue them anymore?

I’m in the market for a heating mantle for $200 or less I’d like it to be hot enough for distilling sulfuric acid

Hi all,

I find that I'm using things like ground glass funnels and stoppers frequently but most of my flasks do not have a ground glass top. Is there any way to "add" some sort of ground glass adapter to my glassware so I don't have to buy more?

If anyone need chemistry doubts, homework and examination help in chemistry contact me..

There's a website where a company sells As2O3 to U.S buyers with apparently no restrictions.

How possible is it to measure the total nitrogen content of sewerage on a DIY level?

I'd like to monitor the total N content of samples if treated sewerage as it comes out of a small treatment plant (producing under 10m^3 a day).

I'm interested in concentrations of Ammoniacal Nitrogen between ~15mg/l to ~100mg/L (aiming for the lower end).
I'd like accuracy of ~1mg/L (for low concentration samples) but 5mg/L would still be useful.

Expertise / Budget.... I did some chemistry including analytical chemistry to uni level last century so I know what a burette etc is. Budget - I've no allocated budget from our equivalent of a HOA but don't mind spending a bit to add to the toy collection.

Suggestions or suggestions about where else to look / ask very welcome.

Hello, unsure where to post this question, but I decided to post here just in case.

I’ve lost so much weight (inadvertently) in under a week and am wanting to get back to work ASAP and in order to do that, I need to be able to eat. I’m having trouble finding foods other than scrambled eggs that don’t make me feel like I’ve eaten broken glass or liquid fire.

I’ve been driving myself crazy looking up the pH of all kinds of foods and so many of the supposedly esophagitis-friendly foods are not working for me at all!

Do any USA civilian-accesible and reliable pH testers/testing kits exist under absolutely maximum $30?

##Edit: Are any commercially available pH meters worth it?

Thanks so much in advance!!!!

Marked nsfw because of mentions of breasts. I wasn't sure if it would be considered NSFW and decided being a weirdo for marking it as such was better than having the post taken down.

I know this is a strange ask. I am working on making breast milk jewelry for myself as well as a side hustle. I know how to turn the milk into a preserved powder to mix into resin, but I had the idea to make hollow pendants that could be filled with a small amount of breast milk, remaining liquid and mobile in the pendant. Obviously if I were to use straight milk, it would curdle and separate quickly.

My only caveat is that the liquid be made from the milk. It can include additional ingredients, I just don't want it to be something that only looks like milk. The idea behind the keepsake is to preserve the memory of the breastfeeding journey.

The method of creating a powder is mixing the milk with plaster of Paris, which I don't believe will say suspended in a carrier liquid. If I'm wrong please let me know.

I have a somewhat theoretical interest in the topic in that I don't have any particular plan to actually practice any of it, but I would love to be inspired to do so.

In the context of LARP and general garden experimentation, I'd love to learn about creating visual effects such as colorful flames, smoke, flashes and whatever is related to it, such as wicks and other ignition methods. And ideally, the kind of stuff that veers towards the safer side. Nothing that could accidentally blow me up.

I have no interest in buying magic and theater props, because 90% of the fun for me is in the process of synthesizing it.

Is there a ressource that you could recommend? It should be geared towards the amateur without access to restricted, chemical supplies. If it's feasible and required to make some of the precursors, even better!

Maybe there's a YouTuber that does something of the sort?

Thanks!

Left it overnight and some more precipitate appeared

Hi all,

I picked up a PMC Dataplate (hotplate/stirrer), and either it's not getting as hot as it should or is losing about half the heat generated to the air (compared to a thermometer I left in the beaker).

I was thinking of getting a plug-in 3-pin DIN thermometer online to use with it. If the plugs match, is this a generally safe thing to try for the hot plate?

I have painstakingly (frac.) distilled a bunch of ethanol to make esters later, I've dried it and re-distilled it a couple of times until my fractionating column's thermometer ensured me (by watching the temperature throughout) that I was indeed at 100% ethanol or close to that. I think I can't do better than this anyways (I could improve my yield though 😅), better chemist's than me probably could.

Anyways I was wondering how to store my precious anhydrous ethanol.

I think storing it over some A3 sieves could be a good idea because of the water that can stil get in everytime the bottle is opened.

My only issue with that is that sieves (at least mine) tend to leave off dust sized particles in the liquid if shaken too vigorously. They decant fast, so it's not a huge deal, but is there a way to prevent this? Like to "wash" the sieves? Not with water obviously. Would it make sense to try and clean them sieves up with acetone for instance and then evap' the acetone before using the sieves for storage?

Hi, I would like to make a sort of solid foam that I can make and pour into a mold. I have a bunch of packing peanuts that I could use, and I want to be able to pour it into a mold and have it solidify and hold its shape afterwards.

The purpose of this is to fill in some gaps inside some handle extensions for yard equipment that I fashioned out of PVC pipes, so it also can't be something that dissolves PVC or plastic bags (like ziploc bags or sandwich bags, since I am using those to protect the wooden handles.

Can anyone help me out?

Hi, because of the configuration of my place it is pretty hard to install a fume hood and dump the fumes outside without having the neighbors either dying or complaining about, I'd like to avoid both.

Is there a reasonably safe fume hood design that I could build which would filter the air in a closed loop?

Something with like, filters, maybe a succession of water scrubbers with different reagents in each one to each neutralize one specific class of toxic byproducts...

Sounds to me like this would be possible in theory, but my main concern would be: how can you be sure you're not gonna end up with such a weird mixture in your scrubber(s) after a while that they themselves could start reacting and killing you?

How feasible would this be?

Hello, I've been wanting to try really anything chemistry related and I heard that you could dissolve Styrofoam in acetone which sounds fun but I was just wondering if there was anything else I could do with acetone. Not the brightest on this whole shibang so any feedback is welcome

1. I'm in the UK, is there any place i can get fuming nitric and sulphuric acid from without any type of licence?

2. Can charcoal for use in black powder be bought or does it have to be made?