| Mistake | Check the mistakes you have made | Number of rookies who have done this
|
|---|
| Wore incorrect gloves, dissolved them.
| | 19
|
| Forgot that inside of drying oven door is hot, touched it, dropped glassware on floor.
| | 16
|
| Used too much force opening a NMR tube and broke it (And cut yourself)
| | 16
|
| Burn hand on hot plate because it didn't look hot!
| | 14
|
| Plugged heating mantle directly into wall power.
| | 13
|
| Didn't check for cracks on clips for rotavap. Flask drops in bath.
| | 11
|
| dropped NMR tube with out the air on
| | 11
|
| Got the glass stopper stuck in the sep funnel (vacuum!), smashed sep funnel to retrieve product. Now use plastic stoppers..
| | 9
|
| Take 100ml 3-neck flask for 150 ml reaction mixture.
| | 9
|
| Dry ice trap on vacuum pump completely clogged with solid, didn't notice, kept turning up heat.
| | 7
|
| Placed a heating mantle on top of a cork ring.
| | 5
|
| Open both doors in air-lock chamber of glovebox
| | 5
|
| Conducted reaction in AcOH, added excess bicarb and shook in tightly-stoppered separatory funnel: stopper shoots like missile ca. 5 meters across lab and into office.
| | 4
|
| Attached vacuum line to the distillation flask without properly securing the thermometer (breaking thermometer and flask thus).
| | 3
|
| didn't properly cool a bomb flask before opening, stuff shoots out everywhere
| | 2
|
| watched the HPLC switch from IPA/ hexanes system to water/acetonitrile system onto a chiral column. luckily it wasn't damaged
| | 2
|
| Sliced Glovebox gloves because you were still wearing rings
| | 2
|
| Checking drybox gloves for leaks using vacuum, no leaks found but imploded faceplate of drybox
| | 2
|
| Turned oil bath up to max power. Left for the night. Advisor discovered the combusting oil bath early the next morning and calls you at home.
| | 1
|
| Turned up HCL(g) tank too much, hose bursts and recieved an acid spray to the face.
| | 1
|
| Mixed up the fridge and freezer, discovering product slush on your sealed broken flask the next day.
| | 1
|
| While 'maintaining' 2000 dollar high vacuum pump, pour oil into outlet. Express surprise that pump can hold so much oil. Supervisor not impressed :(.
| | 1
|
| Try to obtain a better vacuum by placing more cotton wool in the liquid nitrogen trap.
| | 1
|
| Punctured condenser coil of freezer trying to de-ice it...with a hammer and crowbar
| | 1
|
| A chain was attached to a hood to secure a glass cylinder and you accdidently dissolved it
| | 1
|
| Accidently turned on the heating on a hotplate/stirrer combo while flask on top was already in a mantle.
| | 1
|
| Stored freshly prepared and settled KHMDS in a cold heating mantle which was stirring... waited 5 hours for it to settle again.
| | 1
|
|
|
