Part 1: Major Lab Accidents
On January 7, 2010, two graduate students at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas were involved in a lab accident in the Chemistry building. While handling two explosive compounds, the students assumed that keeping the compound wet would prevent it from exploding when it come in contact with the solvent. When he noticed that the product was clumpy, one of the students used a pestle to attempt to break it up. In doing so, the product was detonated. One of the students lost three of his fingers and received severe cuts and scratches. The accident happened because the students mistakenly messed with a clumpy solution without knowing the results of penetrating the surface. They also were working with a larger quantity of the material than the safety rules allowed. …show more content…
The first is the problem. What question are we trying to figure out? The best kind of problem is one that has an answer that can be measured. Next in the scientific method process is to do a little background research on the subject to help gather facts for the construction of the hypothesis. A hypothesis is a prediction on the outcome of the problem. The hypothesis can be in the form of an if-then statement. For example, a hypothesis may state, “If ____, then _____. “ After the hypothesis comes the conducting of the experiment. The data from the experiment must be noted and collected. Then the next step is to analyze the data. If the experiment doesn’t work correctly, the person needs to go back and double check he performed the procedure correctly. If the experiment was performed correctly and the data came out right, the next step is to draw a conclusion. If the results aligned with the hypothesis, the last step is to communicate results. The person needs to explain them in a way it makes sense to someone who has no idea on the subject experimented. Ideally, the experiment can be repeated numerous times and will yield the same
On January 7, 2010, two graduate students at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas were involved in a lab accident in the Chemistry building. While handling two explosive compounds, the students assumed that keeping the compound wet would prevent it from exploding when it come in contact with the solvent. When he noticed that the product was clumpy, one of the students used a pestle to attempt to break it up. In doing so, the product was detonated. One of the students lost three of his fingers and received severe cuts and scratches. The accident happened because the students mistakenly messed with a clumpy solution without knowing the results of penetrating the surface. They also were working with a larger quantity of the material than the safety rules allowed. …show more content…
The first is the problem. What question are we trying to figure out? The best kind of problem is one that has an answer that can be measured. Next in the scientific method process is to do a little background research on the subject to help gather facts for the construction of the hypothesis. A hypothesis is a prediction on the outcome of the problem. The hypothesis can be in the form of an if-then statement. For example, a hypothesis may state, “If ____, then _____. “ After the hypothesis comes the conducting of the experiment. The data from the experiment must be noted and collected. Then the next step is to analyze the data. If the experiment doesn’t work correctly, the person needs to go back and double check he performed the procedure correctly. If the experiment was performed correctly and the data came out right, the next step is to draw a conclusion. If the results aligned with the hypothesis, the last step is to communicate results. The person needs to explain them in a way it makes sense to someone who has no idea on the subject experimented. Ideally, the experiment can be repeated numerous times and will yield the same