posted
Some of my favorite threads in the past have been the ones with those teaser puzzles that you have to figure out, like the Petals of the Rose one that farmgirl posted.
Anyway my brain is going numb today so could someone please post a good puzzle here?
posted
Drat, now my thumb is going numb as well as my brain and no one has posted a puzzle. Trying to pulverize a 1.5 inch cube of graphite so I can do a test on it was lots of fun. I managed to hammer my thumb and now feel even more stupid.
posted
Since this is turning into an AJ whining about life thread that no one is reading anyway, I'll whine some more. The stupid hyrogen peroxide reagent bottle stopper got stuck. I'd used it only a week ago and there shoulsdn't be any problems but I couldn't get it to come loose. So I always feel like a ninny when I go ask the guys for help but I took the blow to my pride and did.
So my boss (who is very nice) gets involved, and we run it under hot water to see if that will loosen it. It doesn't. He starts banging on it with this metal peice and it cracks. At this point I'm relieved because it wasn't me. But now he's fire polished the rough edges down, and expects me to use a glass stopper that has nothing to grab onto on the bottle that is always difficult to open anyway! I guess I'm gonna glycerine the heck out of it and cross my fingers that it opens next time.
Posts: 11265 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
Since this is just an AJ whiny thread <GRIN>... I've been wanting to ask you anyway -- my brother-in-law is also a chemical engineer in that area. Do all chemical engineers gravitate toward Chicago??
posted
Ha Ha, Your brain is greyer than mine. Ha ha.
or
Brain, you aint as important as me, the stomach. I get you the food to survive. Your jusy a weak little nueral net, not even a tough muscle. You are just a wimpy little cluster of non-regenerating nerve cells.
Is that the kind of brain teaser you were looking for?
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
Farmgirl. Chemical engineers need a highly industrialized area in order to be employed. Chemical plants take immense amounts of capital to start up. This means you are either in a metropolis, or out in the boonies where it is cheaper to put objectionable chemical processes. For those of us who like civilization, then the metropolis is the better choice.
Chicago is a big enough area to have its own refinery as far as petrochemical products go. I know there are a bunch of chemical plants that you pass as you leave the city heading south. Most of them stink, and contribute to low air quality, but the engineers almost never actually have to live with their kids next to where they work either.
What I actually do in my job, is more along the lines of materials science engineering for a mechanical product, but I really like it (most of the time) and it suits me well (most of the time).
posted
Use a rubber stopper? That way even if it gets stuck you can cut it away with a scalpel or just stab and pull it out, or use tweezers.
We store our H2O2 in a plastic bottle (and in the fridge?!), for some reason so I've never had trouble with that.
Glass stoppers are the worst. They always get stuck.
Its funny, in my last job the standards used to come in glass ampules that you had to knock the top off of to use. It was always so relieving when it didn't shatter in your hand. Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
I think that the use of a glass stopper may be needed due the concentration of the the H202, although I don't know how concentrated AJ's H2O2 is or even if this Idea makes any sense.
Posts: 1458 | Registered: Feb 2001
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posted
Well it is dilute (10% H2O2) The concentrated stuff is kept in the fridge. I use it as a mild oxidizing agent in testing materials for leachable chloride content. (To increase the reactable surface area, I was pulverizing the sample with a hammer when I hit my thumb.)
I don't know what H2O2 would do to our existing rubber stoppers over time because I don't know the actual rubber used in making them (though I could probably figure it out if I had to by an IR since identifying unknown rubber compounds is part of my job). Only particular more-expensive types of rubbers are resistant to H2O2 and can be used in service with oxidizing agents. Also if the rubber has any chlorides in it it will contaminate my test which has to detect down to 15ppm at times.
Otherwise yes, it would be a fabulous idea! I wish it could work.
(Incidentally 10% hydrogen peroxide, while it won't kill you, can cause nasty burns. The stuff you get in the store for cuts is only 3%)
posted
*always assumed that lab rubber stoppers were pretty chemical resistant* I have no idea if they're even really rubber! I didn't realize that this was for long term storage, either. You mentioned a few days, so I figured it was short term.
Know what you mean about the concentration of H2O2, though. I was very surprised when I first used it.
I've gotten a burn from concentrated Sulfuric acid, though, that really scared me. It was just a miniscule splash that managed to sneak inbetween my cuff and glove because of my watch. I washed it off within seconds and had a brown spot there for months.
Edit: These look kinda neat. (I can't believe I went looking for stoppers. I'm bored!) Incidentally, the lab ones can be neoprene.
A man is sitting in a pub feeling rather poor He sees the man next to him pull a wad of £50 notes out of his wallet. He turns to the rich man and says to him ”I have an amazing talent: I know almost every song that has ever existed.” The rich man laughs. The poor man says “I am willing to bet you all the money you have in you wallet that I can sing a genuine song with a lady's name of your choice in it.” The rich man laughs again and says “Ok how about my daughters name, Joanna Armstrong-Miller.” The rich man goes home poor. The poor man goes home rich.
What song did he sing?
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Keep trying Nick-I know you have the ability-if you are able to grasp the concepts in Speaker for the Dead through Children of the Mind, you can solve this puzzle!
posted
If the lines are long you can connect the stars with only three lines because the dots have a finite size.
Posts: 334 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
We are assuming the dots are the same size as these " * " and they are all equally spaced apart, approx. 1 inch x 1 inch.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Well, when you get beaten as a young child as often as BannaO, I'm sure you make that connection a little faster than most.
Posts: 3056 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
Well my first guess was a stool since it only has three legs and if you look at it horizontally at the right angle one will appear to be in the middle.
posted
Read the sentence below and count the F's in that sentence.
Count them ONLY ONCE. Do not go back and count them again.
FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE- SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF- IC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
I don't want to ruin for others-so IM me on AIM: EnemysGateisDwn or MSN Messenger valentine014@hotmail.com if you want the correct answer. Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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