I have been synthesizing a catalyst in the lab the past week and thought this was a pretty neat effect. It’s a redox reaction that evolves a gas. I thought it was interesting how the solids would spurt up in these geyser-type bursts. Keep in mind the safety of your reactions! On this small scale the reaction is nice and safe, but once I proceeded on a five gram scale I needed to cool the system because enough heat evolved to start boiling the system and fling solids all over the hood.


I’ve been busy with grad school applications, so I offer my sincerest apologies hoping this will help tide between Literature Corners. It’s hard to justify working on a post since it’s time that could be spent working on my statement of intent. I’m also working on posting my resume (maybe cv is more appropriate?) on this site. The main problem is how to format it nicely with this theme (a theme I don’t plan on changing because it looks nice). My resume is one I made with LaTeX, and the design is one I made and am proud of as a representation of me. It doesn’t translate well in this theme, so I need to format it in a way that makes sense for the medium. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this reaction as much as I did.