Calling All Chemists !!

12/10/04 | vanity

[genefromjersey]

News item,my local paper: A 47 year old employee at a pharmaceutical firm received minor injuries after mixing sodium carbonate monohydrate with sodium hydrosulfite .

The mixing beaker exploded.Hazmat crew was called in-apparently nothing major transpired,but my curiosity is aroused:

Why in hell would a knowledgeable chemist be mixing these two chemicals ? (I'm assuming water was present-whether added,or as part of a solution).

[anniegetyourgun]

5

[the invisib1e hand]

death wish? thrill seeker? bad parents? election-induced mental trauma? Rap or Heavy Metal Music? Too many Christmas Carols at the mall? Girlfriend diss'ed him....?

[nuconvert]

"Why in hell would a knowledgeable chemist be mixing these two chemicals ?"

He wanted the afternoon off?

Worker's comp?

[IronJack]

From what I can tell, these two shouldn't have reacted at all. Sodium carbonate is common washing soda, and sodium hydrosulfite (bisulfite) is a bleaching agent. Unless there was some other contamination present -- like an acid of some sort -- there should have been no reaction.

But it's been a lot of years since college chem.

[muawiyah]

Hmmmm. Did a www.google.com search for both substances. It's entirely possible he was making a very dry wine.

[agere_contra]

These are both very common industrial chems ... and no, I don't see why they would have reacted. Maybe the guy accidentally invented cold fusion.

[Fierce Allegiance]

I concur.

[William Terrell]

Yeah. Has some social value. Not much.

[spodefly]

Thank God there was no DiHydrogen Monoxide present in the solution, or he would have been doomed. Doomed!

[Allegra]

Why in hell would a knowledgeable chemist be mixing these two chemicals ?

Narcotics? Alcohol? Perhaps a mixture of the two?

'Tis the season to be jolly, after all.

[NCjim]

Maybe he reached for the H2O bottle and got the HCl bottle instead. :-)

[nuconvert]

Probably a contaminated beaker with another chemical in it. Maybe he mistook white vinegar for water?
Accidents happen all the time.

[spunkets]

"From what I can tell, these two shouldn't have reacted at all. "

You're right. The report is in error.

[blanknoone]

Or hydrogen hydroxide. That stuff is the most lethal chemical in the world.

[ImphClinton]

This can happen. Remember that old add aou the beaked filled with lexan. You don't know for sure till you try it.

Put a cup of water in the Microwave and boil it. One time out of a hundread it will explode before boiling because the water heats up so fast the boiling action occurs all at once.

As others said another chemical must have been involved.

[nuconvert]

wonder what he was trying to clean?

[tx_eggman]

when the etehr in a hookah me was smoking exploded

Step away from the keyboard and go get some coffee.

[G.Mason]

"You're right. The report is in error."

That's a first.