From sci.chem Tue Nov 19 13:52:01 1996
From: brucemills@ultra.net.au (Bruce Mills)
Newsgroups: sci.chem
Subject: Re: Lab Accidents.......
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 1996 08:40:01 GMT
Organization: Ultranet (Townsville's Internet Gateway)
Lines: 27

Before I started my degree course I worked as a Lab Attendent (bottle
washer) at a teacher training college. One of the labs required the
students (trainee teachers) to cut a small piece of sodium metal and
place it in water to demonstrate sodium's reactivity. The sodium being
used was ancient and crusted. A lot of crust had to be cut away to get
at the metal. The left over sodium scraps and crust were disposed of
in Ethanol. The ethanol reacts with the sodium to produce sodium
ethanoate which was then flushed down the sink.
After the lab I collected the NaOEt into one beaker. The solution was
cloudy,  but all of the sodium seemed to have reacted. I tipped the
mixture into the sink. As soon as it hit the water in the sink, I
heard a fizzing sound. I didn't stop to look, I just started running
to the door. As I reached the door, I heard a bang behind me. When I
looked back, I saw a small white cloud at about head height with a
dozen tendrils of white smoke going out in all directions.
I was always much more respectful of waste products after that.



Bruce 
brucemills@ultra.net.au