• Question: Whats the most dangerouse experiment youve done?

    Asked by card440jaw on 16 Oct 2021.
    • Photo: Yige Sun

      Yige Sun answered on 16 Oct 2021:

      I don’t think I have done some dangerous experiments. Every experiment needs to be well designed and safety is the first priority.

    • Photo: Sophia Constantinou

      Sophia Constantinou answered on 17 Oct 2021:

      I’ve never done anything really dangerous – as Yige says, safety is always a priority. However, when I got to the second year of my chemistry degree and I had more experience in the lab I got to use stronger acids which are more harmful if they get on your skin.

    • Photo: Michael Hills

      Michael Hills answered on 18 Oct 2021:

      I did a reaction using thermite (an explosive which burns VERY hot) which was very cool to watch from a distance! It was only a small amount but it was still quite dangerous. Other than that I handle lots of harmful powder and solvents regularly so I need to be very careful!

    • Photo: Ferran Brosa Planella

      Ferran Brosa Planella answered on 18 Oct 2021:

      My work is theoretical so I don’t do experiments in the lab (the most dangerous thing it can happen is that my computer crashes and I have to restart it haha). But as Yige and Sophia said, safety is a high priority when running experiments, so there is a lot of work put into place to ensure that the experiments are safe to everyone.

    • Photo: Rohin Titmarsh

      Rohin Titmarsh answered on 18 Oct 2021:

      Some battery module abuse tests have been very scary. It’s very surprising to see first hand just how much energy batteries can store, and what happens when that is violently released. Watching a video of it doesn’t quite do it justice. But the point of the experiments was to test materials that can make building batteries safer.
      Safety is always important as the others have said, so our test facility has sensors, very strong doors and walls and ventilation that scrubs the released gases of the really nasty particles to make sure the experiment stays inside the chamber.

    • Photo: Beatrice Browning

      Beatrice Browning answered on 20 Oct 2021:

      I have worked with lots of very dangerous materials. Luckily we handle them in a safe environment, but some materials I have used can produce the chemical hydrofluoric acid, which causes severe skin burns and rashes if your skin comes into contact with it!

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