We learned how to separate two mixed liquids by taking advantage of their boiling points. It was pretty cool, and I think it's awesome to learn how to (almost) perfectly separate two liquids that appear identical in a solution. However, the truth is, a lot of students (myself included) will not practically apply this new knowledge until several years later. By that time, we'll probably forget how to do it. So, all this might be useless - but it was really fun.
After the experiment I went to office hours from 3 to 5 pm, to go over this week's Clayden Problem Set.
I'm going to go home and try to do the problems myself without looking at the solutions. Having gone to office hours this evening will definitely prime my brain to be in the right "gear".
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Update: Completed the problem set, and going to office hours did indeed help.
Update: Completed the problem set, and going to office hours did indeed help.
Luckily, I learned three important things:
- Nitrogen is more likely to pick up a proton and retain it than oxygen, because of electronegativity.
- When a proton hop is needed, versus when it's not really necessary.
- Hydrogen cyanide will silently kill you.
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