What an Awful Day!

On Thursday, I had my first math test of the semester. To be honest, it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be and I think I did pretty well, although that statement awaits confirmation from the mark on my test. Hopefully I'll get a good mark.

The next day, I had an Organic Chemistry lab. When I noticed friend E didn't seem like he was going to show up, I was so relieved (thinking that I could do the experiment alone and him not going to used my lab kit). However, when the teacher found out he was missing, she quickly paired me with this guy whose partner was missing as well. When we were reviewing the procedures, he seemed like he wanted to take charge and I let him. Seriously, I didn't mind at all. I was more than happy for him to lead the way, which will give me the chance to relax a bit before English (at 4:30 to 6:30).

Before I continue, I'll include a (brief) background information of what the experiment was all about so you can imagine its simplicity. The experiment had two parts and were calculation based. We were doing part 1 and will finish part 2 next week. So, part 1 was composed of 3 steps/segments, all of which requires titration. All we need to do is to dissolve 8g of the acid powder into 100mL of distilled water, split it into three 30mL portions and do the titration with the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution (which was already prepared for us). Simple right?

So, my new partner tried and (impressively) succeeded in measuring 8.000g of the acid powder (by this time, friend E has arrived). He ordered friend E to get him a funnel to pour the powder into the flask when you can do it directly from the weighing paper. Seeing this, I quickly took the sample from him and dispensed it directly. Then, he started fussing that he could not measure 100mL with the 50mL graduated cylinder (common sense: 50 x 2 = 100) and before I could stop him, he added the amount measured with a beaker. Starting to get tired from all this, I did the first titration with utter perfection (the solution was slightly pink). After preparing the acid for step 2, 'that guy' did the second titration but ended up detaching the nozzle from the burette and spilled the NaOH all over the place. The entire class, including myself, stared in total shock. I quickly recovered and went over to clean up the mess with the help from friend E. Instead of helping, 'that guy' ordered us to prepare the burette to let him continue with the titration. I told him to redo it due to the possibility of additional NaOH added into the flask from the spill plus he does not know how much base was already added. He argued that he prevented the addition of more base because he covered the opening of the flask with his hands but he could not surpass my second point.

While he prepared for step 2, I noticed that he had used up the remaining acid and knew we would have to make more. Suddenly, it came to me. If we make a new batch, there's no guarantee that it would have the same concentration as the first, causing the data to be invalid (the data is calculation-based and each answer depends on the preceding one). To verify my thoughts, I told this to friend E, who agreed. I quickly told 'that guy' of the news and he disagreed. He said I was talking nonsense, that he was confident he could measure the same amount of acid powder and since it was not Analytical Chemistry, the data does not have to be perfect. He also started going off about the flask and beaker used. The entire class watched as we argued for the next while until I gave up and called for the teacher. I told her of our situation and she too agreed that we need to restart. While 'that guy' argued with the teacher, friend E and myself quickly finished cleaning up and prepared the acid (we only had ten minutes before class ended). When he gave up the argument, I kept him busy with the first titration, while I worked on step 2. By step 3, he tried to rush me (and boss around) but I told him off and got him to help friend E with the calculations. Finally, the experiment was completed in record time and that's when I noticed that the class kept an eye on us the entire time.

In the midst of the chaos, a classmate actually came and told us that 'that guy' was crazy (since he had worked with him before). The reason that all this happened is due to the fact that 'that guy' is a fast-track student and lack most of the basic practical skills. Most of the fast-trackers already have a degree of some kind and perhaps 'that guy' has a degree as well and thought of himself superior compared to us. I'm starting to dread the possibility of working with him this Friday on part 2. I just hope that his partner would show up so that they can work together and I can happily work with friend E.

As for the issue with friend E about my lab kit, I lent it to him last Friday again. However, I have already extracted the extra box of microscope slides and cover slips days ago. When I came to my locker after English to get my jacket, I noticed my lab kit sat in a very unpleasant manner and decided to take a look inside. To my surprise, it wasn't that good-looking either. My sharpie was not inside the ziploc bag (where it belonged), a lone microscope slide was outside its box (and possibility contaminated) and there was an empty ripped envelope that looked like garbage inside my lab kit. I can tolerate the sharpie not being inside the ziploc and perhaps the slide not kept in its box, but I can definitely not stand seeing garbage kept in my lab kit. Friend E owes me a good explanation...