1 - Safety in The Laboratory: Report Any Accidents Which Occur Immediately To The Laboratory Supervisor
1 - Safety in The Laboratory: Report Any Accidents Which Occur Immediately To The Laboratory Supervisor
1 - Safety in The Laboratory: Report Any Accidents Which Occur Immediately To The Laboratory Supervisor
Safety in the laboratory must be emphasized. The compounds you will work with do have some hazards
associated with them. Therefore, it is important to follow the safety rules outlined in this lab manual. You
should assume that all compounds encountered in the laboratory are toxic and handle them accordingly. Safety
goggles for eye protection are recommended and lab coats are to be worn by all students at all times when
entering the laboratory. Many chemicals, common in chemical laboratories, will make holes in clothing.
Always wash your hands thoroughly when leaving the laboratory. The location and use of the safety equipment
in laboratory were already discussed in CHE1401 and will be reminded by your instructor the first day the
laboratory class meets. You should become familiar with the proper use of the safety shower, eye-wash
2. Do not touch chemicals with your hands. Spatulas will be provided for handling solid materials.
5. Do not smell any chemicals directly. Use your fingers to waft the odor to your nose.
6. Do not pipet solutions by mouth. Rubber pipet bulbs are provided at each lab station.
8. When heating a test tube, make certain that the open end of the tube is directed away from the students.
9. When finished with your Bunsen Burner for a given portion of an experiment, turn it off.
11. Do not engage in games in the laboratory. Failure to follow this rule will result in immediate dismissal from
12. Do not pour any chemicals into a sink without authorization from the instructor.
1
14. All broken glassware should be cleaned up immediately. The instructor should be notified of all breakage,
15. Do all reactions involving malodorous, noxious or dangerous chemicals in a fume hood.
16. If a chemical gets on your skin, immediately wash the affected area with large quantities of water. The
instructor should be notified; no matter how insignificant the incident might seem.
17. When pouring one liquid into another, do so slowly and cautiously. To dilute an acid, pour the acid into
18. No student shall be permitted to work alone in the lab, you should be supervised by a laboratory instructor
19. Exercise good housekeeping practices in the laboratory. Be sure that the lab benches remain free of
disorder during the experiment. In the event of a spill, clean the area immediately and be sure to use a wet
sponge to wipe off the work station at the end of the lab session.
20. Know what you have to do before entering the lab. Read the experiment carefully before coming to the
laboratory.
1 – 1 - Safety rules
The laboratory can be but is not necessarily a dangerous place. When intelligent precautions and a proper
understanding of techniques are employed, the laboratory is no more dangerous than any other classroom.
Most of the precautions are just common-sense practices. These include the following:
1. Wear approved eye protection when required while in the laboratory. Your safety eye protection may be
slightly different from that shown, but it must include shatterproof lenses and side shields to provide protection
from splashes.
2
The laboratory has an eyewash fountain available for your use. In the event that a chemical splashes near your
eyes, you should use the fountain BEFORE THE MATERIAL RUNS BEHIND YOUR EYEGLASSES AND
INTO YOUR EYES. The eyewash has a "panic bar," which enables its easy activation in an emergency.
2. Eating, drinking, and smoking are strictly prohibited in the laboratory at all times
3. Know where to find and how to use safety and first-aid equipment.
4. Consider all chemicals to be hazardous unless you are instructed otherwise. Dispose of chemicals as
instructed by your instructor. Follow the explicit instructions given in the experiments.
5. If chemicals come into contact with your skin or eyes, wash immediately with copious amounts of water and
6. Wear shoes at all times. “Baboosh” shoes are not allowed in the laboratory.
6. Never taste anything. Never directly smell the source of any vapor or gas; instead, by means of your cupped
hand, bring a small sample to your nose (see figure below). Chemicals are not to be used to obtain a "high" or
3
8. Perform in the hood any reactions involving skin-irritating or dangerous chemicals and/or ill-smelling
Exhaust hoods have fans to exhaust fumes out of the hood and away from the user. The hood should be used
when noxious, hazardous, and flammable materials are being studied. It also has a shatterproof glass window,
which may be used as a shield to protect you from minor explosions. Reagents that evolve toxic fumes are
stored in the hood. Return these reagents to the hood after their use.
9. Never point a test tube that you are heating at yourself or your neighbour. It may erupt like a geyser.
Beware of spattering
12. Always pour acids into water, not water into acid, because the heat of solution will cause the water to boil
13. Avoid rubbing your eyes unless you know that your hands are clean.
15. Many common reagents, for example, alcohols, acetone, and especially ether, are highly flammable. Do not
17. Learn the location of fire protection devices. In the unlikely event that a large chemical fire occurs, a
In order to activate the extinguisher, you must pull the metal safety ring from the handle and then depress the
handle. Direct the output of the extinguisher at the base of the flames. The carbon dioxide smothers the flames
and cools the flammable material quickly. If you use the fire extinguisher, be sure to return the extinguisher
in at the stockroom so that it can be refilled immediately. If the carbon dioxide extinguisher does not extinguish
the fire, evacuate the laboratory immediately and call the security. One of the most frightening and potentially
most serious accidents is the ignition of one’s clothing. Therefore, certain types of clothing are hazardous in
the laboratory and must not be worn. Since sleeves are most likely to come closest to flames, ANY CLOTHING
THAT HAS BULKY OR LOOSE SLEEVES SHOULD NOT BE WORN IN THE LABORATORY. Ideally,
students should wear laboratory coats with tightly fitting sleeves. Long hair also presents a hazard and must
be tied back.
5
If a student's clothing or hair catches fire his or her neighbours should take prompt action to prevent severe
burns. Most laboratories have a water shower for such emergencies. A typical laboratory emergency water
In case someone's clothing or hair is on fire, immediately lead the person to the shower and pull the metal ring.
Safety showers generally dump 151 to 190 litres of water, which should extinguish the flames. These showers
cannot be shut off once the metal ring has been pulled. Therefore, the shower cannot be demonstrated.
6
1 – 2 - Science Laboratory Safety Signs
Science labs, particularly chemistry labs, have a lot of safety signs. This is a collection of public domain images
you can use to learn what the different symbols mean or to construct signs for your own lab .
7
2 - Common laboratory equipment
8
9
10
3 - How to write lab report
Title Page
All lab reports have title pages, instructor wants it, it would be a single page that states:
The date the lab was performed and the date the report was submitted.
3 – 1 - Title
The title says what you did. It should be brief (aim for ten words or less) and describe the main point of the
experiment or investigation. An example of a title would be: "Effects of Ultraviolet Light on Borax Crystal
Growth Rate". If you can, begin your title using a keyword rather than an article like 'The' or 'A'.
3 – 2 - Introduction / Purpose
Usually, the introduction is one paragraph that explains the objectives or purpose of the lab. In one sentence,
state the hypothesis. Sometimes an introduction may contain background information, briefly summarize how
the experiment was performed, state the findings of the experiment, and list the conclusions of the
investigation. Even if you don't write a whole introduction, you need to state the purpose of the experiment,
or why you did it. This would be where you state your hypothesis.
3 – 3 - Materials
3 – 4 - Methods
Describe the steps you completed during your investigation. This is your procedure. Be sufficiently detailed
that anyone could read this section and duplicate your experiment. Write it as if you were giving direction for
someone else to do the lab. It may be helpful to provide a figure to diagram your experimental setup.
11
3 – 5 - Data
Numerical data obtained from your procedure usually is presented as a table. Data encompasses what you
recorded when you conducted the experiment. It's just the facts, not any interpretation of what they mean.
3 – 6 - Results
Describe in words what the data means. Sometimes the Results section is combined with the Discussion (Results
& Discussion).
3 – 7 - Discussion Or Analysis
The Data section contains numbers. The Analysis section contains any calculations you made based on those
numbers. This is where you interpret the data and determine whether or not a hypothesis was accepted. This
is also where you would discuss any mistakes you might have made while conducting the investigation. You
may wish to describe ways the study might have been improved.
3 – 8 - Conclusions
Most of the time the conclusion is a single paragraph that sums up what happened in the experiment, whether
your hypothesis was accepted or rejected, and what this means.
Graphs and figures must both be labeled with a descriptive title. Label the axes on a graph, being sure to
include units of measurement. The independent variable is on the X-axis. The dependent variable (the one you
are measuring) is on the Y-axis. Be sure to refer to figures and graphs in the text of your report. The first
figure is Figure 1, the second figure is Figure 2, etc.
3 – 10 - References
If your research was based on someone else's work or if you cited facts that require documentation, then you
should list these reference
12