Does anyone here really like chemistry?

[lightningandsnow]

I do. My chem teacher is a crabby old man, clearly way past retirement age, and a sadistic bully, but I like that class anyway.

I love doing the chemical reaction stuff... maybe I'm just overly amused by stuff exploding/changing color/giving off nitrogen dioxide. Has anyone here ever made zinc sulfide by heating zinc and sulfur powder together? Nitric acid and copper, anyone? Sweet.

It's true. I'm a nerd.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. Fan of the Periodic Table here.

:toast: MKJ

[Zoigal]

2. Yea for you AspieGrrl

For not letting a crabby old teacher keeping you from enjoying your chemistry class.
Fun stuff. z (old teacher, but almost never crabby.)

[cloudbase]

3. Chemistry was okay,

but I really liked physics. I, too, am a long time resident of nerdville.

[Time for change]

4. I liked it a lot when I was in college

I majored in it. But I haven't had anything to do with it for many years.

[sam sarrha]

5. my Aspi syndrome includes 'a fascination with the parts of things and their interactions', i also

grew up in a very violent alcoholic, dysfunctional, abusive family.

i became 'fascinated' with science and the scientific process, it was a shelter in the storm. i could always find reason in science.. science books from the age of 4 were my Teddy bears.. Linus's blanket,

whenever i had my face in a book my father never beat me, i could read at 4, i stoled books out of the higher classes during recess took them home and read them, studdied math on my own, history.. anything, then sneaked them back.

[rayofreason]

6. No. eom.

[CGowen]

7. My teacher was a bit sadistic, too. The only thing I remember from class is making soap for example

n/t

[lightningandsnow]

8. You got to make soap in your chemistry class?

That's awesome.

[Random_Australian]

15. We did that as well, I can't remember when though. I know I did it again at university (with a more

complex experiment).

The other great one is when you are doing condensation polymerisation (probably in your last year of high school) and you get to make artificial flavourings.... well, except you use ridiculously powerful acid to do it, so you don't get to eat it at the end. But you do get to smell it!

And the other great trick is to put sugar in an oversized test tube, then some oleum, and then some more sugar.

(Oleum is a dehydrated form of sulfuric acid - it strips water off the sugars to create sulfuric acid, which deprotonates onto the water in a highly exothermic reaction that draws more water off the sugar)

End result: As it turns out, it turns the sugar into charcoal and the water to steam, and grows out of the test tube.

It's great to see. It takes a minute or two before anything happens though.

[TZ]

18. I did have a couple of experiments that I enjoyed

The first was actually 9th grade (my first year of High School). We made/distilled alcohol. That was interesting...We got graded by

pouring it out on the table and seeing if it would catch a flame from a lighter. I got an A..

The other experiment that really stands out is from organic chem in college. We spent about 6 weeks trying to identify 3 different

compounds. That was really challenging and I really didn't know what I had until I got my NMR sheets on them. It turns out

appropriately enough that one of them was salicylic acid......:)

[TZ]

9. You haven't met Random _Australian , have you?

Biggest chem nerd on this board. Oh and Physics and Math. Hell, he's the biggest nerd on DU and he'll tell you so proudly!!
And, if you do run into him, be sure to ask him about "butt candles"....
:evilgrin: :rofl: :rofl:

[Random_Australian]

10. Aye, the more quantum the better.

I can never remember which reactions look cool though, as I'm more of a theorist.

I can never remember how to find centers of inversion, though.

[n2doc]

11. I liked it enough to work in the field n/t

[Orsino]

12. I taught it for a few years...

...and always loved the flashy stuff. Thermite, nitrogen triiodide, you name it.

[Johonny]

13. I like it enough

to get a PhD in it. Woot Chemistry.

[Duer 157099]

14. I really got into organic chemistry

for some odd reason. Lab chem always scared me, I was always sure I was going to blow up the lab or spill acid on myself or something. Never have lost that fear, but maybe it's a good thing.

I think what is so appealing about chemistry is that it's predictable (if you know the rules).

Good for you for liking it! Might was well enjoy it rather than suffer through it! :thumbsup:

[Catshrink]

16. I love it...

I loved research but I really really love teaching it!

[Tumbulu]

17. I always loved it

And still do.

[momto3]

19. I like chemistry too.

Organic chemistry lab was one of my favorite classes.

Tracy

[dropkickpa]

20. I like Chem

Not in HS, my teacher was a total spaz (we got him talking about bioluminesents for 5 days straight once, just by asking "What's that stuff in glow sticks?"). I accidentally set a kid's shirt on fire in HS. I liked it *much* better in college.

[TZ]

21. lol

I was that kind of walking disaster in my COLLEGE chemistry labs (I can't tell you how much glassware I shattered).
I would NEVER have thought that I would not only end up working full time in a lab but actually being good at it...

[dropkickpa]

22. Oh yeah

Me and my lab partner were dangerous together. We destroyed more stuff accidentally than the guys who were TRYING to break shit.

I'm a klutz, have a very low theshhold for boredom, etc, but I can sit for hours doing some teeny fiddly little thing with total concentration :shrug: