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Asked by anon-286544 on 18 Mar 2021. This question was also asked by anon-287540.
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David August answered on 18 Mar 2021:
Is it hard to work with chemicals? No, not really. You need to be careful with some things but ultimately its just pouring different powders and liquids into glass bottles and then stirring or heating. Not that different from cooking! The tricky bit is knowing which things to mix.
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Martin McCoustra answered on 18 Mar 2021:
It depends on the chemicals… some can be explosive or poisonous. These are hard to work with. Some are gases and that needs special handling methods rather than just beakers and flasks. As chemists, we learn how to do this and to assess the risks associated with handling chemicals.
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Jessica Higgins answered on 18 Mar 2021:
It can seem daunting working with chemicals but we go through lots of training and write risk assessments to make sure we’re safe while working in a lab. The challenge comes when you’re dealing with certain specialist chemicals, such as air-sensitive or radioactive stuff and you need to be super careful, mainly so you don’t spoil your sample by getting air into it. This is something that has been particularly challenging this year as there have been fewer people in the lab to advise and help you.
Overall I’d say the most challenging chemicals can be the most interesting to work on! -
Jesko Koehnke answered on 18 Mar 2021:
No, not really. You just have to be mindful of the risks certain chemicals bring with them and manage that.
There is actually a wonderful book called “What’s cooking in Chemistry”, in which chemists give instructions to cook their favourite dishes in the same style you would get them for work in a chemistry lab.
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