[Prep Lab Students] Autumn 2025- Week 10

[Weaver, Tyler]

The Weekly Mix
Volume: Autumn 2025 | Edition: Week 10
Schedule

Just in time for Halloween, we’ll begin using pH meters this week! How scary! Also, today is Jay’s birthday- so if you see him on Monday, please wish him happy birthday.

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Experimental Details

Review the window notes and any associated equipment guides for additional details. Please see the Week 9 edition<https://lists.osu.edu/pipermail/preplabstudents/2025-October/000310.html> for information on Experiments IHT and SAL.

CAR

TAs will be picking up glucose test strips from the windows. These are light and moisture sensitive and are kept in the desiccators on the bench within the lab support window. To open the desiccator, unlatch the three latches and swing the door open. Do the reverse to close the desiccator.

The glucose test strips are expensive, so we WILL accept unused strips back. Please place these back into the desiccator in the pink “EXTRAS” bog. These should only be handed out if extras are needed. Never give a TA a partial set. They should be picking up a full class set at the beginning of the lab session.

EMS

These will be set up on the bench beside Hood A. Replacement parts are available in the window. The power supplies and discharge tubes are new, but the spectrometers are the same.

SST

If a lab indicates they don’t have enough meters and probes, be sure they are planning to work in pairs. pH meters, probes, and cables to connect the two, are on the bench closest to Hood A.

There could be a few rooms with old (black cable) probes, most rooms will have new (white wire) probes. The probes with the black cables will need to be attached to the top of the meters whereas the new white wire probes will need to be attached to the probe and meter via the white wire.

Connections are made on the top of the meter by pushing and turning (BNC type). Both pH probe types will have either a black o-ring or blue rubber piece at the top of the probe shaft to cushion it from the glass storage tube and help seal in the storage solution. These should stay at the top of the probes while the students are taking readings.

If a student claims their pH meter is “broken”, they should have their TA try to calibrate it before bringing it to the window for an exchange. Emma has prepared a guide on how to handle pH meter issues, please review it. It will be available in the window.

XUF Day 1

Students will NOT be running XRF analysis on their pennies. Instead, XRF results are on the sticker attached to each bagged penny. Hazardous gas will be produced when the penny dissolves. If the exhaust stops working the lab room and the neighboring room must be evacuated.

SYN Day 1

Be prepared to direct students to the ice machine outside of the restrooms. There is no scoop provided, students should just use an empty beaker from their drawer. Emma, Sarah, and/or Tyler will manage the microwave. Note that concentrated phosphoric acid is not needed for Day 1 and will not be provided. Each room will have a microscope. We will snag a tiny amount of sample from the first group to obtain crude product to put under the microscope. If students observe the temperature on the digital readout going down as they heat up their melting point apparatus, they plugged the thermocouple in the wrong way. They just need to remove it, turn it 180˚ and reinsert it. Replacement thermocouples will also be available in the window. Each room is limited to only 6 groups due to the layout in the microwave. If a room asks for more reaction tubes, please check they don’t have more than 6 groups before handing anything out. Any questions you cannot answer should be directed to Tyler.

Other Information
Shift Switches

We understand that sometimes you’ll need to miss a shift for a planned schedule conflict. If this happens, please first message the GroupMe to see if anyone can cover your shift. Hopefully, someone is willing to do so. It is common to not get a response if you ask about shifts in the distant future. We recommend asking about a week out. Once you have someone to cover your shift, you must send an email to preplabstaff at lists.osu.edu<mailto:preplabstaff at lists.osu.edu> to notify us of the switch. You should cc the person that is covering your shift to keep them in the loop. While we do keep an eye on the GroupMe messages; unless you email us, the switch is not official.


Reagent Requests


When someone requests a reagent from the window, be sure to find out what room they are from, what concentration is needed, and what size container is needed. Some experiments use the same reagent in different concentrations or bottle sizes. Having this info will make it easier for us to respond to the request quickly.

General Chemistry Prep Lab • Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry • THE Ohio State University
preplabstaff at lists.osu.edu<mailto:preplabstaff at lists.osu.edu>

Be sure you are reading the entirety of this email message. You are accountable for the entirety of all messages sent to you by the Prep Lab Staff. Emails sent to preplabstudents at lists.osu.edu<mailto:preplabstudents at lists.osu.edu> are archived for your convenience at https://lists.osu.edu/pipermail/preplabstudents/

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