4/19/13
Today I had a little trouble finding Daniele as I wander the catacombs of the RPI basement. After I finally stumbled upon Daniele, she showed me a list she had made planning out the experiments we should do in order to fill in the gaps in our data. We decided to plan to do three sphalerite experiments at 650, 750 and 850 degrees Celsius to get some data of sulfur diffusion at higher temperatures. We also planned on doing another experiment with celestite and barite at a higher temperature of 600 degrees Celsius because the diffusion did not occus at a perceptible rate in our previous experiment. With this busy to-do list ahead of us, I quickly set to work making the first sphalerite capsule. It took me no time at all with the finished result on the left. Daniele already had a furnace set at the correct temperature, so we walked to the furnace room to put in our first sphalerite experiment at a steamy 850 degrees Celsius. I had to be very careful putting in the experiment, because just because the thermocouple didn't look hot, it had just been in an 850 degree furnace and could cause quite a burn. My favorite part of this day in the lab had to be looking in the furnace after I had put in my capsule. This was the hottest I had seen a furnace and when I looked inside, I could see the ceramic pipe glowing a burning hot red.
After I had finished the first sphalerite capsule I proceeded to begin work on another sphalerite capsule. I quickly cranked out another one, but not before noticing something near the Bunsen burner before I finished sealing my sphalerite capsule. I had stumbled upon capsuleception. The person who had been working in the lab before me had made a capsule, within a capsule, within a capsule! Daniele explained how this technique created ideal atmospheric conditions for the capsule containing the intended reaction. After finally sealing my sphalerite capsule, Daniele, Heather and I went to check if there were any furnaces available near one of the temperatures we were aiming to test. Since none of the furnaces were going to reach 650 degrees anytime soon, I headed back to the lab to work on making some more capsules. I had just enough time to find a really nice barite and celestite crystal to put in a capsule and quickly seal two capsules in record time. After being complimented on my capsule-making finesse I ran out to the van just in time for my shuttle. Next week, Daniele and I are going to work on setting up a few more experiments and looking at data. More excitingly, I have planned a trip with Daniele for May 3rd to go and see the ion beam in SUNY Albany that Daniele uses to analyze our crystals to see the results of sulfur diffusion. Hopefully I'll have some exciting pictures in two weeks and I'll collect my data in no time!
Today I had a little trouble finding Daniele as I wander the catacombs of the RPI basement. After I finally stumbled upon Daniele, she showed me a list she had made planning out the experiments we should do in order to fill in the gaps in our data. We decided to plan to do three sphalerite experiments at 650, 750 and 850 degrees Celsius to get some data of sulfur diffusion at higher temperatures. We also planned on doing another experiment with celestite and barite at a higher temperature of 600 degrees Celsius because the diffusion did not occus at a perceptible rate in our previous experiment. With this busy to-do list ahead of us, I quickly set to work making the first sphalerite capsule. It took me no time at all with the finished result on the left. Daniele already had a furnace set at the correct temperature, so we walked to the furnace room to put in our first sphalerite experiment at a steamy 850 degrees Celsius. I had to be very careful putting in the experiment, because just because the thermocouple didn't look hot, it had just been in an 850 degree furnace and could cause quite a burn. My favorite part of this day in the lab had to be looking in the furnace after I had put in my capsule. This was the hottest I had seen a furnace and when I looked inside, I could see the ceramic pipe glowing a burning hot red.
After I had finished the first sphalerite capsule I proceeded to begin work on another sphalerite capsule. I quickly cranked out another one, but not before noticing something near the Bunsen burner before I finished sealing my sphalerite capsule. I had stumbled upon capsuleception. The person who had been working in the lab before me had made a capsule, within a capsule, within a capsule! Daniele explained how this technique created ideal atmospheric conditions for the capsule containing the intended reaction. After finally sealing my sphalerite capsule, Daniele, Heather and I went to check if there were any furnaces available near one of the temperatures we were aiming to test. Since none of the furnaces were going to reach 650 degrees anytime soon, I headed back to the lab to work on making some more capsules. I had just enough time to find a really nice barite and celestite crystal to put in a capsule and quickly seal two capsules in record time. After being complimented on my capsule-making finesse I ran out to the van just in time for my shuttle. Next week, Daniele and I are going to work on setting up a few more experiments and looking at data. More excitingly, I have planned a trip with Daniele for May 3rd to go and see the ion beam in SUNY Albany that Daniele uses to analyze our crystals to see the results of sulfur diffusion. Hopefully I'll have some exciting pictures in two weeks and I'll collect my data in no time!
Kelsie, you seem like a full member of your research team! You are proficient at the skills of your lab, efficient, and a hard worker.
ReplyDeleteI am excited that you are filling in the incomplete portions of your work. You seem to be well on your way toward a comprehensive project.
The nested capsules sound very interesting!
Looking forward to the next installment!!