I did the blue one first, knowing it would probably be blue, not expecting it to glow too much. And when I added the reagents together, it was pretty much what I was expecting - a dim blue tint, nothing too exciting. Then Professor Gingrich comes over, asks if I'm disappointed, and I tell him I am a little. He beckons Lisa, my lab TA, over, and asks her to add "pixie dust" (imidazole). By this time, a different TA, Patrick, has meandered over to watch my reaction as well (and with good cause). She adds it, I'm expecting it to glow a little stronger but still pretty faintly. But no, I shook it, and the vial lit up like a lantern. I promptly let out a "Oh sh-" and proceed to freak out. I then rush back to my lab bench to do the other two.
By this time, Jason (my lab partner) has finished his, so I rush back over to see the vial light up a super bright orange. I then freak out because I figured out I had enough product left to do three more, and tell Jason to hold off the rest of the reactions until we can set them all up and do them all at once (he didn't have as much product so we were going to just use mine). I'm pretty sure all of the lab TAs and Professor Gingrich were greatly amused by my excitement, because Patrick comes over as I'm readying the given fluorescers (orange, green, and blue) and asks if I'd like a pinkish red one as well.
Readied all four of the reactions, reacted all of them, and bam.
I definitely told them that this was the best day of my life. And that's probably an exaggeration, but it's a pretty excellent day now. =] And honestly, I'm pretty sure my lab TAs were almost as entertained by my reaction to the reaction as I was by the actual reaction.
This is part of why I love chemistry.
No comments:
Post a Comment