Howlers of the week 2008/9
These are all genuine sentences and paragraphs that were written by students in their write-ups for the 2nd year practicals, or library projects, or in
exams. Remember that spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and errors of logic are all entirely theirs, and have been reproduced exactly as they
appeared on the student's script.
2nd year Teaching Lab experiment on Colloids (formal write-up)
- In the solution, micelles exist in much larger concentration than micelles.
- As there is two equations and one unknown, we can't work it out.
- This is on the border of experimental error and can be accounted for by the unavoidable loss of accuracy during the experiment.
- A table was used to get the percentage hydrolysis.
- Errors played a large part in the innaccuracies in this experiment.
- The total increase is not massively dramatic.
- This effect has showed due to micelle being lass quenched so that they could emitt more light.
- Non-ionic surfactants usually have a far higher aggregation number and lower CMC than their ionic equivalents, which is explained by the electric work to form ionic micelles
- I consider this error respectable.
- As before the expected mean aggregation number does does agree with Turro and Yekta’s value of 62, however now there is in an error of 37%, which is not nearly accounted for by the uncertainty in the experimental value
- This may be caused experimentally by the large amount of error associated with measuring liquid with a measuring cylinder. This would not affect the graident as much has the same measuring cylinder was used throughout.
- It is clear that there is little decretion in these measurements.
- Where a surfactant is dissolved in a colloid.
- The two surfaces are in contact and so the movement of the particles will facilitate the salvation of the acid particles.
- The results we obtained were not greatly accurate but they remained to the same power as the literature values. This suggested that no fatal errors were made during our experiment.
- The experiment need to be repeated in order to improve the liability of the results.
- These values were similar to litriture values but there is a considerable difference.
- A second possibility why the experiment didn't work is that when the solution was made up again a different ratio was made instead of the one that was meant to be made. Unfortunately, the equipment had been packed away by the time this error had been spotted.
- The upmost care must be taken with the measurements.
- I would like to thank [name] with whom I was working on the experimental work with.
- The solutions were made carefully up.
- Solutions of varying concentration of surfactant were subjugated to fluorimetric analysis. The data were then manipulated to give the required values.
- The calculated values of N and CMC aquired from experimental data and calculatin using Equation 4 and literature respectivly.
- The probability was found using poison statistics.
- Fluorescence intensities were measured in atomic units (a.u).
- Also only 6 points were plotted on the graphs which ment that it weren't accurate.
- Deviations in the results may have been due to irregular amounts of water remnants from the washing between washes. This would have caused slight increases or decreases in the viscosity of the charge in the viscometer.
- The datas in these tables were put into graphs what can be seen below.
- This suggests that N is likely to be higher than it should be.
Tutorials
- As light photons are either absorbed or emitted the atom gains or loses energy, respectfully.
Reports
- New ways to treat this illness come on the surface all the time.
- The term ‘mellitus’ can be translated as honey or sweet-tasting urine and as Thomas Willis observed in the 17th century ‘diabetics piss a great deal’. Why not ask your diabetic friend for a fresh sample??
Exams
- The appearance of the backscattered electron image will depend upon the position and sensibility of the detector.
- To obtain images of particles ~ 1A in size, I would use my atomic force microscope.
- Colloid particles are stable if ΔG is negative. If it is positive they might explode.
- Physisorption results from an attractive farce between molecules.
- Chemsorption causes molecules to brake apart.
- The Harbour-Boch process converts N2 and H2 into NH3, which then makes fertiliser, so you don't need bird droppings any more.
- The Langmuir isotherm assumes that only one molecule is adsorbed on a surface.
- Wet etching involves using an acid to corrode away any surface what you do not want.
- I'm sorry, but there was a butterfly in the exam room, which distracted me. Can you assume I got the correct anwer anyway?
- The heat capcity of neon gas: using Ne2 molecules we get....
- Dry etching is dry with a gaz at low temperature. Its required in the modern semiconductor industry because it doesn't break semiconductor.
- The data form a curve so clearly the graph has been plotted incorrectly. Nevertheless I have put a straight line through them so I can calculate some values.
- In dry etching ions from a plasma are fired at a surface which then blast off the atoms.
- Carbocations are stabilised by donation from neighbourly groups.
- The role of the catalyst is to accelerate the reaction so the calorimeter has less chance to iradiate heat and falsify the results.