Howlers of the week 2009/10
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)
- The photoexcitation was measured using a flourmeter.
- The temperature and pressure were roughly constant throughout the course of the experiment, and all the chemicals used were from the same bottles. This suggests that the data from part B was ruined by experimental human error.
- A surphactant is a molecule that is hydrophilic and hydrophobic and used in mild cleaning products.
- Rearranging this makes the equation a lot friendlier.
- The solid was weighed out and dissolved in a beaker.
- After the experiment I did the washing up and ensured all the glassware was properly dried.
- The Michael Addition was a reaction discovered in 1997 by a Oxford Professor Sir Robert Robinson (1886-1947).
- Two of the 5 results were eliminated as anomalies because the three remaining points of data were then easier to fit with a line of best fit.
- This experiment cannot determine whether or not the method used is a reliable way of determining the CMC of a surfactant. Conversely, it does not act as evidence to suggest the method used was wrong either.
- The values obtained were inconsistent with any of the literature and also were insensible .
- The errors were underestimated at 0.5%. A more accurate error would be 1%.
- This is where the error crept in.
- ...being an order of magnitude of 100 smaller than literature value.
- If on repeat of this experiment obscure results are yet again obtained, the assumptions may have to be reconsidered.
- I would like to thank [name] and [name] for helping in the ruinning of this experiment.
- The hydrophobic hydrocarbon chains are represented by the stalks; these stalks are mobile.
- The calculated value was far out.
Reports
- The combustion torch method is a deviance of the plasma jet technique.
- The coincident molecular beams were uniformed before subject to the MS via an initial molecular chopping process (specifically with a tuning fork molecular chopper).
- The molecules were guided towards the turbomolecular pump’s face.
- This spectrometer was a slight alternative to normal mass spectrometers.
- Semiconductor technology is becoming more and more sofisticated.
Exams
- The molecule that adsorbed on the surface was a Cl atom. Although in reality the molecule was probably a chloride ion.
- Physisorption is the binding of an incumming molecule to a surface by Van da Walls links.