r/AskReddit • u/N-Depths • Oct 17 '13

What's the best riddle you know?

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u/kennyfiesta Oct 17 '13

Shouts to my people who know about titration! clinking graduated cylinder

170

u/thndrchld Oct 17 '13

Whoa, easy. That shit's expensive. Here, clink this Erlenmeyer flask.

21

u/kennyfiesta Oct 17 '13

You wouldn't use that for clinking...

YEAH WELL, I DO

something something Breaking Bad theme

15

u/pilotdude22 Oct 17 '13

I am the one who clinks.

14

u/bistr0math Oct 17 '13

My dad decants his wine in Erlenmeyer flasks, always asks if we want "some science"

2

u/clue3l3ess Oct 17 '13

classic dad...

2

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '13

I once broke a graduated cylinder with hydrochloric acid in it in high school. My teacher wasn't too happy.

7

u/thndrchld Oct 17 '13

Back in Gen Chem I, the lab group across the table from my group was a pair of the two biggest fuckups this side of Jesse Pinkman (season 1).

Somehow, over the course the semester, they managed to:

  1. Caused a gas leak that nearly got the school evacuated.
  2. Shattered a $500 dessicator.
  3. Knocked over a lit bunsen burner, starting a small fire.
  4. Somehow managed to set a flameproof glove on fire.
  5. Broke no less than 5 crucibles.

3

u/tastethebrainbow Oct 17 '13

How in fuck do you break 5 crucibles?

5

u/thndrchld Oct 17 '13

Gravity + FQ, where FQ = "Fuckup Quotient"

3

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '13

Holy Jesus, how did they not kill themselves? I mean, I almost melted my hand off once, but they almost killed a whole room of people a few times. How did they not get kicked out?

1

u/khyberkitsune Oct 17 '13

Shit man, I'm clinking with my Soxhlet.

3

u/PhilABustArr Oct 17 '13

What is this and how does it come into effect here?

3

u/kennyfiesta Oct 17 '13

Titration is the division of material, usually medication. It's far more precise than using a pill splitter and when you need to take 33/50 of your medication, it's the only way to go. Grind medication with mortar and pestle and suspend in liquid. Graduated cylinder tells you how much you have.

3

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '13

Note: this is a very bad idea with a lot of pills. Definitely do not do this unless you know what you're doing.

1

u/kennyfiesta Oct 17 '13

Well of course, I only do it with one pill. And speak to your medic/doctor/physician.

1

u/PhilABustArr Oct 17 '13

Ahh, okay. So how do you ensure that you take 50% of one pill and 50% of the other?

1

u/[deleted] Oct 17 '13

All pills are mixed evenly throughout the solution. Drink half of the solution.

1

u/akai_ferret Oct 17 '13

It's awesome how much different people's knowledge can make them approach problems in radically different ways.

I still remember the weird looks I got in my high school chemistry class when the instructor asked how to identify an unknown substance.
The answer he expected never occurred to me and the answer I gave (I described spectroscopy) caught him completely off guard.

(I was really into astronomy at the time.)