Author Archive
CLT #27: Frictionless Vacuum
by azmanam on Mar 13 2012 (8601 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
A little physics humor this week.
via xkcd
Enjoy!
CLT #26: Substituted Benzene Preparation
by azmanam on Mar 06 2012 (11572 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
This is the week my students have their exam on Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution 
via ComicJK
Enjoy!
Shellac Nail Polish: How Does It Work?
by azmanam on Mar 01 2012 (21846 Views)See other articles in the How Does It Work series.
Shellac nail polish, sometimes referred to as gel nail polish, is all the rage these days. They claim to give a chip-free coating to your nails and can last several weeks. It can last even longer than that, but after two or three weeks, your nails have grown out and you can start to see unpolished nail at the base of your polished nail. If you go in for a quick touch up and fill in, your shellac nail polish can I guess last indefinitely!
What is Typical Nail Polish?
To start, let’s talk about typical, boring, old nail polish. At is core, nail polish is nitrocellulose dissolved in a solvent. Nitrocellulose is known for giving a nice, shiny, hard film once the solvent evaporates. Nitrocellulose is also known for exploding. It’s what makes up magicians ‘flash paper,’ and guncotton. Fortunately, our nails don’t explode. I’m pretty sure the manufacturers worked on figuring that one out before mass producing nail polishes.
CLT #25: Benzene
by azmanam on Feb 28 2012 (10999 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
This is the week my students learn about Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution
via Lab-Initio
Enjoy!
CLT #24: Universal Solvent
by azmanam on Feb 21 2012 (12214 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
No need to cite a source today. This one's an azmanam original!
via ME! (click for larger)
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CLT #23: Valentine's Day
by azmanam on Feb 14 2012 (6339 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
Happy Valentine's Day!
via SMBC
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CLT #22: Partial Credit
by azmanam on Feb 07 2012 (6533 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
My students have their first exam of the semester this week. MS, IR, and NMR spectroscopy. Wish them luck I have no idea what the origin of this cartoon is. It was on the office door of one of the professors at UNC where I did my Ph.D. I asked him to scan it for me when I left so I could pass it on to my students. They don't like it very much
Click the image for larger.
via ???
Enjoy!
CLT #21: Ay! You!
by azmanam on Jan 31 2012 (9163 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
I found this cartoon doodled on the back of a quiz I gave last week in my organic chemistry class. The artist gave me permission to scan his contribution and post it here on the blog for everyone to enjoy. Made me chuckle.
Click the image for larger.
via one of my students!
Enjoy!
CLT #20: Practical Joker
by azmanam on Jan 24 2012 (9051 Views)Welcome back to Cheap Laugh Tuesdays!
More from the Far Side. (note: I don't think this is a good idea. Don't try this on your coworkers )
via The Far Side
Enjoy!
Organic Chemistry Extra Credit You Tube Parody Videos
by azmanam on Jan 20 2012 (8639 Views)Last spring, a few of my students made me an awesome parody video of Rebecca Black's Friday, "It's Lab Day."
This semester, nearly half my class turned in lots of great parody videos. Not all of them wanted to be shared publicly, but here are most of the videos my class made me!
Sunglasses in Lab
Two notes about this one: the guy singing a) is part of our university's a Capella group (no AutoTune here), and b) actually does wear tinted safety glasses in lab
Last Ochem Class
It's true that our department is broke and can't afford sep funnels, so we do extractions in measuring cups.
Organic Chemistry
A nice sampling of three songs while daydreaming in class: one I don't recognize, Billionaire, and Party Rock Anthem
OChem Rock Anthem
Keeping with the LMFAO theme.
Round Bottom Flask
Parody of Toby Keith's Red Solo Cup. Nice shout out to James over at Master Organic Chemistry in this one.
Organic Chemistry Tips
Like Kramer's Peterman Reality Tour, I never thought someone could recreate the experience of actually being in my class, but this is pretty close.
An OChem Christmas
The students turned these in at the end of fall semester, so several had Christmas themes. The first one has a pretty low volume, be warned, but awesome hair decorations. Followed by The 12 Days of OChem, and O' Chemistry.
Enjoy!
Cheap Laugh Tuesdays #19: How to Avoid 'Chem-Speak'
by azmanam on Jan 17 2012 (5722 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
Back to Sidney Harris this week (last seen as the inspiration for the Fantasy Research League)
Enjoy!
Cheap Laugh Tuesdays #18: Base Guitar
by azmanam on Jan 10 2012 (7362 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
via Mr. Brügge's Eighth Graders, although this particular one seems to be broken on that page
Enjoy!
