CHEMISTRY PREPROOM- Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories

Individual Research Projects
General Information

This page explains:

    Considerations For Your Initial Request
    Chemical Waste Disposal Procedures

Individual research projects occur toward the end of the semester and ask students to draw on what they have learned in order to solve a problem.  To make this a good learning experience, it is important that the Preproom, instructors, and students work together and communicate openly about what is needed for each experiment.

Chemicals & Equipment

At some point in the semester, before you actually begin your project, you will be required to submit a proposal to your instructor for approval.  It is important to be thorough in your requests.  You should think about what equipment you'll need (pH meters, spectrometers, etc.) and what chemicals you'll need.  For the most part, all of your chemical and equipment needs have been anticipated.  Given the procedures from which you will choose, we have tried to predict sample preparation and analysis needs.  However, we realize that you might have additional requirements for your project, and we have established guidelines for this.  

For course specific information, please follow the links at the bottom of this page.

Chemical Waste

Each week, you will take a waste "tag."  This tag provides space for you to record the details about your liquid waste, including the chemical name, molarity, and amount.  You should fill this out as you proceed in your lab work.  Don't wait until the end of the lab period to try to remember exactly what you put in the waste bucket.  It is imperative that this form is filled out completely when you dispose of your waste in one of the three waste streams located in the waste hood in your lab room.

Research Project Chemical Waste Requirements

General Information.  A solid waste crock will continue to be present in the waste hood.  Use it as you have before.  Liquid waste, however, requires a more individualized arrangement.  In previous experiments, the Preproom has provided a “community” waste bucket for liquid waste.  You have not been required to record exactly what you pour into the waste bucket.  This is because the liquid waste components have been previously determined and reported to the Department of Risk Management who picks up and transports all of our chemical waste.  This is not the case with your research project.  Therefore, your liquid waste must be dealt with on an individual basis.

Waste Tags.  Each day, you will obtain a waste “tag” from the reagent bench in your lab room.  The waste tag, shown on the last page of your lab manual, has spaces for you to record important information.  What you write in these spaces will determine how the waste is disposed.  It is very important environmentally, as well as from a personal safety aspect for the person who will deal with your chemical waste later, that this information is both accurate and complete.  You will pour it into one of three waste streams – Organic Solvents, Aqueous Solutions, or Chromium Solutions.  All tags are kept in the baggie attached to the waste bucket until the waste bucket is full.  The Preproom then compiles all of the information for each waste bucket to determine the composition.  Once this is done, the Department of Risk Management will pick up the bucket.

When filling out your waste tag, please observe the following guidelines:

·         Write out the chemical name, not the chemical formula.

·         Note the concentration of the solution. 

·         Note the volume of the solution.