GENERAL RULES FOR LAB SAFETY

1. SAFETY FIRST - USE COMMON SENSE to avoid accidents.

2. No student is allowed to work in a laboratory unless Lab Supervisory Personnel (Assistant)
are present. DO NOT ENTER LABORATORY unless your assistant is present in the lab.
3. Any student who endangers others' safety, or his or her own, will be dismissed from the
laboratory.
4. All students must WEAR SAFETY GLASSES (GOGGLES) AT ALL TIMES. Normal prescription
lenses are accepted! Violations will not be tolerated and repeated violation will result
in failure of the lab and the course.
5. Shoes (no sandals) must be worn at all times. Bare feet or open shoes (front or back)
are not permitted in the laboratory.
6. All students must wear lab coats at all times.
7. No eating, drinking, or smoking is permitted in the laboratory.
8. Only authorized experiments may be performed. Equipment should be performed only for
its intended purpose.
9. No chemicals or equipment may be removed from the laboratory.
10. Do not invite anyone into the lab.
11. Any student who is pregnant should not perform laboratory experiments.
Accommodation will be made if necessary to meet departmental requirements.
12. If you are or a student near you injured or if any type of accident or fire occurs,
IMMEDIATELY call your assistant for assistance.
13. The working space should be as uncluttered as possible to allow work space and avoid
accidents. Also, keep the aisles clear to prevent tripping over your gear. Place jackets,
coats, book bags, pocketbooks, etc. at/on the designated area. Ask your assistant for
help if needed.
14. Keep your work space clean and tidy. The working space, desk drawers, cabinets,
instruments must be kept neat and clean at all times.
15. When lab work is completed, all materials must be returned to their proper places and
used benches, instruments and glassware must be cleaned up.
16. Any student who has, or who develops a medical condition (epilepsy, asthma, allergies,
diabetes, etc.) should immediately notify the lab instructor.
17. When a fire alarm should occur, place the chemical and equipment safely to the nearest
possible table/bench, exit the building calmly and go to the designated area outside.
The instructor/technician should be the last one to leave the room, and should close
and lock the door. Remain together as a class. The instructor will check to be certain
that all students have exited the building. Do not wonder away and stay together. When
the "all clear" signal is received, return to the classroom.
WASTE
18. ONLY PURE WATER CAN GO DOWN THE SINK.
19. Follow the instruction of waste disposals. Never discard chemicals through the sink or
to a regular trash.
20. Only discard the proper waste that is identified by the label on the waste
container/collector.
21. Never mix the waste. Mixing may result in explosions and serious injuries.
22. Never overfill a waste container. If it is full, request a new one from your lab
instructor.
23. Laboratory specific wastes:
a.Solid waste must be discarded to solid waste container.
b.Silica waste must be dried in the student hood before poured into silica waste
container in the hood.
c.Broken glass should be placed into the broken glass collector. Never discard broken
glass to regular trash.
24. Never place regular trash into the waste containers. Normal trash can be thrown into
trash bins or to bins labeled as trash.
25. Rinse all disposable or broken glassware with water before discarding it in the broken
glass waste container. Rinse all regular glassware thoroughly with water before
returning.
26. If you are unsure on how to dispose of something, ask an assistant!

SAFETY RULES AND REGULATIONS SPECIFIC TO THE GENERAL CHEMISTRY

LABORATORY
Students should come to the lab on time.
No student is permitted in the laboratory without the instructor being present.
Each student must have his/her own lab coat and lab book and safety goggles in the lab.
Old books are not acceptable. (Students can get the lab books and safety goggles from
Halil Memis (Room: B-02) and the lab coats from General Chemistry Lab.)
No one is permitted in the laboratory with bare feet, sandals, or shoes (with exposed
toes) which do not provide adequate foot coverage.
Students with hair shoulder length or longer should tie with a hairclip. You cannot
use beret, hat, turban, etc
No unauthorized experiments are to be performed in the laboratory.
Do not eat food, drink beverages, or chew gum in the laboratory.
Report all injuries (cuts, burns) to the laboratory instructor immediately.
Know the location of fire extinguishers and fire blankets.
Know the emergency evacuation route.
Leave glassware clean and dry at the close of each laboratory period. Wash and wipe
desktop with paper towels. Be sure that gas and water are off. Each student is
responsible for cleaning up spilled chemicals or broken glassware.
Read the label twice before taking anything from a container.
 Do not take the reagent bottles away from their places. Carry liquids to your bench in
clean test tubes or beakers and carry solids in clean beakers or on weighing paper.
Take the exact amount of reagent indicated. Larger amounts will not be more effective
and may lead to uncontrollable reactions.
Never return unused chemicals to stock bottles. Dispose properly.
Never use one pipette for different chemicals. Do not insert your pipette or dropper into
the reagent bottles. Use the one that is designated (labeled) for that reagent.
Discard all water-insoluble solids and organic chemicals in the special containers that are
provided.
Discard any broken glass in broken glass collector, which is labeled as Broken Glass
Only.
Never throw matches, litmus paper or any solid waste into the sink
Never discard any liquid containing chemicals into the sink without your assistants
permission.
When heating a test tube, never point the mouth of the tube toward yourself or anyone
else. Some chemicals may eject violently when they start to boil.
Never pick up hot objects with your hands. After heating glassware or crucibles place
the item on a wire gauze to cool.
To insert glass tubing through a rubber stopper, lubricate the tube and stopper with
water or vaseline. Use a cloth or paper towel to protect your hand and hold the tubing
near the end to be inserted.
If an acid is to be diluted, pour acid slowly into the water with constant stirring. Never
add water to acid.
Any chemical spilled on your eye should be washed off with plenty of water for at least
15 minutes at the eye wash. Notify an instructor immediately.
. Any chemicals spilled on the skin should be washed off immediately and the skin should
be flooded with water for several minutes. Notify an instructor immediately.
Never taste any laboratory chemicals.
Never inhale gaseous fumes or position your noise directly above the sample. If you need
to determine the odor of a gas, gently fan a small amount of the vapor toward your
nose with your hand.
In case of fire, notify the instructor immediately. Turn off the heat source. If the fire is
uncontrollable, evacuate the room immediately, pull the fire alarm in the hallway,
and call the fire department.
If clothing catches fire, use a fire blanket or safety shower. If no blanket or safety
shower is available, roll the person over the floor while covering with other
coats. NEVER spray a fire extinguisher directly on a person.
Mercury vapor is invisible, but toxic. A broken thermometer that releases liquid mercury
should be reported immediately to the laboratory instructor. Open the windows and
leave the room for 15 min.
. In case of a skin burn, notify the instructor. Minor skin burns should immediately be
placed under cold running tap water for 5-10 minutes.
Mobile phones are strictly forbidden.
Students should use their own calculator. Mobile phones cannot be used as calculator.
Each student is supposed to perform 6 experiments during a term.
Each experiment will be evaluated over 10 points:
A student can take maximum 2 make-ups, if he / she has a medical report. If the
student gets 0 from two experiments, he / she fails both from the lab and
course.
 If you miss a lab with medical excuse, you must contact the lab coordinator before
missing the lab or as soon as possible after missing the lab. Make-up dates
are announced for each experiment.
The quizzes will be given at 8:45 (8:55, depending on weather conditions), 11:50
and 14:50.
You are responsible to clean your glassware and bench.
You should check your METU e-mails regularly
Be familiar with the following terms and their effects.
FLAMMABLE They burn.
IRRITANTS They irritate eyes, lungs and skin.
TOXIC They are poisonous, effective either the short or long
term.
CARCINOGENIC They cause cancer.
TERATOGENIC They cause defects in the unborn fetus.
MUTAGENIC They cause genetic mutations.
EXPLOSIVE They explode, usually on being mixed with air.
CORROSIVE They burn the eyes, lungs and skin.

Why is it when you pour salt water into fresh water it

separates instead of mixes together?
The reason why salt water and fresh water tend to separate is
because their densities are different. Density is a useful idea in
science. It means how much "stuff" is in a certain amount of
space. A can of air has less mass than a can of water that's the
same size. So the can of water has a higher density. Salt water
weighs more than the same amount of fresh water. This means
that fresh water will "float" on top of salt water. This happens
when water from rivers flow into the sea.