Finding+humor


 * //Finding Humor//** - This is not finding humor in human difference or fallibility but perhaps more the ability to laugh at ourselves, and our own frailty. Think about how you cope when you get an answer wrong in class. Are you able to pick yourself up after a bad grade and deal with it reasonably?

During the Acids and Bases unit, we had to do an experiment to determine whether the chemicals are acids or bases by adding phenolphthalein and a purple solution boiled from a purple vegetable. The process was to get all these liquids into their respective test tubes and then add the two indicators to test whether the liquids are acids or bases. While we were adding the liquids into the test tubes, we neglected the fact that one or two of the test tubes have a hole on the bottom which means that the liquid leaked out of the tube. When we realized, it was too late! The liquids leaked onto the table and created a mess! Instead of thinking that we'll ave a lot of cleaning up to do, we all laughed at the fact that there were holes on the test tube. Despite of the mess, we found the holes really funny as we thought, "how can we miss such big holes?!". At the end, we managed well to clean up the soap-filled table and continue and finish the experiment (getting new test tubes and filling them with liquids and then adding the indicators). Another "humorous" incident was another acids and bases experiment. We had to detemine the pH of solutions (and when they are diluted). So similar to what happened before, we did not see that there was a hole on the bottom of one of the test tubes. Again, we filled that test tube with solution before realizing the hole. We only realized the hole when the solution was all over the table; and instead of being upset about all the effort that is wasted (it was the test tube where we had to dilute the liquid first before pouring it in), we laughed about the hole and our carelessness. At the end, with a cheerful attitude, we cleaned up and filled the test tube. We ended up having colorful test tubes!