Horrible Lab Partners!!

[ILikeDrugs]

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Last semester I took gen chem I and was able to do the work in lab alone. I like going solo since I know everything that I do is up to par. Well this semester for II I got stuck with one of those people that is happy with getting a D/C just to pass the class. On top of all that, he is more concerned with getting out of lab as soon as possible.😡 I piss him off because I like to do things and take my measurements properly.

For example we were performing a lab based on Le Chatelier's principles and needed to create an endothermic reaction to see the reaction shift by a change in color. I set up the hot bath and put the test tube inside and 1 minute later he says, "ok there's no change. lets move on to the next experiment." He turns of the gas as if he knows what he is doing and taking charge.🙄 Of course I stood my ground and turned it back on and said I'm going to heat it until I get the reaction that I want to see and know that is suppose to happen.👍 So of course it went from pink to purple, and he didn't say much after that.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

If only we could fill out a quick "how much do you care about school" survey at the beginning of the first lab meet and be paired up with like minded people.

 

[stlouis79]

Last semester I took gen chem I and was able to do the work in lab alone. I like going solo since I know everything that I do is up to par. Well this semester for II I got stuck with one of those people that is happy with getting a D/C just to pass the class. On top of all that, he is more concerned with getting out of lab as soon as possible.😡 I piss him off because I like to do things and take my measurements properly.

For example we were performing a lab based on Le Chatelier's principles and needed to create an endothermic reaction to see the reaction shift by a change in color. I set up the hot bath and put the test tube inside and 1 minute later he says, "ok there's no change. lets move on to the next experiment." He turns of the gas as if he knows what he is doing and taking charge.🙄 Of course I stood my ground and turned it back on and said I'm going to heat it until I get the reaction that I want to see and know that is suppose to happen.👍 So of course it went from pink to purple, and he didn't say much after that.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

If only we could fill out a quick "how much do you care about school" survey at the beginning of the first lab meet and be paired up with like minded people.

I was always one of those "this **** sucks lets get out of here" people, of course thats also why I'm 29 and just now applying to pharm school. At least you have a strong enough personality to stand up and do your thing. You won't have to worry about that happening in your labs when you get to pharmacy school. There everyone should be on the same page.

 

[Lotus89]

Last semester I took gen chem I and was able to do the work in lab alone. I like going solo since I know everything that I do is up to par. Well this semester for II I got stuck with one of those people that is happy with getting a D/C just to pass the class. On top of all that, he is more concerned with getting out of lab as soon as possible.😡 I piss him off because I like to do things and take my measurements properly.

For example we were performing a lab based on Le Chatelier's principles and needed to create an endothermic reaction to see the reaction shift by a change in color. I set up the hot bath and put the test tube inside and 1 minute later he says, "ok there's no change. lets move on to the next experiment." He turns of the gas as if he knows what he is doing and taking charge.🙄 Of course I stood my ground and turned it back on and said I'm going to heat it until I get the reaction that I want to see and know that is suppose to happen.👍 So of course it went from pink to purple, and he didn't say much after that.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

If only we could fill out a quick "how much do you care about school" survey at the beginning of the first lab meet and be paired up with like minded people.

Yes I feel your pain, I am one of those people who want to do whats instructed, properly and accordingly and I hate when your stuck with someone who just doesn't want to be there. It makes it un-fun and annoying
I mean some of the experiements are cool and its nice to put what you learn from lecture into an experiment. A failing stuck-up lab partner is always one of the things I get scared of everytime I step into lab class the first day...

 

[fhx06]

Ahha, I know how you guys feel. My Physics experience has been like that. My school offers pre-lab instruction sessions in which we basically do the lab before hand, find out how to calculate the data and answer the questions, yet very few people go. I try my best to make it to one of the sessions every week and I'm pretty good about it, but once I get to class... generally the first thing my partner asks is "so what exactly do we do?"

 

[Carboxide]

While I agree that people who don't care about their grade suck as lab partners, I also hate people who take FOREVER to do simple stuff! It is VERY easy to make solutions. It is VERY easy to measure stuff out. It takes very little time to get an accurate measurement. In my Quantitative Analysis class, where we did a lot of titrations but got to work by ourselves, I was usually out in an hour or 1.5 hrs tops - it doesn't take long to do three titrations. But there were people who were STILL making solutions and hadn't even started titrating by the time I was done! Ridiculous. I hate those people. If you are the last person out of your lab every time, you are doing it wrong.

 

[ValeRx]

Bad lab partners do suck. I got an A last quarter in organic lab and I am definitely "lets get the hell out of here ASAP" because the later it gets in the lab, the longer it takes me to get home cause of traffic. I'm all about using the correct amount of reagents, etc but I REALLY hate those people who measure out exactly 5.0 mL of something, and sit there and try to pipet something out if they get too much... or if they are .005g from what we need, they sit there and add speck after speck of whatever to get it EXACTLY what the protocol says.

 

[dinoant]

While I agree that people who don't care about their grade suck as lab partners, I also hate people who take FOREVER to do simple stuff! It is VERY easy to make solutions. It is VERY easy to measure stuff out. It takes very little time to get an accurate measurement. In my Quantitative Analysis class, where we did a lot of titrations but got to work by ourselves, I was usually out in an hour or 1.5 hrs tops - it doesn't take long to do three titrations. But there were people who were STILL making solutions and hadn't even started titrating by the time I was done! Ridiculous. I hate those people. If you are the last person out of your lab every time, you are doing it wrong.

I agree, if you can do things right the first time, no need for all the extra work. If you just go slow enough to not make mistakes, but fast enough to keep a good pace and keep a rhythm going its easy to get out quick, not first, but def. not last. Though my lab partners kept messing up. I remember in my analytical lab i titrated everything perfect and made all these dilution and my lab partner would always overfill like all the samples with water and over dilute everything. After a while I just did the water my self.

 

[Sparda29]

That's why I prefer working alone, I am one of those let's get the hell out of here ASAP people, and I generally aced my labs.

If I'm not getting a reaction or any product, I'll start adding more reagents to it until something happens. It almost turned into disaster once, I believe we were nitrating toluene so I kept adding nitric acid to drive the reaction forward...oh it drove forward alright...the temperature shot up from 33C to 85C in like 10 seconds, I had to take a ****load of ice, took some from other people as well and just placed my solution in there, apparently it could have led to a violent explosion 😱

 

[Jdario86]

Ah...the dynamics between lab partners. I remember lab partner drama in my gen chem and O-chem labs.

This is what I did to avoid drama during my lab:

Before lab started, we tried to lay everything on the table about who does what. If someone feels uncomfortable doing something then the other person is in charge of it. Then vice versa. We compromise. But sometimes, depending on how difficult the person can be, reaching a compromise can be somewhat difficult.

Once I had a partner who would just make-up results in the end of the lab report so it can look favorable to what was suppose to occur. It drove me nuts because we would have different conclusions in our reports and our professor would get confused. I told my professor about this and at the end, I got the higher grade.

I say, the next time your partner tries to rush the lab, tell them that your lab grade depends on it and you can't afford making any mistakes. Talk it out. good luck.

 

[Sparda29]

Anatomy lab, my entire table was female, thus I ended up doing all the work during the dissections. The funniest thing was when I cut open a pig and the formaldehyde spewed out, some girl ran away and we could hear her throwing up. They were quite disgusted with me during the cat dissections, the gloves I was wearing were getting in my way so I took them off and did the dissections with my bare hands, much easier to peel off the fat. We weren't supposed to do a brain dissection but I took it upon myself to break the skull to gain access.

 

[tootoo30]

Yep I'll admit I'm one of those lets do this and get the hell out of here ASAP people too LOL, but I always do the experiment right, I just don't waste alot of time BSing around.

 

[Haleyzx]

Once I had a partner who would just make-up results in the end of the lab report so it can look favorable to what was suppose to occur.

that's so me.

 

[ValeRx]

It's hard to focus in organic lab, considering 95% of the experiments are:

1. Add reagents
2. Heat to 120 degrees C and stir for 1 hr
3. Cool to room temp
4. Put in ice bath
5. Hirsch funnel

 

[Jdario86]

Anatomy lab, my entire table was female, thus I ended up doing all the work during the dissections. The funniest thing was when I cut open a pig and the formaldehyde spewed out, some girl ran away and we could hear her throwing up. They were quite disgusted with me during the cat dissections, the gloves I was wearing were getting in my way so I took them off and did the dissections with my bare hands, much easier to peel off the fat. We weren't supposed to do a brain dissection but I took it upon myself to break the skull to gain access.

Hah hah. In my immunology lab, my group consisted of me and 3 other girls. DRAMA.

Once, one of my partners cried because we had to anesthesize a mouse. go figure.

 

[Lotus89]

yeah sometimes for the people that are the "have to get out of here asap", sometimes you do like 2-3 experiments or what not and some take a while to heat or cool and some have to saturate for a .5 hour or so? What do those people do then? twiddle their thumbs...whistle?
now I aint no prefectionist but i like to do things right and in the right order so it gets done, fast, but correctly

 

[Carboxide]

Anatomy lab, my entire table was female, thus I ended up doing all the work during the dissections. The funniest thing was when I cut open a pig and the formaldehyde spewed out, some girl ran away and we could hear her throwing up. They were quite disgusted with me during the cat dissections, the gloves I was wearing were getting in my way so I took them off and did the dissections with my bare hands, much easier to peel off the fat. We weren't supposed to do a brain dissection but I took it upon myself to break the skull to gain access.

You use animals in anatomy lab?? Really? We use cadavers...I figured everyone did.

Crazy.

 

[Lotus89]

Anatomy lab, my entire table was female, thus I ended up doing all the work during the dissections. The funniest thing was when I cut open a pig and the formaldehyde spewed out, some girl ran away and we could hear her throwing up. They were quite disgusted with me during the cat dissections, the gloves I was wearing were getting in my way so I took them off and did the dissections with my bare hands, much easier to peel off the fat. We weren't supposed to do a brain dissection but I took it upon myself to break the skull to gain access.

Poor kitty....🙁

 

[meowmeow]

Anatomy lab, my entire table was female, thus I ended up doing all the work during the dissections. The funniest thing was when I cut open a pig and the formaldehyde spewed out, some girl ran away and we could hear her throwing up. They were quite disgusted with me during the cat dissections, the gloves I was wearing were getting in my way so I took them off and did the dissections with my bare hands, much easier to peel off the fat. We weren't supposed to do a brain dissection but I took it upon myself to break the skull to gain access.

That is VERY sexy, sparda! 😍

 

[eightonesix]

I know the feeling! But I think it's all part of the process.. working with people and whatnot. In work, school and every where you go there will always be that person that doesnt mind getting by. Kind of tests how well you can work with people sometimes 🙄

 

[Artful Dodger]

You aren't obligated to share duties anyhow, unless it was stated on day one that you can't do the labs alone. Just let the TA know that you have a problem with someone who is being selfish & unfair by rushing the experiments. Why not? It's your money. Get your money's worth. You have a right to dignity and respect. I think you could play that card in this situation - if it is bothering you.

 

[Sparda29]

That is VERY sexy, sparda! 😍

I know. 😎

As for the heating experiments, honestly, I just crank up the temperature on the electric heater. If it says 40V, I'll use 70V. Can't do that in pharmacy compounding though, that's where I'm exact the decimals.

 

[cassandra123]

It's hard to focus in organic lab, considering 95% of the experiments are:

1. Add reagents
2. Heat to 120 degrees C and stir for 1 hr
3. Cool to room temp
4. Put in ice bath
5. Hirsch funnel

LOL!!! So true!

I'm a lets get the eff outta here person, and my lab partners would give me crap for it. But, the time i did my lab solo (cause they were off doing some other part of the lab or something), i kicked chemistry's ass by having the highest, most pure yield ever. So i totally rubbed it in their faces. TAKE THAT OCHEM!

 

[Scikotic]

Ha! Great post... I once had a female lab partner, one of those really young duel-enrolled fledglings, for Anatomy I and we were dissecting sheep eyes (yawn). She already seemed very nervous being in a college class. I proceeded to cut open the eye and of course it "popped" and squirted aqueous humor onto her unshielded face 😱 she immediately began to scream like a banshee while frantically trying to wipe her face 🤣 It really caused a scene but she survived...lol

 

[pcproduct]

I was one of those that would sit around and chit-chat during Gen Chem lab. But that was only because one or two of my lab partner(s) insisted on doing everything. It's a bit ironic that I'm a TA for a couple of those labs now.

I've picked up the slack in my O. Chem labs these days though.

 

[luckyphooey]

I would of been like that guy. Lab was the bane of my existence, I always want to leave lab as soon as I get there.

 

[trailrider400]

ahahah I was 'that guy' except I still did good work for the most part. I also blew up a beaker of ink and wrecked a nice shirt in ochem lab one time. I apparently am still used as an example by name of what not to do in the ink lab. Try burning your lab partner with a bunsen burner or some concentrated sulfuric acid. Send them a message that they must respect your athoritaaay

 

[GlamDoc]

It's hard to focus in organic lab, considering 95% of the experiments are:

1. Add reagents
2. Heat to 120 degrees C and stir for 1 hr
3. Cool to room temp
4. Put in ice bath
5. Hirsch funnel

Hehe, totally. So sad when after a bazillion hours of refluxing, extracting, whatever, you get the exact opposite product from what you were supposed to have gotten (i.e. getting solid precipitate when liquid necessary, and of course having no solid when necessary!)

😍 OChem lab.

 

[kismet]

Anyone else have similar experiences?

I took a biochem lab.. it was two five-hour sessions a week and I was super excited to have a lab partner who was not only not lame but had prior lab experience from a job. Unfortunately, it was a senior level class and we got stuck with this little sophomore whose partner dropped after the first session. At the beginning of lab we'd each take a part to prepare and then we'd put them all together and run the readings. Except this sophomore was incapable of doing anything without explicit instructions written out. So my partner and I would be ready and waiting for the last reagent preparation and this kid hadn't even gotten through the math to do the prep yet. So we started doing the math for him and telling him, go get so much of reagent A, so much of reagent B, etc... but no matter how many times I said, hey, be sure you get the 0.025mM reagent A, not the 0.5mM reagent A, because the prof just cautioned us there are two, he would get the wrong one and we wouldn't find out until our experiment miserably failed an hour later.. so.. we just did everything ourselves and would let him write down the results or do cleanup or something mostly harmless.

However, the best part ever was when we had to do lab practicals solo, and this kid just sat on his stool, staring at his notebook, going "I have no idea what to do!"

Still makes me smile. 😀

 

[gonj]

I was always horrible in lab, horrible with hands-on stuff in general, really. Slow, last one out every single time. Even when I worked in a lab, I was slow in the beginning. But you know what, once I got it, I got it - and soon enough did just about everything quicker, more efficiently, and better than people who had been doing it for years. So anyone who wants to get all bent out of shape at someone who is slow the first time upon doing a task can kiss my ****ing ass.

 

[Sparda29]

I always felt sorry for one of my friends in Organic Chem lab, he was one clumsy person. First day of lab, he dropped the container with all the distillation equipment and everything broke.

I only had the lack of fortune to break a separation funnel on the last day of lab.

 

[sandoz]

Oh, yep, you guys are right.

Girls think science is "icky."

We are all like "eww, gross" and we are also clueless in all non-icky lab situations.

That's why there are no girls in science.

No female physicians, no female pharmacists, no female nurses.

It's too gross for girls, you're all right on.

 

[stlouis79]

Im the dumb guy that actually tried the aspirin that we synthesized in ochem lab....good times.

 

[fhx06]

I'm amazed at some of the things people do prior to lab. When we were using the high concentration acids and bases in Gen. Chem. 2, we were warned to be focused when coming in. One of the guys in my lab has a tendency to show up... high. Despite the warnings, he came into lab obviously stoned and happy and about twenty minutes into the lab period, I hear a large crash and look behind me to see his lab book and notebook being chewed up by acid and a distinct burn mark on his cheek. -.- At moments like that, I'm really glad I wasn't working next to him in these cramped work areas.

 

[thephoenician88]

Bad lab partners do suck. I got an A last quarter in organic lab and I am definitely "lets get the hell out of here ASAP" because the later it gets in the lab, the longer it takes me to get home cause of traffic. I'm all about using the correct amount of reagents, etc but I REALLY hate those people who measure out exactly 5.0 mL of something, and sit there and try to pipet something out if they get too much... or if they are .005g from what we need, they sit there and add speck after speck of whatever to get it EXACTLY what the protocol says.

same, this is undergrad lab, in organic the prof would tell us to either add stuff till something happened or what we thought was enough (he was awesome) yet my lab partner, "OMG YOU ADDED TOO MUCH...IT'S RUINED OMG ".

give me a break!

 

[thephoenician88]

Im the dumb guy that actually tried the aspirin that we synthesized in ochem lab....good times.

nice, i wanted to rub some clove oil on my gums...1 look at our clean *ahem* equipment though and i changed my mind haha

 

[AntiviralsRule]

In Gen Chem, I had a lab partner who would cut in front of other people in line at the fume hood when we were all (28 of us) sharing the same reagents. He'd also monopolize the instructor's time by asking inane questions and yelling from across the room b/c he needed help. Once when he cut in line I told him that was rude, he totally acted like I hadn't said anything and walked away. Needless to say, I found another lab partner the next semester. 🙂

 

[Sparda29]

The first thing I did when I got to lab was just get a bunch of beakers, grab a bunch of all the ingredients needed, and then measured down to whatever needed for the reaction, or just use the same ratios but with higher quantities.

 

[Praziquantel86]

If I'm not getting a reaction or any product, I'll start adding more reagents to it until something happens. It almost turned into disaster once, I believe we were nitrating toluene so I kept adding nitric acid to drive the reaction forward...oh it drove forward alright...the temperature shot up from 33C to 85C in like 10 seconds, I had to take a ****load of ice, took some from other people as well and just placed my solution in there, apparently it could have led to a violent explosion 😱

I'd say violent is underestimating things. I did the same thing during my Orgo II lab. I turned around just in time to see the beaker start bubbling, so I slammed the blast shield window down. Pieces of glass from my beaker were lodged in the fume hood until I pulled them out at the end of the semester.

Also, never add potassium permanganate powder to propylene glycol in a plastic dixie cup. Bad things happen.

 

[rphfan2009]

Last semester I took gen chem I and was able to do the work in lab alone. I like going solo since I know everything that I do is up to par. Well this semester for II I got stuck with one of those people that is happy with getting a D/C just to pass the class. On top of all that, he is more concerned with getting out of lab as soon as possible.😡 I piss him off because I like to do things and take my measurements properly.

For example we were performing a lab based on Le Chatelier's principles and needed to create an endothermic reaction to see the reaction shift by a change in color. I set up the hot bath and put the test tube inside and 1 minute later he says, "ok there's no change. lets move on to the next experiment." He turns of the gas as if he knows what he is doing and taking charge.🙄 Of course I stood my ground and turned it back on and said I'm going to heat it until I get the reaction that I want to see and know that is suppose to happen.👍 So of course it went from pink to purple, and he didn't say much after that.

Anyone else have similar experiences?

If only we could fill out a quick "how much do you care about school" survey at the beginning of the first lab meet and be paired up with like minded people.

I start my pre-reqs this summer and this is the type of sh** that scares me--what if I get a jerk off for a lab partner?

 

[fhx06]

Just know what you need to do for the lab and prepare accordingly; that's the best thing to do.

 

[rphfan2009]

Just know what you need to do for the lab and prepare accordingly; that's the best thing to do.

I guess there really isnt much I can do...except to worry about myself and do well

 

[fhx06]

Yah. At times you'll feel like you are carrying someone else's weight, but you learn to get through it.

 

[Sparda29]

I'd say violent is underestimating things. I did the same thing during my Orgo II lab. I turned around just in time to see the beaker start bubbling, so I slammed the blast shield window down. Pieces of glass from my beaker were lodged in the fume hood until I pulled them out at the end of the semester.

Also, never add potassium permanganate powder to propylene glycol in a plastic dixie cup. Bad things happen.

LIU is pretty poor when it comes to money in their chemistry department, we did not have a blast shield, this process was done at the bench. I forgot to mention the phrase I yelled when this happened, if you've played Counter-Strike, chat command C7, "Get out of there, it's gonna blow!!!"

Although, I wonder what would have happened if you added some strong base to quench out the acids.

 

[asturia]

I remember in g-chem lab, it was mostly solo work. However, we had partners for o-chem lab and my partner annoyed me to tears! She really pissed me off a great deal. I don't care what religion you subscribe to but please don't ever use a religious holiday as a reason you can't write up a goddamn post-lab. 😡 Thankfully, the flaky sort tend not to show in upper div labs!

 

[Praziquantel86]

LIU is pretty poor when it comes to money in their chemistry department, we did not have a blast shield, this process was done at the bench. I forgot to mention the phrase I yelled when this happened, if you've played Counter-Strike, chat command C7, "Get out of there, it's gonna blow!!!"

Although, I wonder what would have happened if you added some strong base to quench out the acids.

You probably would have accelerated the reaction if it was that far along. Even a slight bit of neutralization is pretty exothermic.

 

[homeskillet]

you should blame your lab partner for not jumping in front of the blast.

 

[IrishHammer]

That's why I prefer working alone, I am one of those let's get the hell out of here ASAP people, and I generally aced my labs.

If I'm not getting a reaction or any product, I'll start adding more reagents to it until something happens. It almost turned into disaster once, I believe we were nitrating toluene so I kept adding nitric acid to drive the reaction forward...oh it drove forward alright...the temperature shot up from 33C to 85C in like 10 seconds, I had to take a ****load of ice, took some from other people as well and just placed my solution in there, apparently it could have led to a violent explosion 😱

We never got to do that lab..."Okay, everyone, today we're going to be synthesizing Trinitrotoluene." Man, Community Colleges really do rip you off sometimes.

In all seriousness, though, I'm with you, in Organic Chem lab my professor was/is the same way, if the reaction with the given amount of ingredients in the lab manual didn't work, we would tinker with it until a more favorable product was reached. That's moreso the sign of somebody who can problem solve than somebody who just wants to get out of lab as quickly as possible, imo.