• Question: what is your favourite chemical you have used

    Asked by phippardjwh to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 23 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Helen Fletcher

      Helen Fletcher answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      2-mercaptoethanol. It is SOOOOOO antisocial it’s like a stink bomb and you can smell even a thousandth of a ml of it from 30 meters away. We use it for extracting RNA from cells. I suppose I have a love/hate relationship with it because the smell stays with me for hours after I have used it.

    • Photo: David Corne

      David Corne answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      This one:

      It’s a major component of tea, which keeps my brain lubricated.

    • Photo: Rhys Phillips

      Rhys Phillips answered on 17 Jun 2011:

      Sodium chloride – it makes my chips taste nicer (otherwise known as salt).

    • Photo: Sarah Cook

      Sarah Cook answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      ethylene glycol – keeps my car happy when its cold (anti-freeze)

    • Photo: Ian van der Linde

      Ian van der Linde answered on 23 Jun 2011:

      My Chemical Romance. Nice to have some music on when you’re working (I don’t work with chemicals, so this is the best I can do!).

Comments