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Testing Rubies, Precious Metals
Having fun with science since high school
Back in highschool, I took a class called qualitative analysis of chemistry. It was a lab course, which I found fascinating. In the lab, we got to make and use things like hydrochloric acid (HCL) and aqua regia, which is 1 part nitric acid (HNO3) and 3 parts HCl.
This was when I was at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, which is a public school that used to be located next to Union Square Park. You had to take a test to apply for the three elite public academic high schools — Stuyvesant, the Bronx High School of Science, and Brooklyn Tech. There were other tests to get into the arts oriented schools.
I managed to fit 10 classes into my 8 class periods by taking Qual at 0 period (so I got to school early), not taking a lunch period, and talking two of my instructors into letting me alterntatively sit in for the coursework. Yes, I was insane.
Since I was also a klutz, despite having a lab apron (which I still own and sometimes use when I bake), I would sometimes break glass beakers and douse myself with dangerous chemicals. Then I’d have to quickly rinse my arm with the the neutralizing substance to prevent chemical burns and would go into my next class smelling like a salad.
