The First Distillation Encounter

Just last week, I finally had the urge to visit my adviser's lab. I was also happy that I have finally met one of my adviser's research assistants who would guide me throughout my research. She gave me a rough outline of how the experiment would go. And boy, what a long tedious procedure that was! I am not complaining though. I've seen it coming actually. My seniors have already given me the right amount of fright I need to get myself working in my thesis. The first task I had to do is distillation. For the next few weeks, I'll be busy distilling methanol, ethyl acetate, and hexane. While I'm at it, I'll be collecting my samples (which would be easy since they told me I just needed a "little" help from the people in Biology. *wink*) and drying them. 

The rotary evaporator looks intimidating at first (well, at least for me). But turns out, all I need to do is to push buttons here and there to get me started. Of course, I'd have to keep track of the right temperature, pressure, etc. At first I was fascinated by how the machined works. See, that was my first time to handle a rotary evaporator. In our lab, we call it "rota vap". My task got boring eventually. I had nothing much to do during my first three-hour stay in the lab. But I'm glad I've filled a third of a large methanol bottle. To be honest though, that wasn't a very big accomplishment. I mean, I still have several bottles to fill and the average distillation rate I could do in the lab is 300-400mL every 20-25 minutes. But I'd still like to give my self a pat on the back for having the will to start my experiment. *Yay!*