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Fun with phenolphthalein (jgc.org)
17 points by jgrahamc on March 13, 2012 | hide | past | favorite | 3 comments



Don't get any phenolphthalein on you. Don't get it anywhere near your mouth, nose, eyes, or other sensitive parts. For the love of your sense of taste, do not drink the damn stuff.

My most vivid memory of high school chemistry is how awful that tastes. It's like pennies, but not as sweet and more chemical. My second most vivid memory of high school chemistry is how cold my extremities felt after it lowered my blood pressure.

I was wearing gloves. I was wearing goggles. I washed afterwards. It still got to me.


I can't believe nobody has mentioned its laxative effect. My chemistry teacher used to tell every class about the tough guy who thought he could ingest some phenolphthalein and didn't even make it to the door before relieving himself.


Hah. Given how far I lived from my high school, I now feel I got off really lucky.




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