• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Florida Teen Expelled For Doing Science

Rolfe said:
It happened "in the school grounds", not in the lab. And they aren't telling us what she mixed, or what her intent was. There's more to this than meets the eye.
Click to expand...

I am inclined to agree with you, it's more than a ridiculous over reaction to a genuine science experiment IMO.

Conducting a "science experiment" at 0700 on school grounds sounds more to me like showing her friends that she could make something that goes bang !

Even by U.S. standards, isn't 0700 early for the start of the school day ?
 
Science experiment my butt. She mixed together some chemicals she knew would go bang, or whatever they did, to show off. Really bad judgement.

In my day, when we mixed chemicals together on school grounds to show off, we had the sense to do it when no authority was around to catch us. If we had been caught, we would have expected to be punished.

It is likely that this girls concoction was well known to the students at the school and had been mixed together at various times by students who didn't get caught. Like the ubiquitous chlorine and anti-freeze of my school days, the glowing results of which appeared periodically in playgrounds and even (empty) roadways until the buzz died down.
 
In a related case, a nine year old dropped a Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke. He's been sent to Guantanamo after extensive interrogation, and thirty other nine year olds have been rounded up as suspected collaborators. The school has been razed to the ground and the earth sown with salt so another may not grow there. Drones have been deployed in geostationary orbit to monitor the site and react with deadly force should anyone venture into the Forbidden Zone.
 
Yeah, I call BS on her being "shocked" by the explosion. She might have been "shocked" that she was caught, but she knew that she was doing.
 
SonOfLaertes said:
Science experiment my butt. She mixed together some chemicals she knew would go bang, or whatever they did, to show off. Really bad judgement.
Click to expand...

Those were my thoughts too. She's not innocent, but as Vermonter said, it should be dealt with by a suspension and a talking to, not expulsion and criminal charges.
 
Ian Osborne said:
Those were my thoughts too. She's not innocent, but as Vermonter said, it should be dealt with by a suspension and a talking to, not expulsion and criminal charges.
Click to expand...

I agree but it depends on what the chemicals were and what the danger may have been. If it's a case of mixing whatever chemicals could have caused a fatal explosion but she just messed up the mixing or proportions, that's a different matter than mixing chemicals together that could only ever have gone "phut"
 
The Don said:
I agree but it depends on what the chemicals were and what the danger may have been. If it's a case of mixing whatever chemicals could have caused a fatal explosion but she just messed up the mixing or proportions, that's a different matter than mixing chemicals together that could only ever have gone "phut"
Click to expand...

Yes, the article left a lot of blanks - probably correctly, as we don't want kids to read about how to cause minor explosions.

The fact that the 'explosion' only blew the top off the bottle would suggest it's closer to the latter of your two hypotheticals, but it's not impossible that she made a significantly powerful bomb but only the catalyst exploded.
 
Ian Osborne said:
Yes, the article left a lot of blanks - probably correctly, as we don't want kids to read about how to cause minor explosions.

The fact that the 'explosion' only blew the top off the bottle would suggest it's closer to the latter of your two hypotheticals, but it's not impossible that she made a significantly powerful bomb but only the catalyst exploded.
Click to expand...

Or that the only thing stopping it from being more powerful was the strength of the container. There's just not enough detail in the story to declare the expulsion fair or overreaction.
 
BenBurch said:
She was doing an experiment I did as a child. Making hydrogen gas. You are supposed to have a balloon to capture the hydrogen.
Click to expand...

Do we know that was the experiment? I think there's some question.

phunk said:
Or that the only thing stopping it from being more powerful was the strength of the container. There's just not enough detail in the story to declare the expulsion fair or overreaction.
Click to expand...

This, most definately.

On one hand, we've all done things in a chemistry lab that were, say, less than ideal. Not with any malicious intent, but usually just because "wouldn't that be cool" or "wonder what happens if". This could well be more of the same.

On the other hand, this happening at 7 AM is suspiscious to me. I've never heard of a school starting that early; generally it's around 8 AM (the earliest I remember seeing is 7:30 for some specialty schools). Also, if that was the incident, then she had to have started before that time. It does make me wonder why the experiment was being done before nominal school hours, and school hours. Additionally, if this was (as it seems) somethign she did on her own, why wait until on school property? Why not do it at home, where it wouldn't be a problem with the school (theoretically)? Why not ask the chemistry teacher "Hey, I came across [whatever info about the chemicals], what happens when they're mixed?".

I suspect, as others have stated, there's more to this than has been released. At this time I suspect a bit of over-reaction has occurred, but I'm withholding a firm judgement until more information is released.
 
Last edited:
We made such things as kids and never would have gotten arrested for it. Today, it's a device of mass destruction and they will haul you away.

Then again, we never would have made them at school.

The science teacher at our junior high set off a small bomb as a chemical reaction demonstration in the back yard of the school.
 
phunk said:
Yeah, I call BS on her being "shocked" by the explosion. She might have been "shocked" that she was caught, but she knew that she was doing.
Click to expand...

I agree, it was probably more of a surprised reaction - "Oops, that made a bigger boom than I was expecting! Oh well, ha ha ha. Oh wait, somebody in the school building heard it...."
 
It sounds like a gross overreaction by the authorities (the expulsion seems over the top and being charged with crimes seems downright crazy) but as others I find it hard to believe she didn't know what was up.
 
fuelair said:
I would love to know what she did mix simply to verify the statements of what occured.
Click to expand...

No need to wonder, it has all been figured out . . .

mijopaalmc said:
she most definitely created a bomb filled with acid.
Click to expand...

Who needs facts when speculation can get us so much further . . . .

As someone who played with all sorts of explosives at that age I can only say: never on school grounds.*

*Except that one time when I left something in the wrong bag and I was a nervous wreck all day waiting for someone to find out what was in my locker. The Tell-Tale Heart made so much more sense after that day.
 
Dr. Keith said:
As someone who played with all sorts of explosives at that age I can only say: never on school grounds.*

*Except that one time when I left something in the wrong bag and I was a nervous wreck all day waiting for someone to find out what was in my locker. The Tell-Tale Heart made so much more sense after that day.
Click to expand...
While the only violent acts I engaged in during school were fights (which, FTR, I never started, though I had a big mouth), there's no question that an inspection of my locker during freshman year of high school would have resulted in my [justifiable] expulsion. I was a really bad honors student that year.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom