I’m in the middle of writing of up reports (who isn’t?) and don’t have a lot of free time, but a couple of times this week I have tried to get the Pressure and Boiling Point demonstration up and running. I figure that as a so-called experienced teacher I should be able to work this without too much trouble. After all it is in all Junior Cert text-books and presumably is on the syllabus – the implication is that every teacher does this.

 I set it up with a partial vacuum caused by running water (how many people use this as a wonderful way of teaching about particle motion?).
Nothing

I set it up with an electric vacuum pump.
Nada.

I have put hours into this.

If water could laugh mine would be wearing a smile from cheek to cheek. I imagine I am not forming a sufficient seal, but don’t know how to improve it.

So I resort to youtube. Don’t tell me using the internet to show demonstrations is the lazy option. I try, I really do. I just don’t have green fingers when it comes to this sort of thing.
The worst part of all this is that I now have to go back to Mr O’ Boyle and ask him to show me again how he does it.
And he’s a Chemistry teacher – oh the shame!

Now while checking that this link still works I came across this beauty – off to try it again tomorrow.