• Question: How long does it take to do an experiment

    Asked by hotshot to Andrew, Beth, Bruce, Lindy, Lizzie on 18 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Lizzie Eaves

      Lizzie Eaves answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      That depends on a lot of different things! What it is that you’re reacting, what temperature you want to do the experiment at and what other things you put into the reaction that aren’t the main components are just a few factors that affect the time an experiment takes to complete.

      For example, some chemicals are very reactive and will react very quickly – sometimes in milli- or microseconds! On the other hand, there are those that take days and days and lots of energy to react…. there really is no straightforward answer to this.

    • Photo: Bruce Alexander

      Bruce Alexander answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      That depends if someone has washed the glassware first !

      I’ve done experiments that last for a month, and some that lasted 10 minutes. The ideal length of time for an experiment is one that you can start, go away for a cup of coffee and comeback just in time to work out what the results mean.

    • Photo: Lindy Heath

      Lindy Heath answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      I am very lucky that my experiments are very quick. I can form materials in less than an hour! However, not all scientists can complete their reactions in such a short amount of time. It really depends on how reactive your starting materials are, the temperature and your choice of catalyst. Often scientists will choose the optimum temperature and use the most efficient catalyst to reduce the time taken to run an experiment.

    • Photo: Beth Mortimer

      Beth Mortimer answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      My experiments take several steps and I don’t use chemicals. I need to select the animals first, then take silk samples from them (it doesn’t harm the animals), then mount the samples for testing, then perform a range of different mechanical tests onto the materials. A lot of the time I also have to wait for testing equipment to be ready. So to finish the whole experiment can take 4 days to 3 weeks. Therefore I do many experiments at the same time!

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