Re: chemistry sci-fi

On May 23, 10:12 am, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bru...@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Madalch wrote:
On May 23, 8:17 am, Dirk Bruere at NeoPax <dirk.bru...@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
In that book ("A Whiff of Death"), a grad student is also murdered by
someone who replaces a sodium acetate solution with sodium cyanide.
When the student acidifies his solution, the HCN formed kills him.
Wouldn't the smell give it away before death ensues?

That's actually what killed him. He didn't notice the vinegar smell
he expected, so he leaned in closer and took a bigger whiff.

In chem class we were told never to do that:-)
The correct procedure was to wave the hand over it and take a *tiny* sniff.

Same here. But the book was set in the fifties or sixties, when
people were more careless, I suppose...
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: chemistry sci-fi
    ... someone who replaces a sodium acetate solution with sodium cyanide. ... When the student acidifies his solution, ... Wouldn't the smell give it away before death ensues? ... There were several deaths at a Princeton lab when such occured. ...
    (sci.chem)
  • Re: chemistry sci-fi
    ... someone who replaces a sodium acetate solution with sodium cyanide. ... When the student acidifies his solution, ... Wouldn't the smell give it away before death ensues? ... There were several deaths at a Princeton lab when such occured. ...
    (sci.chem)
  • Re: chemistry sci-fi
    ... someone who replaces a sodium acetate solution with sodium cyanide. ... When the student acidifies his solution, the HCN formed kills him. ... He didn't notice the vinegar smell ...
    (sci.chem)
  • Re: chemistry sci-fi
    ... someone who replaces a sodium acetate solution with sodium cyanide. ... When the student acidifies his solution, the HCN formed kills him. ... Wouldn't the smell give it away before death ensues? ...
    (sci.chem)
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