From: pzavon**At_Symbol_Here**ROCHESTER.RR.COM
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Letter to the National PTA regarding the rainbow flame demo
Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2019 13:15:12 +0000
Reply-To: pzavon**At_Symbol_Here**ROCHESTER.RR.COM
Message-ID: 4a66de1ba9fda2dd71e8e985450fbfb68773d711**At_Symbol_Here**webmail
Demystify:
One thing I notice about this letter and many other comments about this demonstration directed to educators is the frequent absence of guidance on how to perform it more safely, or on alternative, less hazardous, demonstrations that would illustrate the same principles.
In my experience, it is usually more effective to provide alternatives than to simply say "don't do that."
Decades ago, my then boss at Princeton University used to say to faculty members something along the lines of "I am not telling you that you can't to that; I am telling you that you can't do it in the way you have been accustomed to doing it."
Peter Zavon, CIH
Penfield, NY
(on location in Cincinnati, OH)
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From: "davivid" To: DCHAS-L**At_Symbol_Here**PRINCETON.EDU Cc: Sent: Friday June 21 2019 6:36:30PM Subject: [DCHAS-L] Letter to the National PTA regarding the rainbow flame demo
Here is a letter I just emailed to the National PTA. Let's hope this helps get some progress on the issue.
Dave Lane Principal Clavis Technology Development
-------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: Dangerous classroom demonstration Date: Fri, 21 Jun 2019 15:31:09 -0700 From: davivid <davivid**At_Symbol_Here**well.com> To: info**At_Symbol_Here**pta.org
Dear PTA Gatekeeper
I write to call your attention to a common classroom demonstration that injures students in several incidents every year. I hope that the PTA can help end this practice by informing parents and schools of the danger.
The demonstration is typically called the "Rainbow Flame" or similar. It involves solutions of various metal salts dissolved in alcohol that are set on fire. The different metal salts give various colored flames, hence "rainbow flame". If alcohol is poured near flame or other ignition source the alcohol can suddenly erupt from the bottle in a phenomenon called "flame jetting". The jet of flaming alcohol can severely burn anyone in the path of the flames even as far as ten feet away.
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