PHANTOM OF THE PRACTICAL EXAM
Identifying Cations -Based on ‘Phantom of the Opera’
Original Words and Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart
and Richard Stilgoe
EXAM CANDIDATE
Through glass they look at me,
In flasks they came,
(It’s got to be a fix -
They’re all the same),
But with NaOH -
Can this be true??! -
Gelaaaaaaatinous precipitates have formed
In my test-tubes!
PRECIPITATE
Add alkali to us -
But not excess -
(And don’t forget to wear
Your safety specs)
Shake us around a bit -
We turn to goo:
Gelaaaaatinous precipitates have formed
In your test-tubes!!
CANDIDATE
The amphoteric ones
Dissolve again;
With NH3, I’ll get…
PRECIPITATE
…Ligand exchange…
BOTH
We’ll get a pukey green
With iron (II) -
Gelaaaaaatinous precipitates will form
In our test-tubes!!
RANDOM NUTTERS
They’re there, gelatinous precipitates!!
Beware, gelatinous precipitates!!
PRECIPITATE
In all your cations,
And hydroxides,
Not one unknown can be…
CANDIDATE
…Identified…
BOTH
And in this practical
Exam, we’re doomed -
Gelaaaaaaatinous precipitates have formed
In our test-tubes!!!!
© Aimee Hartnell, March 2000