State of the Union Address

[Paul H. Merrill]

Rabid Wombat wrote:
> 
> On Sat, 24 Jan 1998, Matthew Ghio wrote:
> 
> > Anonymous wrote:
> >
> > > [1] Grab a totally random sample of 100 high school students. Haul the
> > >     students out one at a time and ask them the following questions:
> > [snip]
> > > 11) Michelle mixes one gram of HCl and one half gram of NaOH. Under normal
> > >     circumstances, what is produced and in what quantities?
> > >
> >
> > The correct answer is an explosion and a big mess.  One student in my high
> > school chemistry class learned this the hard way.  :)
> >
> >
> 
> Um, salt water explodes?

I guess those high school students aren't the only ones with no clear
idea of the way the world works.  While salt water does not ordinarily
explode, in this case salt water is the ultimate product -- but massive
heat released when acids and bases join and recombine to produce salts
(in this case table salt) and water.

while some do feel (especially on this list) that the ends justify the
means -- this is one means that definitely does not go along with that
"rule".

PHM.