The Experiment!

On that hot summer day in June, we all entered the physics lab and were split in to groups. Being so naive as a freshman, many of us were eager to see what was in store for us. As fate turned the other way that day, I was in the group that was given the spectrometer experiment. The spectrometer is a device that is used to see a light source and measure the wavelength of the spectrum. Seeing it for the first time, not so being enthralled initially, as we were in the small room which was dark, I wondered what we would be doing then. There was this odd looking light bulb which was kept in upright position and was emitting a weak ray of light that looked like dying the next moment or so. "Now people! Do as I said. Focus your telescope!, said the genial lab instructor and pushed aside the heavy curtains, which I somehow presumed as a wall before [A dull, thick greyish hue, if you ask me the colour of them]. The iron grilled windows were opened next. And then! "Wow!", was the only word that I could utter involuntarily. For, there was this lush green of trees so dense that I had rarely seen before. "Focus! Now!", the voice roared.

I tried copying what others in my group did. Peering through the 'telescopic' eye and manipulating the levers freely, I saw the tree so close, as though a breeze would make the leaves to touch my face and go. Then I turned further and saw the same tree blurring out, so much that everything was a mess, just like what you see when you wake up. "Not done yet? Move!", yelled the instructor who did the focus for me. I felt like challenging him for a duel and was confident that I could do that better, before my focus turned elsewhere due to something that was nothing short of a miracle. The hitherto dying lamp was, by then emitting out pure bliss! "Voila! Heaven should have been perpetually lighted by this very source!", I thought as that magnificent rosy shade of light was pervading me all over while it was getting brighter and brighter. So immersed in it was I, when a person from my group patted me hard and said, "Now we need to turn the telescope to align with the collimator!". "What? What did you just say?", I asked as the period bell rang, reminding us that we had only forty more minutes. I turned again to see that wicked lamp emitting a steady source of dark yellow light. "Have you not seen this light before? How about street lamps, Huh?", nudged the instructor, as he opened a velvet box. What could be inside that box?

Out came a prism which was well polished on all sides except the base and it was quickly placed on the small round table that was raised to the height of the collimator [this is the fixed telescope for adjusting the line of sight of the other one, by allowing the light through a small vertical slit]. The idea was to move your other telescope in either direction and see where the small slit of the collimator was clearly visible, fully bathed with a specific shade of light [VIBGYOR] and all we need to measure was the movement. Applying a simple formula, we can calculate the wavelength of the specific colour. Needless to say, we referred the allowable range of values and 'made' our reading accordingly , later on. The instructor smiled while correcting our readings in the next lab period that came after a week, saying, "If I ask you to repeat the experiment, I am sure none of you would be able to get these readings!". We then moved to other experiments. Well! We were awed with the liquid lens, touching mercury and seeing the crude way by which it was cleared of the dusty layer [a kerchief was used by the lab assistant for that] and seeing the image of a needle through a lens dipped in that liquid. Then came the dreaded experiment of calculating the coefficient of viscosity of a liquid, only that we were given castor oil. We had to immerse a threaded iron ball for that. I remembered the days I ran away from that foul smelling liquid, but then, I was forced to wipe away the oil in the thread before re-immersing it again. Needless to say, the destiny smiled broadly on me and one of my friends who got this damn experiment in the practical exam. The invigilator asked us to demonstrate that we got a straight line graph as the result, for a specific formula which used our readings for four different times. I got a "S", but skillfully maneuvered it to get a straight line with just one point out of it [so you may believe that I almost got it right]. Well, I will not reveal the marks I got, but just wish to add that the invigilator was thorough and just, both qualities I detested then!

But our chemistry lab always offered a lot of joy because of two reasons - it was scheduled on the last 3 periods on Fridays and we all finished it as early as we can, to play cricket. How did we manage to finish that under 20 minutes every time? Can you guess? Well, it involved titration experiments mostly, where we had to carefully measure and take a specific quantity of a solution using a pipette and poured in to a conical flask and all we had to do was to slowly shake and rotate the flask as another liquid from the burette will be allowed to fall drip by drip in to the flask. We had to stop the flow from the burette when the solution in the flask turns pale pink and measure the reading. So, what would happen is that one of the folks would do that while we chitchatted and once he announced the reading, all of us fully opened the tap of the burette till that reading and vigorously shake the flask. Next moment we all would leave, leaving the things there, to the ground. This practice backfired spectacularly during the final practical exam, where all of us got the initial reading in hushed tones from our neighbours. There were about four of us who doubted ourselves more than anything else and we alone continued the process of titration slowly as others around us moved to the next experiment of identifying the salt. For me, the colour didn't change for an eternity and I wondered whether the reading would arrive after an hour or so. Finally, like a tough minded man thawing out, my solution turned pink. When I said my reading later, the others were too surprised. The lab instructor was the much sought after man that day and he finally revealed that he was asked to prepare three different concentrations. I got the first mark then, in practicals, but my theory marks nosedived.

Its been a couple of decades now, but I recollect that what we do to our lives is just a mere experiment. While each of these experiments that we do in a lab, had a specific purpose, tools and process to arrive at a result and a way to validate that, life cannot be just defined or confined like that. Very few of us know the purpose of it, and through sheer practice and that odd slice of luck and help, get the tools to process it in a way to achieve a lasting result. All of us face rough times, through our own actions and mistakes and many of us may not, kind of celebrate it with a reckless abandon like we did when we were young. But then, the sheer unpredictable nature of it makes it all worthy to try, fail, succeed and move on to the next.

Perhaps this is a never ending experiment, with a result unknown, baffling most of us, making us believe that we have it in our control before throwing another curve ball.

 

@satchitananda, thanks for opening the account . I should say that I was a physics major, now. And its interesting indeed to know what little details you remember over a period of time and wonder why you remembered them in the first place. You seem to be a connoisseur madam! May you get many wonderful things without wondering why they happen to you. -rgs

 

Thats quite a poignant question @jayasala42 madam. Thanks for your feedback. Perhaps karma theory is best explained here. You don't fal, but you carry what you did and that could be a deterrent too at times. And for the scorer - I feel that He would have automated these all, so long back with irrefutable logic thats beyond us. Perhaps I am tempted to add these lines after reading your feedback:
I may come and I may go,
Countless times, but what I do
Each time should take me to you
One step closer. Grant me! Can you?

 

Well @Thyagarajan sir, I may write snippet after snippet about my experiences in labs, but who would read them anyway?
Most of us would still remember what we did and experienced in our school / college days and that include pranks too. I laughed out loud, after reading your #5. Perhaps you can share as well, and I am sure it would be a joyful read.
I tend to go with what I have knowing fully that it may not even be sufficient for a one way trip here. But then, it feels good to write in the first place. All the feedback that I get is a bonus. Thanks for your feedback. -rgs