• Question: what was the hardest experiment you have ever done as a scientist?

    Asked by anon-357563 on 15 Mar 2023.
    • Photo: Martin McCoustra

      Martin McCoustra answered on 15 Mar 2023:

      Every experiment is hard in some degree or another. It might be hard to get the money to built up the experimental apparatus or it might be difficult to analyse the data. Part of the fun of being a scientist in my view is overcoming these difficulties.

    • Photo: Joshua Bray

      Joshua Bray answered on 15 Mar 2023:

      I once had to run a 24 h hour experiment where I had to take a sample every hour. I didn’t get much sleep that night.

      It worked though!

    • Photo: Jo Ellis

      Jo Ellis answered on 15 Mar 2023:

      I had to set up some air sampling equipment in a heating duct, im claustrophobic so hated being there

    • Photo: Graeme Dykes

      Graeme Dykes answered on 15 Mar 2023:

      Some experiments are very sensitive and it can take a few attempts to get everything just right.

    • Photo: Clara Zehe

      Clara Zehe answered on 15 Mar 2023: last edited 15 Mar 2023 12:33 pm

      I think the hardest one would be the experiment we did at a national measurement facility. It was a very complicated set up and we were working veeery long hours for a week because we only had very litle time there (there is usually a long queue of scientists from around the world waiting to use the same instruments). I did not get much sleep and had to learn a lot of new things very quickly, but it was a very rewarding experience in the end.

    • Photo: Arno Kraft

      Arno Kraft answered on 16 Mar 2023:

      Scientific experiments should be reproducible. When I was starting my PhD, I needed to repeat one of my own experiments, a one-step reaction to provide the starting material for my project – and it did not work. Tried several times, but did not work. Since each experiment took 2 days to complete, this kept me busy for 2 weeks. Thinking about it made it clear that something must have been done differently to get the reaction to work or fail. The answer, finally, was the presence of trace amounts of moisture. The second, third, fourth, fifth etc. times I had taken a short-cut and used solvents and reagents that I had dried just once, then re-used. Using freshly dried solvent and reagents made all the difference. Not being able to repeat one’s own experiment was a bit embarrassing and taught me a few things about science. Take short-cuts when you can but beware that sometimes more effort makes the difference between success and failure. And keep accurate records.

    • Photo: Craig Johnston

      Craig Johnston answered on 16 Mar 2023:

      I did a reaction that stopped when exposed to air. I had to workout which component of air (nitrogen, oxygen…etc) was the culprit. I found that carbon dioxide (CO2) stopped the reaction but then to prove beyond a doubt it was only CO2 I had to make CO2-free air and use that to prove that CO2 and only CO2 present in the air was the reason for the reaction stopping.

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