Question

A lab activity requires students to insert potassium hydroxide (koh) pellets into a narrow tube to absorb carbon dioxide (co2). pellets of koh are very caustic and alkaline. which is the safest way to put the pellets into the tube?

Answer 1

The correct answer is to use forceps to transfer the pellets.

Everyone participating in this lab activity should wear all the necessary protective equipment, including a lab apron, goggles and latex (or nitrile) gloves. The pellets should not be handled using fingers or paper towels.
Since there is a specific amount of pellets which needs to be transferred into the tube, the pellets need to be weighed. In order to do so, the students should use tweezers (or forceps) to transfer some pellets from the supply bottle onto a weigh boat. Then the pellets should be transferred in the tube using tweezers or forceps.