Random question I know but here goss. Im in need the assistance of someone that can analyse a substance and let me know what is in it. I know this is a little perculiar but ive had a look around but not sure what I should be searching for to find someone. Any help really appreciated.
any specifics. it may be possible to generalise from appearance/location, but specifics would require instrumental analysis. this would require sample prep and measurements done in a lab. there are several things that can be used, but need some understanding of what your lookign for. small organic samples can be analysed with something like MALDI-TOF or NMS, though this needs the sample to be pure and just looking at a single compound, bigger molecules like proteins would probably need to be broken up and analysed in part before being reassembled. non-organic samples are a little easier in some regard, as you can boil them up in acid to purify and just throw it through as mass spec and see what comes out (I'm grossly oversimplifying, but hey). so whats the thing your looking for?? at the very least its likely to need a decent laboratory to determine it,
First question should always be, it is a liquid or solid and what do you think is in there? This is more an analytical chemistry question than a chemical engineering question btw. edit: I work in a lab with analytical equipment.
Oh they're good fun to work with... You'll need a soft ionisation technique like MALDI-TOF like PM suggested above. Does it dissolve in anything?
Chemical engineering would be if you decided you want to manufacturer a few tons of this wax. If you contact a university chemistry department they'll be able to run the relevant techniques for a price.
If they can be bothered, they don't tend to bother with the general public. You stand a better chance if you're behind a company.
If you can find somewhere to do it unless you have a friend who works there or something lab time isn't cheap - if you want to do it yourself maybe could do some research on melting point/solvents/appearance etc. if you know roughly what it is and try testing for that if you've got plenty to sample by trial and error
Nah, though the sonic scarer just turned up. Think i'll get into the kitchen and cook up a few brews to see what happens.
Where did you source the wax? Being awfully shady about this, after all you've come to a public forum for help only to give no information.. The source or point of discovery can help a lot to identify what you're dealing with.
