This Lesson Is Getting Heated

(We are conducting an experiment where we need to heat a test tube containing a substance to see how it reacts. Most of us are doing fine, but one girl keeps having issues. There have been several smashes of tubes from her station when the teacher intervenes.)

Teacher: “[Girl], what are doing?”

Girl: “Sir, the test tube keeps breaking.”

Teacher: “You’ve been putting them under the tap after heating them.”

Girl: “I know.”

Teacher: “Why?”

Girl: “Because they’re getting hot.”

Teacher: “But… that’s why they’re smashing: rapid expansion from the heat and shrinking from the cold. And, [Girl], this isn’t even part of today’s practical.”

Me: “But, sir, they’re getting hot!”

Teacher: “They’re supposed to.” *pinching his nose* “Please, just follow the exercise book.”

(She tried, but she couldn’t get beyond the fact that heating up glass made it hot. By the end of the year, she had broken so much equipment they had to increase the budget. Our teacher stuck with her, though, and she managed to pass with a B.)