Suggest reasons for the following procedures when you are setting ...

[hbsimmons88]

Suggest reasons for the following procedures when you are setting up a reaction assembly.
  (a) The ground-glass joints are lightly greased.
  (b) Only a small amount of indicator desiccant is placed in a drying tube, instead of the tube
  being filled completely with this material.
  (c) Powdered drying agents are not used in drying tubes.

Question 2

A student at another university wants to duplicate a GC separation that you did in lab. What
  information about the instrument and column conditions should you send him?

[Anna]

Answer to Question 1

(a) The grease provides an air-tight seal and prevents the joints from becoming frozen
together.
(b) The indicating desiccant is expensive and just a little of it in the bulk ofanother desiccant
will tell you if the bulk desiccant is active or not.
(c) A powder will prevent the free flow of gas through the drying tube. This effectively closes
the reaction vessel to the atmosphere.

Answer to Question 2

The make of the GC, the column, the column temperature, and the flow rate of the carrier gas.
Detector and injector temperatures are also useful.

[hbsimmons88]

Gracias!

[atrochim]

Great answer, keep it coming