Royal Institution

The Science of fireworks Year eight students were very lucky to be able to visit the Royal Institution and watch a wonderful lecture on fireworks. Fireworks consultant, author and former Oxford chemist Dr Tom Smith explained the basic chemistry and construction of fireworks, and their use in modern fireworks displays. The talk included spectacular demonstrations […]

Biology Field Trip to Nettlecombe

http://www.field-studies-council.org/centres/nettlecombecourt.aspx Nettlecombe Court lies in a secluded valley at the eastern edge of Exmoor National Park. The house is a striking example of a Tudor and Georgian country mansion set within its own grounds. The Centre has excellent access to the Somerset coast as well as Exmoor National Park and The Quantocks Area of Outstanding […]

Royal Institution lecture

Reported by Alfie Mussett (13Y) and Pameer Saeed (13O) Edited by Mrs Hare Before we grapple with superconductivity, we need to know what ordinary conductivity is. The basic facts about electricity An atom is made up of a nucleus containing protons and neutrons with electrons orbiting the outside. As the electrons get further from the […]

Royal Institution Lecture

Latest News from the LHC Professor Tara Shears http://hep.ph.liv.ac.uk/~tara/ Reported by Alfie Mussett (13Y) and Pameer Saeed (13O) Edited by Mrs Hare The above picture shows the professor behind the famous desk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDUw7iiejNQ The big questions we want the LHC to answer include “What is matter made of“ and “What was the universe like in […]

The Royal Institution

By Pameer Saeed (13O) and Alfie Mussett (13Y) We visited the The Royal Institution in October 2013 to attend lectures given by physicists about their recent work. http://www.rigb.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Institution The Royal Institution was founded in March 1799 with the aim of introducing new technologies and teaching science to the general public. The first meeting took […]

Goldsmiths’ 2013

Practical – Hydrogen Fuel Cell Fuel cells are relevant to the AQA, OCR and Edexcel chemistry curricula, but also bridge environmental issues in other subjects such as physics, biology and geography. AQA unit 5, understand the electrode reactions of a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell and appreciate that a fuel cell does not need to be electrically […]

Goldsmiths’ 2013

Visit to Johnson Matthey Technology Centre http://www.matthey.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_Matthey http://www.matthey.com/AR06/PDF/history.pdf Johnson Matthey is an international speciality chemicals company, founded almost 200 years ago in London. Technology leadership forms the basis of their strategy to deliver superior long term growth. The company began in 1817 when Percival Johnson set up business as a gold assayer in London. […]

Goldsmiths’ 2013

From the Roman Baths (via the Corn Belt) to Bio-based Sustainability Professor Matthew Davidson Whorrod Professor of Sustainable Chemical Technologies Bath University http://www.bath.ac.uk/chemistry/contacts/academics/matthew_davidson/ Utilising bioresources: Biofuels Bioplastics Endangered elements http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/issues/2011/january/criticalthinking.asp We are used to hearing about fossil fuels running out but we are running out of individual elements. China is producing 97% of the […]

Goldsmiths’ 2013

Preparation of Biodiesel Curriculum links: Introduction: This activity encourages you to find out about the chemistry of esters/carboxylic acid derivatives. There are numerous articles in the press about people making biodiesel from waste chip fat in their garden sheds, and there have been reports of waste oil being stolen because of its value in the […]

Goldsmiths’ 2013

Visit to Green Park Wind Turbine http://www.mygreenpark.net/green-park-wind-turbine-and-visitor-centre.aspx http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/our-green-energy/our-green-electricity/from-the-wind/wind-parks-gallery/green-park-reading http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Greenpark_wind_turbine_arp.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecotricity Ecotricity is a green energy company based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, England specialising in selling green energy to consumers that it primarily generated from its wind power portfolio. It is built on the principle of heavily reinvesting its profit in building more of its own green […]