thermit update

Different class, same experiment.

This one shows nicely why you lot were on the other side of the room.

Thanks to Arran for the video.

Still not Thermit

thermit reaction

Been doing displacement reactions involving metals with Year 9 classes this week, and there is no finer example than the reaction of aluminium with iron oxide. Also known as the Thermit reaction, the vast amount of energy released is enough to create molten iron, which in days of yore is enough to explain its use in welding railway lines together. The trouble is, it has a high activation energy and requires a magnesium fuse to get the mixture going, as seen in the video below.

aluminium + iron oxide → aluminium oxide + iron

2 Al  +  Fe₂O₃  →  Al₂O₃  +  2 Fe 

The aluminium is far more reactive than the iron and so displaces it in a violent reaction.

I like the second video here as it shows the large volume of smoke rolling over the ceiling as the reaction goes off.

 

Thanks to Jodie and Daisy for sending the videos in. 

Not the Thermit

use the force

I'm a bit obsessed with the periodic table at the minute. More so than usual, just to clarify.
So I've been looking for some different versions.

How about this then, based on the land of Middle Earth, which is surprisingly well presented and organised.

Or this one based on The Empire Strikes Back (use link for larger version), widely recognised as the best of the Stars Wars films.

Who's scruffy looking now?

If anyone finds any other good examples, let me know. And if you find them on a website without the word 'geek' in the web address I'll be even more impressed.

My personal favourite could well be this one though. To the untrained eye it looks like a regular periodic table, but chemistry reckoned without Chuck Norris.

You see, Chuck hates the periodic table, as he only recognises the element of surprise.

This might not make much sense if you've no idea who Chuck is, so you'd better google him. That still might not help much, mind.

anyone for table tennis?

Look what finally arrived today.

Ten boxes. 1440 of the little rascals.

I feel an explosion coming on.

pimp my ride

schools' analyst competition

Turton took a team out to compete in the North West Heat of the RSC Schools' Analyst Competition held at Manchester Metropolitan University today, where hard work and dedication was rewarded with a third place finish amongst some distinguished company.

The team of lower sixth students was made up from three outstanding candidates from the first year Chemistry course, Aimie Bowles, Christina Long and Tom Waite, who were ready to go head to head with 23 other schools and colleges from the Manchester area in a series of analytical practicals in the high spec. university labs.

An early registration at the University and a brief introductory talk from the organisers gave our intrepid trio a chance to weigh up the opposition, mainly consisting of local rivals and be-suited public schoolboys, after which they were whisked off to the labs to pit themselves against some of the greatest chemical minds in the North West. Mr Smith retired to the pub.

What followed was a whirlwind of analytical procedures, including titrations with multiple indicators, flame photometry, infra red spectroscopy and other qualitative testing for dissolved ions.  

Despite a late wobble with one of the simpler ion identifications, their analytical work had clearly caught the eye of the marking committee, with the University judges awarding them a score of 71 out of a possible 100, good enough for a clear 3rd place overall and a gift voucher which more than covered their lunchtime visit to Aimie's second home, Nandos. Rumours of a rival school being thrown out of the competition for fielding a candidate clearly on performance enhancing hormone replacement therapy were reported to be wide of the mark.

biomedicine afternoon at salford university

A number of Year 12 students had an afternoon out at Salford University today, where they discovered more about the type of research conducted at the University, in addition to getting involved in some practical sessions in the labs. Tom had been here before of course, squeezing crabs and such like, and was on first name terms with all the lecturers. He even knew where to find the bin.

The lab activities involved firstly preparing blood samples to spin in a centrifuge in order to separate out red and white blood cells, along with plasma, to assess blood parameters as an indicator of health. A second activity allowed students to gain an understanding of processing tissue samples for microscope analysis, involving dehydrating a biological sample with alcohol and impregnating it with wax. This was to aid the slicing of the sample into cross sections before staining. The poor little fly.

Students then got the opportunity to see some of the spectroscopy equipment in action, with infra-red and nmr machines being demonstrated, followed by a final talk from some past research students discussing available work placements and other opportunities.

Best of all though, there was chocolate. Lots of chocolate.