Winning the Salters’ Festival national chemistry competition

On 4 May, Mr Styles took us to University College of London (UCL). We had a fantastic day overall and came 1st in the practical.

We had a morning and an afternoon practical. For the morning practical we had to pretend to be Forensic scientists and uncover the murder of “Miss Flossychops.” There were two parts to the experiment, so we had to work in twos to find out who had killed her. We were given a list of suspects who all had some white powder on themselves just like “Miss Flossychops” did. Who was the killer?

In the afternoon, we did the University Challenge, which we had to do independently. For this we had to reduce the temperature from 21⁰C down to 10.5⁰C. We only used a cup, citric acid and a white powder. First of all we worked out the ratio but we had to use the powders wisely because otherwise we would be handicapped if we needed more substances. We tested and tested, sometimes getting higher or lower readings and we started to run out. It was with luck, that when the judge came round that we just had one portion of powder left. When we put the powder in the water, it gave us a correct reading of 10.5⁰C. The judge was pleased and so were we, a very good result!

After this challenge we watched an amazing demonstration. We talked all about the chemical properties of water and carbon dioxide. He showed us how bubbles float in CO². We also talked about liquid nitrogen, and some of the audience even put their fingers in it. The man demonstrating then drank some of the liquid, but he did tell us not to try it at home! Finally, he used the liquid nitrogen to make ice cream. He put raspberries, cream, sugar, and lots of chocolate buttons. It was delicious!

We would like to thank Mr Styles for taking us on the trip, as we all had a fantastic time.

Emma Chalmers, Hattie Binny, Mally Capstick and Katherine Braybrook, Year 8