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A Science Practical with a Difference: College Chemists to work with the Brightest Lights on Earth

Delight in Learning

A Science Practical with a Difference: College Chemists to work with the Brightest Lights on Earth

Chemistry pupils at St Aloysius will get the change to contribute to cutting-edge scientific research in the coming months. Students from the college will be working with Diamond Light Source, a light that works like a giant microscope, harnessing the power of electrons to produce bright light that scientists use to study anything from fossils or jet engines to viruses and vaccines.

This facility at Diamond is truly cutting-edge: scientists from across the UK travel to use the technology to make better drugs, understand the natural world and create futuristic materials. As part of ‘Project M’, an initiative designed to include school students in important research, 14-18 year olds including students from St Aloysius will take part in genuine experiments and publish their results in a scientific, peer-reviewed journal.

Over the course of this semester, chemists at the college will conduct experiments on calcium carbonate, a common substance found in a variety of items, from limestone and pearls to eggshells and broccoli.

Mr Anderson, Head of Chemistry, commented with enthusiasm on this new initiative. ‘This exciting project will see our pupils work with other schools across the UK to analyse a well-known material, calcium carbonate, using the Diamond facility which cost a mere £260 million’.