Chemistry

Acids and atoms, molecules and matter — the world of chemistry continues to delight and fascinate our students at Emanuel. The pandemic made our vital practical experimentation almost impossible, so the return to live lessons could not be more welcome and Chemistry has flourished outside of the classroom, too.This year, for example, we were pleased to see the return of inter-year Chemistry competitions and our annual trip to ‘Chemistry in Action’.

Dr S Khan (Deputy Head of Chemistry)

Chemistry in Action

A trip to ‘Chemistry in Action’ is a must for all budding chemists. In Spring 2022, leading chemists in the industry treated us to five sessions designed to inspire a future generation of young chemists. ‘Colourful Chemistry’ kicked off by Peter Hoare led us to discover the science behind all kinds of chemical processes (such as combustion, redox and kinetics) involving transition metals. Following this, a fascinating talk was delivered by Alex Baker from the University of Warwick. He shed light on one of the groundbreaking applications that chemistry can have — the lateral flow test — and how it can go as far as to fight health inequalities. Each of the scientists proved that you would be hard-pressed to find any aspect of your life that hasn’t been or won’t be impacted by chemistry research.

Anjou (L6PSA) Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad

In January, I took part in the Chemistry Olympiad a year early. Questions took topical subjects like clean fuel, coronavirus testing and drilling into their chemistry. I found that questions challenged me to go above and beyond the A Level syllabus, stretching my subject knowledge. I am immensely proud to have achieved a silver medal in the Olympiad even though I was not in the Upper Sixth. Well done to my fellow Olympians (pictured right) — Phoebe (U6SEM), Edward (U6AEM), Hetty (U6ARW), and Lucy (L6JTB) — who also achieved silver medals.

Freya (L6SMJ

Top of the Bench

Last term we took part in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s interschool ‘Top of the Bench’ competition. It consisted of a practical and written questions that were challenging but very fun to try out. It was a unique experience because we had never had the chance to compete in chemistry before and it was our first solo experiment. We were able to participate with other years as well, broadening our knowledge and expertise. Getting another chance to compete in the competition next year would be amazing and, hopefully, we can get a higher place and continue to expand our chemistry knowledge.