Year 12 students visited the chemistry department to experience a typical day at Imperial

On 10^th September 2024, the department welcomed almost 45 Year 12 students as part of the taster day series. This gave the students an opportunity to experience a typical day studying chemistry at Imperial. This follows the success of the Year 10 Taster Days earlier this year, and the series of Taster Days last year.

The day began with a short talk on admissions. This was then followed by a taster lecture.

The taster lecture was created and delivered by Dr Benji Fenech Salerno, and was entitled ‘Illuminating Chemistry.’ During the lecture, the students were able to see how the electromagnetic spectrum, particularly visible light, is used in chemistry. The use of light to drive and probe chemical changes were highlighted. 

During the lecture, there was a demonstration of the ‘thionine two-faced reaction’ with an explanation on why the highest energy light doesn’t always result in the fastest reaction. There were also links made to industry: the use of a near-infrared spectrophotometer was shown, and this was designed by Imperial alumni. The main use of this spectrophotometer is in the identification of plastics on the market.

After the taster lecture, the students were given both departmental and campus tours. They then returned after lunch to conduct practical work in the laboratory.

The practical involved determining the mass of aspirin in a commercially purchased tablet using iron chloride chelation. This involved techniques such as heating, diluting, pipetting, and constructing calibration curves.

A huge thank you to Kat Harris (senior teaching technician) for developing this practical, and to Raj Sandhu (undergraduate education manager) and Keegan Lutherus (undergraduate administrator) for coordinating departmental outreach activities.