‘Spectroscopy in a Suitcase’

The Chemistry Department was busy on Friday 23.2.24 as Newcastle University STEM Outreach team visited the school to deliver interactive workshops to students in Year 13 and 14. Dr Peter Hoare covered two analytical techniques, which are required for the A2 course, with our 32 Year 14 students and developed students’ ability to analyse spectra - a key skill required for the A2 examinations. The students were able to prepare samples for IR and use expensive instruments that they otherwise would not come into contact with (£25,000 of kit all packed into a suitcase!). They were also able to do a quick revision of the technique on interpreting NMR spectra. In the Year 13 workshop, our 28 AS pupils completed an introduction to Infra-red Spectroscopy before working in groups to analyse 6 different samples and match their 'chemical fingerprint' to a spectrum from a database of samples - an important skill required for their AS course. We are grateful to the Newcastle University Outreach team and Dr Peter Hoare for making these difficult topics at AS and A2 so accessible to our students.