College News

Shining a Light on Spectroscopy

A Level Chemistry students from QE have once again enjoyed the opportunity to obtain a taste of higher education and work in university laboratories when they participated in Northumbria University’s annual Spectroscopy Day. The group carried out a variety of different experiments, including the synthetisation of coumarin, a UV luminescent substance, and the investigation of the degradation of aspirin using HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography). Students ran samples on the FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-Red) before analysing the IR spectra, an essential activity in today’s chemical industry. The event concluded with an insightful tour of the University’s campus allowing the students to observe day-to-day life in higher education.

Julia Magnall, teacher of Chemistry at QE, comments: ‘To work in the British chemical industry, an applicant needs to possess a good understanding of the subject, competent practical skills and show motivation and the ability to use their initiative. I am extremely proud to say that I saw all of our students demonstrate these skills today and Graeme Turnbull, lecturer from Northumbria University, was equally impressed, particularly with their practical skills and how all their coumarin samples fluoresced under UV light’.