09th July 2024
Schools Analyst Competition 2024
This year we had a record number of chemistry students (28) taking part in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Schools Analyst Competition. We had students operating in teams of three or four, with some team members on a rota basis throughout the four-hour practical session to keep a cap on numbers in the lab at any one time!
Unlike other exam-based chemistry competitions, this was practical based and involved a range of chemical tests to include:
- Determination by titration of Vitamin C in two different commonly available soluble vitamin C tablets
- Determination by Thin Layer Chromatography of a range of artificial colourings in chewy sweets
- Determination by gravimetric analysis (in this case the mass of gas lost on reaction with an acid) the mass of sodium hydrogen carbonate in two samples of flour.
Organised and delivered nationally by Northumbria University, the aim for all teams is to obtain results - for the same set of test kit and reagents sent to all schools – as close as possible to those obtained by the organisers at the chemistry department of Northumbria University.
Interested students booked a place and were given a briefing and put into teams of three/four two weeks before the lab session. Video to introduce the task to BHASVIC students *click here*
The Vit C tablets and the chewy sweets we were testing.
The tray of standard equipment provided to each team
Keir, Jess and Sam consult with me about a point in the Thin Layer Chromatography instructions.
Lauren and Bea discuss the setup of their gravimetric analysis.
Sam, Carlyn and Lara check how much carbon dioxide gas is generated from their flour sample reacting with acid in the plastic bottle.
Happy chemists!
Above: The joke gets told……
Below: ….and lands! 
Charlie, Catherine and Scout spot the camera in the neighbourhood!
“Now where were we..?”
Josh, Max and Isobel collect some gas!
Sam and Abisha deep in thought whilst analysing their results.
Teddy calculates.
Ali and Harry analyse.
Our intrepid teams of analysts!
Above front (L-R): Sam, Jess and Keir were first place from the BHASVIC teams in terms of the closeness of their results to those expected by the competition organisers.
Above back (L-R): Isaac, Harry and Ali were commended by the competition organisers.