Pupils proudly presented their independent practical skills work to peers and staff in the pop-up lunchtime festival, with themes ranging from measuring the charge of the electron to the astronomy-focused designing and constructing of sextants.

George (Sixth Form, RR) who collaborated with Tim (Sixth Form, LL) to develop an experiment to determine the e/m of an electron, using J. J. Thomson’s method of magnetic field compensation, said “Our experiment developed our practical skills, and our ability to work effectively as a team.”

Bowen (Sixth Form, GG), who partnered up with Jessica (Sixth Form, PP) and Alexander (Sixth Form, GG) to measure the Reynolds number for water by recreating the original 1883 experiment, said “I feel quite privileged to be able to have worked on a scientific project independently from what we do in class, as it’s an opportunity I’ve never really had in the previous schools. From doing this, I think I’ve gained not only an understanding of Physics outside the syllabus but also incredibly useful techniques for conducting experiments and making the apparatus for them.”

Jessica added “I found the project really engaging, as fluid dynamics is a field of physics which I hadn’t worked with before. Building our own apparatus and tackling the problems which arose along the way proved an enjoyable challenge, and we were particularly proud to win the award for Best Classic Experiment.”