SHREWSBURY SPECTACULAR

The West Midlands Chemistry Teachers’ Centre has organised lecture/demonstrations and courses for students and teachers since 1969. Meetings are usually held at the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham. The WMCTC is also supported by the RSC’s Education Division Midlands Region and by the RSC’s Birmingham & West Midlands Section.
However, on the 3 March 2010 the WMCTC and RSC came to Shropshire! A truly outreachus venture! This special day was sponsored centrally through the Education Initiatives Fund. Dr Jonathan Agger from the University of Manchester School of Chemistry performed magic with The Flash Bang Show.
It was Shrewsbury Sixth Form College during the afternoon and Shrewsbury School in the evening – students from several other Shropshire schools also came. Nearly 200 students and their teachers saw the presentations. The smoke alarms had been isolated and fire extinguishers were to hand!

We were entertained with the delights of a spectacular pyrotechnic extravaganza of exothermic reactions, including multicoloured flames, flashes, explosions, and thermit reactions dripping with molten iron. Rockets were launched and there were numerous detonations. We saw some truly exocharmic reactions. We were reminded of the dangers of DHMO - water does not always put out fire! Beware the diet coke! We observed, at a distance, the agility of Jonathan’s reflex actions when he was igniting thermodynamically interesting mixtures!


Jonathan did not neglect the other end of the spectrum and included some cryogenic chemistry! We saw liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen at work, and were reminded that fingers do not respond well to liquid nitrogen! And even dry ice can cause explosions! Jonathan bubbled with enthusiasm – the students were transfixed; his presentation was well paced with the right depth of chemical explanation and understanding. And throughout, Jonathan was ably assisted by Louise who ensured that the right materials were in the right place at the right time.

One of the students at the Sixth Form College summarised it all: “Fantastic, really excellent – and all the experiments worked!”
The WMCTC appreciates the generosity of the RSC in sponsoring the day, and Shrewsbury Sixth Form College (through Steve Lewis) and Shrewsbury School (through Andrew Briggs) for providing the venues and organising publicity. And we thank Jonathan Agger for entertaining us and stimulating the interest of so many young people in Chemistry. Chemistry is indeed fun.




David Jones
Secretary of the West Midlands Chemistry Teachers’ Centre
Vice Chairman RSC Education Division Midlands Region