By Mr Glynn (Physics Teacher)
In what is becoming an annual pilgrimage the Physics Department took Year 10 to this year’s Physics at Work exhibition. The event is organised by the University of Cambridge Physics Department and took place in their new Cavendish Laboratory building. The building was only opened earlier this year, and our students were very taken with the use of copper cladding in the interior architecture before we even got to the Physics!
The exhibition itself offers a rare opportunity for researchers to share their interest and excitement about areas of modern Physics research and inspire students to become the next generation of scientists, as they approach key decision points about the direction of their future academic endeavours. External exhibitors from range organisations help show the breadth of future careers which Physics is integral to.
Some of the highlights included an activity packed exhibition from The National Space Academy exploring some of the challenges of manned space flight which were illustrated by our students compressing and decompressing marshmallows alongside explosions and other demonstrations on the surprising effects of pressure.
A talk from the Astrophysics Research Group on the amazing engineering behind the James Webb Space Telescope, and how it has revolutionised the field of infrared astronomy from ‘blobology’ to clearly seeing objects from only about 300 million years after the Big Bang. The Optoelectronics Group, in collaboration with other departments, led a demonstration packed session looking at how light interacts with some substances, making a solar cell with some rather unorthodox materials. And, finally, a fascinating talk exploring how materials break (with demonstrations!) and some of the techniques that can be used to examine and observe the stress within a material in real time, again, with interesting demonstrations!
Year 10 had a great trip and many of them are now giving serious consideration to studying Physics at A Level and IB and in some cases beyond that as well!
