By Mrs Smart (Science Teacher)
On Saturday 28th February a group of 10 Sixth Form students and two teachers got up in the very early hours of the morning for our biannual trip to the world’s largest particle physics laboratory at CERN, near Geneva in Switzerland. CERN stands for the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (today known as the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) and was established in 1952.
We spent the morning in the excellent exhibition centre, which contains tunnels of hands-on exhibits to do with particle physics, particle accelerators and quantum mechanics. Did you know that the rest mass of all the elementary particles that make up the human body only accounts for 1% of your mass? The rest comes from the binding energy holding them together (rooted in Einstein’s famous E=mc² equation).
After lunch in the famous CERN canteen we had an interesting demonstration lecture on the states of matter which involved the use of lots of liquid nitrogen. Despite being really engaging, there were a few drooping eyelids in the darkness and comfort of the auditorium! Energy restored, we headed out for our tour. We watched and heard an interesting history of CERN and how the first particle accelerator, a 2,500 tonne synchrocyclotron, was constructed there; this was illuminated with an innovative light show projected on the huge machine itself. We then went to ATLAS, one of two main detectors on the Large Hadron Collider. We learnt how ATLAS detects the smallest, shortest lived particles and some researchers at work were dramatically revealed when the opaque screen suddenly became clear revealing the control room. This was one of the highlights of the tour for me.
We finished back on the minibus and managed a quick tour of some of the main UN buildings in Geneva and a short walk by the lakeshore before heading back to the airport. We arrived home, tired but happy. I would like to commend our brilliant students on their positive enthusiasm and great questions throughout the day. They were an absolute credit to BGS and made the very long day an absolute pleasure.
View photos here.
