The Atomic Weapons Establishment and the University’s Biological and Soft Systems Research Sector shared the honours this year in the hotly contested Best Demonstration competition, judged by the 2,500 school students from around the region who attended Physics at Work 2011.
The Atomic Weapons Establishment and the University’s Biological and Soft Systems Research Sector shared the honours this year in the hotly contested Best Demonstration competition, judged by the 2,500 school students from around the region who attended Physics at Work 2011.
AWE demonstrated the powers and properties of waves by blowing a house down with a custard powder explosion and making a row of flames dance to The Prodigy.
The BSS team helped the teenagers extract DNA from strawberries, a reminder that the DNA code was unravelled at the Cavendish Laboratory by two Cambridge physicists, Watson and Crick.
Physics at Work is an interactive showcase of the many ways physics is used in everyday life.
Now in its 27th year, the exhibition brings GCSE pupils together with people working at the cutting edge of research and development for a series of 15 minute presentations and demonstrations designed to inform and inspire potential future physicists.
“The primary aim of this exhibition is to stimulate interest and encourage wider participation in physics by showcasing the many and varied ways in which physics is used in the everyday world,” explains Dr Lisa Jardine-Wright, Educational Outreach Officer at the Cavendish Laboratory.
Students visited six exhibits in total, in groups of about 15 accompanied by a teacher. At other demonstrations, the young students saw a car capable of covering 2,800 miles to the gallon, discovered how to detect extra-terrestrial particles and heard about a future where body-repairing robots might swim in our bloodstreams thanks to advances in nanotechnology.
“This event is extremely popular with schools, with all the available places fully booked within a couple of weeks of invitations being sent out,” Lisa said. “We are increasingly aware that helping to spread the excitement of modern physics research to students who will soon be making career and examination choices is a vital component in encouraging the next generation of scientists. Students are not aware of the huge range of career options that are open to them if they choose to study physics at University; our exhibition aims to engage visitors with 25 different exciting possibilities”.
Physics at Work is organised by Dr Lisa Jardine Wright, the Educational Outreach Officer for the Cavendish Laboratory, and supported by the Institute of Physics, The Cavendish Laboratory, The Technology Partnership, and the University of Cambridge.
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