Snippets from our Science faculty!

A couple of snippets from our Science faculty!

STEM in Year 11

How can we trick immiscible liquids such as olive oil and water into staying mixed?
Students had a look at emulsifiers and surfactants. Here the class investigated various additives to cooking oil and water and examined how long it took the oil and water to re-separate after having been vigorously shaken together.

What are some properties of a non-Newtonian fluid suspension?
Here the students simply had fun trying to handle oobleck (a viscous mix of cornflour and water). They used enough pressure to force behaviour as a solid – hitting it, rolling it and even running on it!

STEM in Year 9JV

How can we tell which drinks and other household solutions contain ions? Ions are charged particles that form when atoms or molecules no longer have the same number of electrons as protons. Because they are charged, they are attracted to areas and particles of opposite charge and repelled by areas or particles of similar charge. They will move through water towards an oppositely charged electrode if they are part of a circuit in which a direct current is applied. This will light up a globe included in the circuit. Here, the Year 9 students are testing various water-based mixtures to see which contain free-moving ions. Various groups came to the conclusion that the salty and tangy tasting mixtures were the most likely to contain mobile ions while the sweet and bland ones were less likely.