shhs magazine - South Hampstead High School

SHHS Interiors:Layout 1 12/06/2011 22:04 Page 34sciencePhysics lecturePoisonous gases, jets of fire shooting into the air, alaser show...who would have expected so muchfrom a day of Physics lectures at the Institute ofEducation? The day was divided into five lectures,each separated by a small, potentially chocolatefilledbreak. Our first lecture was titled Whatever isthe Matter, the second Extreme Sound Waves, thethird The 3D Sun, the fourth The Light ExpressShow and the fifth Physics in a Teacup. The speakerswere Dr Tom Whyntie, Imperial College; MattParker, University of London; Dr Lucie Green,Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL; Dr BillBrocklesby, University of Southampton and Dr NicHarrigan, Imperial College respectively.The first lecture focused on CERN, the LargeHadron Collider and the search for the missing fifthof the universe. It was the most topically relevantlecture of the day and presented the problems facingphysicists in their search for elusive particlessuch as the Higgs’ Boson.The second lecture was possibly the most34gripping of the day, and would probably have beenbetter titled What Never Ever to Do. It started offordinarily enough by the lecturer inhaling a largeamount of helium in order to demonstrate theeffect of sound waves travelling through a lessdense medium. The next part was less mundane -our lecturer inhaled a large amount of sulphurhexafluoride in order to demonstrate the effect ofsound waves travelling through a denser medium.Sulphur hexafluoride is an incredibly dense gas; itcannot be exhaled from your lungs without consciouseffort and prevents you from breathing.Therefore, in theory, inhaling it is potentially fatal.Not to worry, though because our lecturer hadgiven instructions to his friend to turn him onto hisback and put him in the recovery position if he didcollapse from lack of oxygen. After this initial shock,the lecture continued in an enjoyable, relatively normalfashion. Right up until the end when, in orderto demonstrate standing waves, our lecturer whohad obtained an eight-foot long metal tube,attached it to a tank of propane gas (highly flammable)which he also attached to an old fashionedspeaker. The vibrations produced by the speakerwere passed through the propane gas along thetube. The tube had small holes drilled in it at regularintervals, through which the gas was able toescape, forming a pattern very similar to that of agraphic equaliser. Then, having first armed his friendwith a fire extinguisher, the lecturer bent down,held out a cigarette lighter and set light to the jetsof gas. So ended the lecture and we went off tolunch while music blared and tongues of flame leaptseveral feet into the air.Of course, whoever spoke next was alwaysgoing to have a tough act to follow, but fortunately,images of a 3D sun emitting 3D solar flares was a