A state-of-the-art experience.
Our range of masterclasses offers students in Years 12 and 13 the chance to experience first-hand what learning in our multi-million-pound facilities is really like.
As well as working on some exciting and engaging areas of chemistry, your group can meet some of our students, learn from our academics and get their first taste of life on campus at Lancaster University.
Note – for full-day classes, students should bring their own lunch or buy lunch on campus.
A male body has been found in the lab along with an upturned bottle of acid surrounded by various chemical bottles which have come into contact with the strong acid. He suffered from a heart condition and was known to take low-dose aspirin daily, a small tablet bottle was also found containing unknown tablets. In this exciting and hands-on masterclass, students will use infrared spectroscopy and thin-layer chromatography to identify the tablets found on the body in the lab. Students will then take part in a colourimetric determination of salicylic acid levels found in the body's blood plasma and bring this together to identify chemicals using the supplied infrared and mass spectra data. The tasks students will complete will assist in the investigation to find out what happened to the body in the lab. This masterclass brings together a wide range of practical skills to allow students to apply chemistry to real-life scenarios.
In this masterclass, we’ll introduce your students to the world of computational chemistry, where we explore the chemical world using quantum mechanics! We’ll investigate the energy released in combustion reactions of fossil fuel (methane) in comparison to sustainable alternatives: methanol (a biofuel) and hydrogen. We’ll then combine simulation with infrared spectroscopy to solve the problem of separating mixed plastic waste and identifying a plastic that can be converted back into oil. Finally, we’ll step into virtual reality, where your students will provide the energy for combustion reactions themselves!
By taking a closer look at something so ordinary as aspirin, we can show your students just how fundamental chemistry is to the everyday world around us – discovering where physical chemistry meets analytical and organic chemistry.
The session introduces students to a variety of different techniques and tasks. First, we use a pH meter to follow the titration of a weak acid with a strong base, graphically determining the pKa. They then study the titration of an Alka-Seltzer solution with HCl, before isolating and analysing the resulting Aspirin precipitate. Through using the spectroscopic and physical methods, your students will have packed in TLC, melting point, IR, HPLC & NMR analyses – a busy day full of chemistry.
If you would like more information or would like to arrange an event for your school, please contact:
