By Dr Timothy Goddard
Head of Physics
At the end of November 2018 the Physics Department took 23 students from Years 12 and 13 to Geneva and to CERN. CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research where for the last 60 years they have searched for the fundamental particles and fundamental laws which govern these, in particular the recent discovery of the Higgs Boson.
Our students were able to attend laboratory experiences making their own bubble chambers to see alpha particles, electrons, and muons as they interact with the saturated alcohol vapours forming lines of bubbles. After this the students could experiment with tabletop x-ray machines where they learnt about the mechanism used to produce x-rays and were able to use the machine to investigate objects such as their phones, USB sticks and keycards.
Whilst at CERN, students also enjoyed a guide and a lecture from Dr Ben Segal, a scientist who has been at CERN for 40 years and who was instrumental in the development of the worldwide web at CERN, as well as being a member of the internet hall of fame for his work on TCP/IP ‘s. Ben gave us a tour around the permanent exhibits and fascinated us with his knowledge of all the machines and equipment on show, giving us the inside story behind Nobel prize winning experiments in front of our eyes.
We also hopped into France and had a full tour around the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) site where we saw the control room, working hangar and service tunnel by the main Large Hadron Collider. The coldest place in the universe (1.9K) a mere 10m away and a large magnetic field making Jeremy’s watch go haywire!
We also spent time in Geneva visiting the United Nations (UN) building where we toured both the new and older parts of the palace. The students were reminded of the history of the institution from the League of Nations which preceded it, to the most modern events to happen at this site. Time spent at the History of Science Museum was of interest to all the students with a mixture of important historical machines such as one of the first electronic microscopes to more hands-on demonstrations of simple machines such as Archimedes’ screws.
The evenings were spent watching documentaries on the history of Uranium as well as general knowledge quizzes and other competitions. The students were enthusiastic throughout, repeatedly asking excellent questions and taking a keen interest in every activity they undertook. It is guaranteed that this first-hand experience of large collaborative work at the very forefront of Scientific advance will have been of immense value to our students; they returned with a wealth of ideas, new experiences and feeling inspired by this truly monumental place.