While most students were still making their way to school this morning, a group of 17 BSSC Chemistry students were already hard at work, taking part in the annual RACI Titration Stakes.
The competition, run by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, sees students all around Australia given 90 minutes to—carefully and methodically—attempt to be the first to find equilibrium in three acid samples. It’s an exacting task, with students deftly handling long glass pipettes, beakers, funnels and other scientific paraphernalia, to find the exact concentration in each sample.
“The students are trying to create, and then accurately identify, the very narrow window where the solution reaches the perfect acid-base balance,” Science teacher Jane Fong explained.
“They practice some important skills, including safety in the lab; setting up and handling the equipment and solutions; accurately reading the scale on the pipettes and then using their analytical skills to analyse their data. These are essential skills for those going on to study Science at uni.”
