06 June 2024

Automatic Titrations


 One of the things I teach is repeating titrations to get answers within 0.5ml of all the others. Using the @pascoscientfic titration drop counter, I only have to do this once and produce a perfect titration curve and temperature curve at the same time.

05 June 2024

Slide Rule


 How does a slide Rule work? I created a number line slide rule with two rulers as an example, then raced students with a calculator, showing that some old technology has some advantages, especially when you don't need 9 or 10 sig figs.

04 June 2024

Strobe


 Using a strobe light at the same frequency as the vibrating string freezes the string, making the counting of the nodes and measuring the wavelength much easier, so the velocity can be measured.

03 June 2024

Blood Tests


 Playing detective identifying blood using simple ABO blood tests on artificial blood. Fun and educational, leading to an understanding of tissue rejection and markers on cells for identification.

31 May 2024

Testing Water


 In GCSE Chemistry, water samples from Rivers, rainwater, and the sea were tested for pH. Rainwater had the lowest pH, and seawater had the salt extracted and desalinized. In biology, the same water was tested for bugs. River water won having the most colonies of bacteria—but it was from the Thames, so there was no surprise here.

30 May 2024

Paper 2 Practice


 The students are now working hard on GCSE Maths Paper 2 Practice and A Level Paper 1 Practice, so they are ready for next week's exams. It may be a holiday for some, but the students are working hard, perhaps harder than they have worked before.

29 May 2024

How an Oscilloscope works


 There was a time when students had met CRT screens but now with LED this and LED that they have little experience of seeing these let alone knowing how they work. when I showed them a valve they had no idea.

Examining Concurrent Processing

  Examining Concurrent Processing Benefits, trade-offs, and when it’s worth using. What is concurrent processing? Concurrent processing is...