Year 13 Chemists Spectroscopy Workshop

On Wednesday 17 October, our Year 13 Chemists attended a Spectroscopy Workshop at the University of Nottingham School of Chemistry to experience some of the more advanced chemistry techniques encountered in A Level Chemistry.

In order to identify a mystery substance, they spent time in the laboratory carrying out Infrared Spectroscopy, before being introduced to Mass Spectrometers and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectrometers worth well over a million pounds.

After interpreting the results and considering the evidence, the mystery substance was found to be aspirin! The workshop introduced the students to the processes and techniques needed to identify even relatively simple molecules which organic chemists use on a routine basis.