For their first practical science lesson since returning to the school site, our Year 11 IGCSE Chemists thoroughly embraced the opportunity to don their safety specs and get stuck into an experiment.
Their task was to carry out chemical testing on unknown substances, specifically looking for the presence of negatively charged carbonate ions.
To identify whether the negative ions were present, they first added their unknown substance to Hydrochloric Acid. The gas produced was then channelled through a test tube of limewater. If the limewater turned cloudy, it meant that the gas contained carbon dioxide, which in turn meant that CO32- (carbonate ions) was present.
It was really fantastic to see our students back in the Labs and engaging with hands-on Science.
