Year 12 Physics trip to The Cavendish Laboratory

Seventeen extremely committed Year 12 Physicists got up incredibly early to travel to Cambridge University for a taster day in a joint initiative lead by Churston Ferrers with Torbay Academy and Torquay Girls Grammar.

On arrival to the University students were given a tour around Churchill College which was built to honour Winston Churchill and was inspired by the MIT in the USA.  Students were given a taste of University life and were able to see the halls of residence, lecture theatres and sports facilities.

Students then walked to the world famous Cavendish Laboratory which boasts 29 Nobel Laureates and many exciting developments in Science including evidence for the structure of the atom and the structure of DNA.

After a talk on what it is like to study Physics at University, the students were invited to complete an experiment using a pendulum to find local gravitational field strength.  Our students executed the experiment well and obtained very accurate results using a university technique known as the method of exact fractions.

All students were a credit to the school and coped very well with the early start and very late finish to the day.

The Physics department is looking forward to developing this trip and perhaps incorporating an overnight stay next year.

V. Fairchild