Incredible lessons in chemistry

SIXTH form chemists enjoyed an exciting afternoon experimenting with synthesising indigo and going on to create tie dye fabrics.

The 'Incredible Indigo' event was organised by the RGS Chemistry Society, led by Josiah Baker. He invited Dr Annie Hodgson, University of York chemistry department outreach officer to run the session with 14 eager students.

Josiah, who plans to study chemistry at university, explained that, after talking through the chemistry behind the practical and what they should expect to see, students set about in pairs with the practical work.

“Everyone was able to tie dye their own fabric, some of them had some great patterns. The afternoon built on all our knowledge and helped apply theories we had learnt about in a different context.

“Hopefully everyone learnt something during this very enjoyable afternoon. We’d like to thank Dr Hodgson, our first in-person speaker this year, for a fantastic session.

Members of the popular society have attended a number of online lectures from various universities and also undertake weekly activities such as internal presentations and discussions.

“We also have a trip to Labcorp Drug Development laboratories in Harrogate lined up in to look forward to in March,” he said.