SENIOR SCHOOL
Titrations Stakes
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute
(RACI) was founded in January 1917 and
is both the Australian qualifying body for
professional Chemists, and a learned society
and practice of Chemistry in all its branches.
It aims to foster a close interaction among
students, teachers and practicing chemists.
The group developed a competition, which
has been running for over 30 years, to
develop an interest in and an understanding
of the full ramifications of chemical sciences.
The Titration Stakes is a chemical analysis
competition designed to encourage high
school students who enjoy chemistry to
develop and perfect their analytical skills and
to reward those who attain a high level of
proficiency. It is one of the most prestigious
competitions held at a national level.
The competition has three stages: the state
heats, the state championships and the
national championships. The initial state
heats are held at Curtin University in the
Chemistry Precinct, with up to 100 schools
competing for state championship placing.
The top three teams of this stage receive
trophies and are crowned as the winners
of the state heats. This stage requires the
students to work together in a team of
three. They are required to standardise a
solution and then use this standard solution
to work out the concentration of three
unknown solutions, using very precise and
expensive equipment and following specific
and detailed procedures. The team with the
lowest sum of variances (calculated value –
true value) for the three unknown solutions
will win the competition. The teams are
ranked in order of least variance to highest.
Hayden Atterton, Trent Gascoigne and Nicholas Morrison.
The results are so close that the difference
between teams 1 and 2 could be as small as
0.0000001.
To prepare for such a precise and analytical
competition, the boys first need to familiarise
themselves with the equipment and how
to use it effectively. They learn the washing
procedure required and the detailed
procedural steps of the analysis. They then
practice together at least twice a week as
a team, perfecting their ability to use the
equipment and collect precise and accurate
results. They also have to ensure they are
able to use appropriate algebra to calculate
the final results. It takes a steady hand and
an enquiring brain to titrate an unknown
chemical solution to four decimal places.
The second stage, which is called the
Australian National Chemical Analysis
Competition, is held at Murdoch University
and is made up of the top 15 teams from the
state heats, who now compete for a state
medal and national position. Each student
receives their own sample which they have
to analyse. At this stage the students have to
apply their analytical skills individually, using
all the equipment used in the first stage. The
variance calculated for each student is then
added for the three members of the team.
This places a large amount of pressure on
each of the students, to perform extremely
well in order to achieve to their best for
the team. Students who achieve a result
within 1% error of the correct value receive
a gold medallion. The team with the lowest
combined % error wins the state title.
For this stage of the competition, practice
for the boys becomes a lot more frequent
and is individual. They have to now prepare
accurate solutions from solid samples and
they have to perform the whole titration
individually. This is a little daunting, as
each student has to develop skills in using
all pieces of equipment accurately and
efficiently.
The third stage does not require the
students to compete again. The results
from the state champio