Great Scot December 2019 Great Scot 158_December_ONLINE | Page 34

NEWS
EXCELLENT RESULTS FOR SCOTCH
BOYS IN NATIONAL CHEMISTRY QUIZ
Fifty-two Scotch boys from Years 10, 11 and 12 Chemistry classes
took up the challenge of participating in the Royal Australian Chemistry
Institute’s 2019 Australian National Chemistry Quiz, and the boys’
results were outstanding. Between them, Scotch boys earned six
credits, 16 distinctions and 17 high distinctions in this competition,
which tested students’ general chemistry knowledge against more
than 12,000 students across Australia.
In addition, students who achieve a score which places them in
the top one per cent in the country receive the highest award — high
distinction excellence – and nine Scotch boys received this award:
Edmund Fang (Year 10), Jason Chan, Nicholas Kluckow, Jim Qu,
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Great Scot Issue 158 – December 2019
FROM LEFT:
OLIVER SIMMONS,
NICHOLAS
KLUCKOW, JASON
CHAN, FINN
RENNIE, NICK
WANG, JIM QU,
LINCOLN POON,
EDMUND FANG
Finn Rennie, Oliver Simmons and Nick Wang
(all Year 11), and Timothy Keep and Lincoln Poon
(both Year 12).
Year 11 Chemistry students were also offered
the opportunity to work with faculty members from
the University of Melbourne Chemistry department
to produce and catalogue crystals using an X-ray
crystallography program.
Two of the boys, JASON CHAN and NICK
WANG, described the crystallography project as
‘an exciting and scientifically enriching experience
which further fuelled our passion for the subject of
chemistry’.
‘We chose to make a crystal from rubidium and
THBA, as well as THBA and guanidinium’, the boys
said. ‘At first, our rubidium was not successful,
however after revising the ratios we were able to
produce a never-seen-before compound, which
was part of the excitement of this activity.
‘This taught us the skill of being able to accept
a failure and to revise our initial methods in order
to attain a desired outcome. During the sessions,
we were also taught about the various items of equipment and the
history behind crystallography, as well as the equation which allows for
the analysis of crystallography data. All in all, this experience has been
one of discovery and self-learning.
‘Our compounds were beautiful crystals of rubidium and THBA as
well as another compound of guanidinium and THBA. The rubidium
compound displayed an interesting alternating layer of water and
rubidium, and surprisingly was the only compound to exhibit double
deprotonation on the THBA. For the guanidinium, it showed a pattern
the professors described as ‘Star Trek looking’, with the whole
compound held together by only dipole bonds.’