white pencil and chalk on black cartridge paper
Month: October 2018
Wake Up And Smell The Solvents
A thick blanket of petroleum ether fumes had descended upon the lab- interspersed with the acrid scent were traces of delicate citrus notes. This was the surprising result of my attempt to extract essential oil from oranges via expression and solvent extraction. Despite producing an essential oil that didn’t quite resemble the uplifting citrusy scent of oranges, I left the lab with a smile that stretched for miles – ecstatic about having designed and carried out a complete experiment entirely single-handedly as part of an exciting club I have recently set up at school.
The idea of organising a club had been slowly growing in my mind since the start of the summer holidays. Having just finished all my GCSE exams, it was almost expected that I would want to completely avoid any curricular activities; however, I remained passionately interested in the subjects I chose to study at Sixth Form and started really looking forward to studying A-Level Chemistry in particular. Curious as to what the A-Level course would be like, I came across the FutureLearn course on ‘Exploring Everyday Chemistry’ run by the University of York. In six weeks, I was exposed to the fascinating organic chemistry and biochemistry that underpinned so many commonplace products and concepts- ranging from fragrances to beverages.
My mind started brimming with terms such as ‘limonene’, ‘enantiomers’, and ‘vibrational bond energy’. I decided on modifying the content of the course to start up our school’s very own Exploring Everyday Chemistry Society; the concept of connecting chemistry with everyday products is a brilliant one that would encourage engagement with science (particularly for younger pupils in KS3 and 4).
What makes this proposed club unique is that, each half-term, I planned on carrying out and leading experiments to enhance the course content and help younger students (and myself) develop vital practical skills.
Which brings us to this afternoon; I had the wonderful experience of demonstrating the extraction limonene essential oil from orange peel to Year 9 student.
First, working over a 250 cm3 beaker, we used the grater to remove only the outer, coloured rind from the oranges and scraped the material from the grater into the beaker with a spatula.
Next, the gratings were gathered into the garlic press and squeezed into a conical flask through a strainer.
20 cm3 of distilled water was then added to the flask and the liquid was transferred to a separating funnel. We then carefully added 10 cm3 of solvent (petroleum ether) and shook the separating funnel before leaving the emulsion to separate out into two layers.
The bottom layer (mostly water and debris) was run off and discarded and the top layer (consisting of petroleum ether and dissolved essential oil) was transferred into a water bath to evaporate off the petroleum.
Due to time limitations and using excess petroleum ether, the final collected essential oil still contained a slight amount of solvent.
I did find that allowing the liquid to evaporate at room temperature reduced the intensity of the petrol vapours. However, when I repeat this experiment with the Year 10 students next week- I’ll ensure to use less solvent and boil off the solvent thoroughly.
Overall, this experiment is a great success to me and has been an experience I enjoyed tremendously – we produced 16 little vials of essential oil to take home and treasure.
(I still wouldn’t use them as perfume though…)
Nancy Rothwell Award 2018: Shortlisted
Standard
Driven by my deep-rooted admiration of the orca, a beautifully designed cetacean, I spent the late summer days sketching for hours – trying to capture the fascinating form of the toothed whale. Whilst I was working on this drawing, I learnt about the fascinating science behind their adaptions for attack (such as the immensely powerful hypaxial muscles that allow it to wield its tail to paralyse prey and the streamlined body that enhances its hydrodynamic movement) and reflected this in my art.
I finally completed this intricate exploded view of the external anatomy, muscles, and skeleton in September and immediately entered it into the Nancy Rothwell competition. Recently, delightful news arrived in my inbox; I was absolutely ecstatic to learn that my entry was shortlisted for the 15 – 18 year old category.
Last night, I attended an amazing awards ceremony, hosted by the RSB, in celebration of the shortlisted and winning entries for the Nancy Rothwell Award as well as the Photography Competition and Outreach and Engagement Awards.
The evening was wonderful and I even had the chance to network with scientists and professionals in a variety of bioscience fields whilst devouring delicious canapés.
I left feeling proud and accomplished but, most of all, inspired.
Curiosity Killed The Cation 