Have you ever wondered what makes the lid stay on your shampoo bottle or why your bath foams up when you add bubble bath? Well, believe it or not, the answer is chemistry! Chemistry is in action all around the bathroom; so much so that the RSC have partnered with Croda to produce a brand new, interactive resource called Chemistry in your Bathroom.


Disarray: What your bathroom might look like without Croda chemicals

Chemistry in your Bathroom is a fun flash-based interactive resource that lets you explore where Croda chemicals are found and what they do around the bathroom. Hover over different parts of the bathroom to see where specific chemicals can be found and what effect they have. You can then download the related interactive PDFs – filled with videos, animations and interactive images, which help explain the chemistry behind soapy bubbles, fluffy towels, soft skin and much more… And at the end you can take a quiz to test what you learnt!


From frizzy to straight with the help of chemicals. Move your mouse across the
virtual bathroom to find out where else chemistry is involved.

It’s the first time we have used interactive PDFs and we really like them. But we’re keen to hear what you think about them as well. So get clicking around our virtual bathroom and let us know you feedback! We look forward to it.

We hope you enjoy using Chemistry in your Bathroom!

This year, Sheffield is hosting its first ever Festival of Science and Engineering from 10^th – 24^th March. Months of meetings, planning and hard work have come to fruition as the Festival encompasses the hugely successful National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW).

 
Sheffield is rightly proud of its two Universities and the two have worked closely together, along with local museums and industry-education groups across the city to create this extravaganza of science and engineering.
 
Take a look at the large programme of public events on offer, catering for all ages and tastes. http://www.scienceweeksy.org.uk/events.htm
 
NSEW is a UK-wide celebration of science and engineering, organised by the British Science Association. You can locate all NSEW activities near you here http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/national-science-engineering-week
 
It is a great way to get involved with promoting chemistry in your local area. So what are you waiting for?!

Joanna Buckley is RSC Regional Coordinator for North East England and works with the education team.
Contact her at joanna.buckley@sheffield.ac.uk

The Royal Institution are continuing their great work inspiring the scientists of the future, following the successful chemistry-themed Christmas Lectures, supported by the RSC and featuring RSC Fellow Peter Wothers.

Ri's Katherine McAlpine has a guest post on a 'Science for Schools' event in March. Read on, and get involved!:

Our science for schools shows are jam-packed full of experiments, demonstrations and the odd explosion.

These popular talks for young people are given in our iconic theatre (the very one where the Christmas Lectures are filmed) at our headquarters in Mayfair. The sessions provide an entertaining investigation to a range of STEM subjects and really bring science to life for your students.

In this special half-day event for A level chemistry students, Andy Holding demonstrates how understanding a single reaction changed the world for ever, and Professor David Smith explores how essential chemists are to the miracles of modern medicine. Book tickets for this event.

A-Level Chemistry Day. 
Tuesday 19 March 2013
 
10.15-11.15   Alchemy and Air with Dr Andy Holding In the summer of 1909, Fritz Haber demonstrated a single chemical reaction that changed the world forever.

Join Dr Andy Holding  to find out about how he discovered the optimum conditions to produce the ammonia that produces our fertilisers, dyes, household cleaners and explosives. Bringing the Nitrogen cycle to life, this entertaining and demonstration-rich talk will look at the implications that a scientific formula can have on the world.
 
11.15-11.30  Comfort Break
 
11.30-12.30 Professor Dave's Amazing Molecules-Chemistry and the Human Body Professor David Smith aims to convince you that as important as doctors and nurses are to saving lives, without chemists, they would not be able to perform many of the miracles of modern medicine. 

By using demonstrations and audience participation, we will explore some intriguing biologically active molecules and discover how chemists can go about creating new drugs.
 
Tickets are £3 per person. Book here: http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayEvent&id=1399

Can you say what you do using only the ten hundred most common words in English? A blog inspired by the XKCD 'Up-Goer Five' image asks research scientists to do exactly that, using a clever text editor to spot any unacceptably uncommon words.

Whilst not a research scientist, I thought I'd try to say what it is I do with Learn Chemistry, using the same limited vocabulary:

I help people who are learning about the little bits in everything and what they do; everything from hot part of a fire, to the always-warm rocks in the ground, to the water that we drink, and the glass on our phones.

These people can be old or young, good or bad at learning, but they all want to know more about those little bits - how they work, how to see them, how to make them, how to break them up, how to join them to other things, and so on.

I work with bright people who try to build a better place for these people to learn, share ideas and know more about the little bits of everything. This place is a kind of big room, and everyone, in any place, can look through their own window into the room, to find the things they need to help them.

Maybe, if we do our jobs well, people will want to know more about the little bits of everything after they leave little school, or leave big school, or even when they go to work; and everyone will know a little bit more about how the world works, and all the parts that make it up.

Recently I rediscovered the RSC Interactive Lab Primer. Developed 5 years ago by RSC Teacher Fellows as part of the Chemistry for our Future project, the site is a goldmine of information regarding practical chemistry, techniques and lab safety. Each of the main sections: working safely, lab techniques, lab apparatus and reference material has information to address the diverse range of experience and skills students bring with them to university by offering a resource to support their transition from school to university chemistry.

We are slowly adding the individual parts of the site to Learn Chemistry, but when you see the site, you'll see what a mammoth task it is! We have started with some of the videos, which can be found here.

My favourite parts are the animations (column chromatography, for example) within the lab techniques which show, along with explanations, how any particular technique works; and the reference material, particularly common conversions as it will hopefully alleviate some of those easy to make conversion errors we’ve all made!

There are also video explanations that talk you through how a technique is carried out (IR spectroscopy) or how to assemble apparatus.

Of course, safety is even more important at university once the transition from school has been made, due to so much more responsibility being placed on the individual. From personal protection equipment being explained to handling glassware safely, so much important information can be found in one place. It’s a wonder we ever survived practical chemistry without it!