Cambridge Chemistry Challenge

Ninety-six pupils from the Lower Eighth and Sixth Form entered the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge in June.  This group set a new record for the number of awards won by SPS (87) and new records for numbers of silver (37) and copper (31) awards.  This competition is designed for pupils who have completed a year of A-level study, which makes the fact that eleven Sixth Formers won awards, including a superb gold for Jash Jhaveri, outstanding.

Aaron Yuan and Eamon Coates, both from the Lower Eighth, finished ranked in the top 0.7% of the competition and so received the highest award available: roentgenium, which was awarded to only the top 54 of 7,270 entrants in this year’s competition.  They will be invited to attend a residential camp in Cambridge over the summer.

One of the questions required pupils to analyse the thermodynamics of the Pharaoh’s Serpent, a highly toxic 19^th Century chemical curiosity.