Year 11 Chemistry

University Senior College Year 11 Chemistry students investigating the reducing ability of the sugar glucose that is present in Chupa Chups to reveal the different coloured oxidation states of manganese. Agitation and the creation of a vortex is a necessary component of the experiment to allow the chemical reactants to collide with sufficient energy.

University Senior College Year 11 Chemistry students have also been investigating the effect of an oxidizing acid, in this case concentrated nitric acid, on the relatively unreactive metal copper. In this reaction the chemical nitrogen dioxide, a heavy dark brown gas, is produced. This substance is quite acidic and is responsible for the brown haze seen in the morning Adelaide skies during our hot summers.