On Monday 3rd June, students were treated to a talk on Particle Physics by Meirin Jourdren Evans. Meirin has a Masters in Physics from the University of Manchester and is currently studying for his PhD at the University of Sussex. He regularly conducts experiments at CERN in Switzerland on the world famous particle accelerator as part of his research. Students from Year 10 and 12 learnt about the value of the research at CERN, including implementation of touch screens to exploration of ‘Dark Matter’. Meirin emphasised the benefits of global collaboration of scientists.
In addition Meirin ran two hands-on computer based workshops for our Year 12 Physics students. This involved simulation of particle accelerator events where students learnt how to identify exotic particles such as muons and the mysterious and elusive neutrino by analysis of accelerator detectors. Our students were able to successfully apply the key principles of conservation of energy and momentum already learnt to do some clever Particle Physics.
