Australian Synchrotron Education Program 2010

The Australian Synchrotron is the nation’s largest piece of stand-alone scientific infrastructure. The synchrotron uses electricity to produce and accelerate electrons. The synchrotron’s light is produced when the electrons are bent by powerful magnets and forced to travel in a circular orbit.

The synchrotron’s light ranges from infrared to hard X-rays and is used to analyse a range of materials such as human tissue, plants, proteins, artefacts, and minerals.

The Australian Synchrotron is currently planning our Education Program for 2010.

Our Education Program aims to bring experiments to the classroom, and familiarise students with the basics of synchrotron techniques.

Education Centre sessions (Lab Sessions) are currently being designed to work consistently with learning standards of the Victorian education curriculum. Our Education Program is designed for science students in Year 10, Year 11 and Year 12. We also offer a program developed for VCE Unit 4 Physics.

Outlined below are suggested subjects of the program. As this program is still in the development phase, subject and experiments may change.

The Synchrotron and Nanotechnology (ready for commencement of Term 2) (read)
The Synchrotron and Forensic Science (2 experiments ready for commencement of Term 2) (read)
The Synchrotron and Environmental Science (1 experiment ready for commencement of Term 2) (read)

This program is designed to inform students on how light can be used in determining the concentration of contaminants in waterways using absorption spectroscopy and identification elements using emission spectroscopy techniques.

Students will determine the concentration of nitrates and phosphates in samples of water using absorption spectroscopy, and are encouraged to bring samples of water from their local area.

Experiments:

• Mercury in CFL tubes
• Quantitative analysis of phosphates (experiment under development)
• Determining nitrate concentration in natural water (experiment under development)

Session Information

• Sessions are 4 hours in duration. This will include 45 minute tour of the facility.
• Sessions start at 10am (9.30am – 9.45am arrival for 10am start).
• Sessions conclude at 2pm.

Our Education Centre is located on the technical floor. Health and Safety Regulations at the Australian Synchrotron require all visitors to be escorted at all times while on the technical floor.

As we have limited space within the facility, arrangements for lunch breaks will be as follows:

• Students will break for approx 30-45min for lunch. Lunch is not provided.
• If weather permits student will have their lunch outside.
• On days of inclement weather, lunch break will be taken in the lab space as no food or drink is allowed on the technical floor.

Bookings

Booking forms, dates and enquiries can be made by contacting This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

When completing your booking request please make sure you select only (1) subject session. If you would like to participate in more than 1 subject session, a separate booking and date will need to be booked. Additional dates will be available for VCE Unit 4 Physics Students in Term 3 in preparation for their exams. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for the schedule of dates.

This program is designed to inform students on how light can be used to determine the structure of objects on the nano scale using diffraction techniques.

Students will investigate diffraction through a range of objects and investigate how the patterns produced give information about the structure.

Experiments:

• Diffraction of fibres
• Diffraction through gratings
• Calculating storage capacity of CDs and DVDs using diffraction

This program is designed to inform students on how light can be used in forensic science to determine the type and concentration of elements and chemicals.

Students will perform experiments on emission spectroscopy and visible absorption spectroscopy.

Experiments:

• Mercury in CFL tubes
• Visible absorbance of food dye
• Spectrophotometric analysis of commercial aspirin (experiment under development)