Decisions

So I finally whittled my list of 12 universities down to 5! I have no idea of how I'm going to prioritize them all if I get offers but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I'm not all too confident that I will so maybe I won't have to cross that bridge at all!

So in alphabetical order I have Imperial, Nottingham, Oxford, Sussex, Warwick! I'm really pleased with my decision because they are places I would love to go to and I have a range of entry grades from A*AA - AAB so I feel reasonably comfortable. Also I like that I still have a range of city and campus as well as having different distances from home so I haven't made any decisions that will limit me later. To be honest, at the end of the day it won't particularly matter where I go because I'll be doing physics all day and I'll love that wherever I am!

So now that's decided and I have practically finished my personal statement I'm almost ready to send it off! I'm pretty happy with it actually! I'm dying to share it with you but I probably shouldn't post it just yet... But I'm really pleased with the way I managed to get my excitement for physics across without sounding like a complete nutcase! Well I hope so at least! I just have to let a couple of my teachers check through it for me and then I'll apply and then I'll wait! I'm so looking forward to that last stage!

The other 4 posts on my list will have to wait until after I've finished another physics presentation...

Exciting post!

I have about 6 different posts to write at the moment but I seem to have a bottomless pile of homework at the moment but this literally cannot wait!

So I got home after staying late at school for physics (we were going through a test we did last week - apparently when a teacher is reprimanding a class for doing badly in an assesment and she rhetorically asks if anyone even got over half, it isn't the right moment to ask if 51% counts? Nobody told me about this rule...) I found a letter waiting for me. I love recieving post anyway but its usually a another university advert but this time it said IOP on the front. So I got a little excited but was still expecting some kind of advert or newsletter from the Institue of Physics. Little did I know but it was a membership card!! I never got one last year, it was so unexpected!! I feel so special! Its got my name on it and everything! Ahh, so happy :)

Also to add to the physics joy, I bought an old textbook from my physics teacher that the department wanted to get rid of. Its really big and looks very intellectual - perfect for my shelf at uni!! erm, of course by that I mean, perfect to read and learn from... Actually, it'll honestly be good for the PAT exam I have to do for Oxford...

Oxford

So, I went to see Oxford over a week ago now and I really really really liked it!

At first it was all a bit underwhelming because we went to the wrong physics building and this one had a very cold, formal feel to it, the library was quite ordinary and once we found the right area for the physics departement, it didn't have any tours. That combined with trying to make polite conversation with a particularly awkward boy who decided he should stick with some people with maps (a.k.a me!) I wasn't overally excited!

But then the day seemed to take rather a Uturn! A tutor came over to talk to us and she was friendly, reassuring and informative. And then I saw a couple of boys from the Queen Mary Academy week and even though again, I was forced into awkward conversation it all seemed a little more normal!

We decided to have a look around keble college as it was practically on the doorstep of the physics department. It was this magnificent red brick building and we were exactly on time for the departmental talks! So I listened to a tutor talk about the application process, learning environments and answer a few good questions and by the end of it, I was completely in love with the place! I really appreciate the college system as it allows more of a closeness and a sense of belonging that I like.

And then we went to see another college called sommerville and we literally couldnt have picked a more different college! We had a lovely tour guide who told us that sommerville is more relaxed and less pressurised which sounded lovely. To be honest I don't know which college I would like best and I think an open application would be best as I honestly believe I'd have a great time at any!

And then we had a delicious lunch and I'm sure oxford is on my list! even if it does mean nasty tests and interveiws!

Teacher Tales

After half a week last week school is back into full swing and I feel super busy most of the time but in a good way I think!

In chemistry we have started a topic which involves an awful lot of biology. I am the only one in my class that didn't do AS biology and my teacher finds it necessary to mention this fact every 2 seconds in class! I can't really complain as she is doing a wonderful job of explaining things to me really carefully so I understand it all but nevertheless I was standing by the lockers moaning about it to my friend and was mortified to discover my teacher had walked right behind me! Luckily she finds enjoyment in my discomfort and embarrassment so has continued to make jokes about it just to see how red my face can go! I promise to never talk about anyone ever again...

I had my new physics teacher again today! After telling us that particle physicists make everything up just to keep themselves in a job (something I found considerably more funny than my friend who loves particle physics!) he said that 'education is just the dimishment of deception' and I really love this definition. It is especially relevent since last year I felt as though, what with wave particle duality and so on, that what we were learning really was changing how I saw the world.

Guess who is GQ's TV personality of the Year!?

ATTENTION! Breaking Brian News! He was voted the GQ's TV Personality of The Year! I found his acceptance speech here but I haven't listened to it yet because the sound doesn't seem to be working on my laptop!! I'm sure its brilliant though! Matt Smith was voted, Tanqueray Most Stylish Man which might sound cooler (what on earth is tanqueray?!) but I won't let him take Brians limelight!

By the way, this isn't me choosing Brian over Tesla, they are two very different physicist... I'm well rounded now, I dont have to have favourites... Anyway, thanks to my friend for bringing this news to my attention!

New Teacher

Today was my first lesson with my new physics teacher (well new to me, not new to the school) and he seems lovely! He has beard which initially was quite distracting, mostly because of this guy I watch on youtube, but I soon got over it! I really really really dislike double lessons normally but this one seemed to fly by! We did quite a bit of work and I honestly understood everything so I think this will be a good year. Half way through the double we had a room change to another classroom and when he got excited about having a roller board in that room I knew we were going to get on this year! I have to admit that there were some silent 'awwww's when his back was turned! I think he's one of those teachers who can weave interesting anecdotes into the subject matter in an interesting, fun way and I can't wait to hear what he has to say next lesson!

Today was also my first physics lesson without my friend and it was quite emotionally traumatic... I'm gonna have to check my own work for silly mistakes and to see if I rememberred the units myself now!!

New Growth!

So I have had this plant since my birthday last October but recently it has started growing some new shoots and I feel like a proud parent! I realise the plant topic is pretty much claimed by biology but since I am now a well rounded human being I am allowed to talk about other sciences!

I might have gotten a little bit carried away with the labelling process but there were too many interesting things in the background! Well interesting to me anyway... I knew I would find some way of talking about Charlie!!

Centrifugal Pump

This experiment would most definitely have been easier with a longer stick but you've got to make do with what you've got I guess! I had to slow down the video so you can see and I made it short so you don't die of boredom but we really managed to pump a lot of water because the walls were drenched!

This works because by spinning the straw you spin the water. If an object is spinning then it a force acts pushing the object outward, in this case up and out of the straw. vaccum cleaners and washing machines actually work the same way! So... Yeah! Till next time ;)

Ps. Does the sound work? That was supposed to be hilarious... Well maybe I'm a little tired, mildly amusing at the very least!

Metallurgy

Our little sentimental trip down memory lane the other day gave me the kick I needed and now I'm back! For a while at least, no promises since I have no idea how accurate these rumours are that this year will be even hard than the last!

So I decided to try my hand at another experiment and it was at least half a success! I have to admit to only choosing this one as it was labelled as 'Metallurgy in the Kitchen' and metallurgy sounds like a pretty awesome word! Material science always seems a little more of chemistry that physics but hey with a word like metallurgy who cares?!

So I assembled my apparatus as shown here:

The tidiness is a completely naturally instinct, it totally wasn't staged for the photo... Anyway so I needed 3 unbent paperclips. I had to take two of them and heat them until they went orange like so:

And put an orange paperclip in the egg cup of cold water and the other on a plate to cool. Then I tried bending each of them.

The paperclip that had nothing done to it was very difficult to bend (left) and actually part of it snapped off, the next difficult was the paper clip in the cold water (middle) and the most flexible was the one left to cool on the plate (right).

For the first paperclip, bending it backwards and forwards created a work hardening effect leading to it snapping. It gets harder and harder to bend because the atoms in the metal have to rearrange themselves and they become closer and there is less room to bend.

The process performed on the paper clip that was left to cool on the plate is called annealing. The heating gave the atoms lots of energy so they are able to deform more and therefore is more flexible.

The final paperclip is were my results are a little off... The process is called quenching and is supposed to leave the paperclip even less flexible. Apparently this occurs because iron has two stable crystal structures so before when we cooled the paper clip slowly the atoms have time to organise properly. When they are cooled quickly by the water there is no time and they form a third structure called martensite which is hard, brittle and stiff. So maybe my paperclips didn't have enough iron in them or maybe my water wasn't cold enough? Anyway, its no fun when it's perfect!

Kings College London

I went to Kings College London yesterday for another tour. Whilst initially it seemed an advantage to be in the middle of London - literally in the middle, the strand campus is in the middle of a high street! - on reflection it really does decrease the whole university life aspect I have started to realy look forward to. I mean the campus still has its own bar, cafe and night club but the closest halls of residence are 15 minuetes away and the library is also a fair walk away so I'm not sure it would be so useful. Maybe I'm being picky but it seems to be increasingly difficult to choose between all of these universities so everything seems to matter! Again, it is difficult to judge since I didn't actually see the physics department so I have decided to make another quick visit on the university of London open days before I make a proper decision. That said we had a really great tour guide who completely sold the university and there was a beautiful chapel. The university had a museum feel to it which definitely sets it apart from others we have seen. Or maybe thats just because we didn't see it on a busy open day?

Good Times

I have another university visit tomorrow and I just can't bear to have my 100th post, the one I seem to have been falling towards for months now, to be wasted on another university visit...

And so instead I have decided to waste it on a self gratifying look back at the past 100 entries that I have made! Its always fun to look back at old posts and laugh at myself.

1. I was so naive back then thinking Brian Cox was so brilliant in this post, I had no idea that some so awesome as Nikola Tesla could have existed! My moment of enlightenment was on this day and I will forever treasure this moment!
2. And probably the best thing this blog has allowed me to do was a picture in this post because I always have stupid ideas like this but never actually do them but this time I really did it and it was brilliant! At least I felt brilliant for doing it!
3. I know it is awful to laugh at your own jokes but who honestly doesn't! So the calculator series here are what I most enjoyed writing even though they aren't very much to do with physics...
4. My favourite experiment was this one because I think it demonstrated aerodynamics perfectly, taught me a new party trick, allowed me to involve my favourite Glee star and it was successful which is always a  bonus! Plus there is no cringey video to make me shudder when I look back at it!
5. My favourite factual post is my first one because I was really fascinated by what I had learnt and wanted to share it with everybody! My poor parents have been putting up with that behavior for years (I can remember trying to explain to my mum what full stops are!) but this was the first time I shared that kind of thing with actual people. Not that my parents are robots or anything.. Well, you know what I mean!

Ah, good times :) I think I needed those flashbacks, thanks for your patience xx

Ps. I got an A in my Physics AS!! Sorry, can't believe it took me so long to write about it!

Royal Holloway

Well so far I've done extremely well to avoid my 100th post, an avoidance I can't rationally explain, but I've been doing it so well that I feel quite silly taking a step closer to the number... However, it can't be helped, I went to Royal Holloway university yesterday and I have to write something about it otherwise I might just forget about it completely...

Although that does seem extremely unlikely since the building makes such an impression. The university manages to combine both the magnificently old aspects of the architecture, courtyard and a beautiful library with the irresistibly sleek, convenient apartments and new department blocks. It was far too easy to get carried away with how nice the whole campus looked and forget about what I was actuallly there for - the physics. Since it wasn't an open day the department wasn't open but we found the building anyway and well, I didn't get much of a feel for it but it was impossible not to image myself living on the campus. Its probably a perfect distance from home and transport links seem pretty flawless..

I guess I've managed to get down to about 8 universities now which I know is still too many I know but it is slightly closer... I want to see them all before I decide which shouldn't be too long now! I've finished my second draft of my personal statement (well second not including that awful thing I posted last!) so I feel a little less worried at the moment...