Despite the 4:45am start, there was an electric atmosphere of excitement on the coach to Gatwick; partly in anticipation of the trip to Geneva, partly due to it being the first chance to catch up with friends after the long summer break. We were delighted to be joined by some Physics students from Weald Grammar School who are also now beginning their final year of their Physics course.
During the trip, there were visits to the Red Cross Museum, the United Nations Headquarters and the Jet D’Eau in the Old Town, but the highlight of the trip had to be the full day at CERN. We were treated to a workshop where we could make a cloud chamber, allowing us to monitor and analyse the background radiation speeding through the room, and then embarked on a tour of the CERN facility, stopping off at locations such as the Antimatter Factory, Central Computing Facility and SM18, where the superconducting magnets are manufactured. Between these activities, all CERN’s visitor exhibits were available and we had the chance to practice lowering a model particle detector into an underground chasm, control the synchrotron’s ‘kickers’ to accelerate particles and even build our own model stars.
At the start of what will be a very busy term, this was a fantastic opportunity to learn about Physics beyond the syllabus and ponder what the next big discovery could be.
