2015_11_11_CIE_planetario_quimico

About a hundred students from five schools in Navarra, Vitoria and Granada participated in the macroexperiment "Chemical Planetarium", organized by the University of Navarra in high school diploma from five schools in Navarra, Vitoria and Granada have participated in the macroexperiment"Chemical Planetarium", organized by the University of Navarra in the framework of the activities of the Science Week 2015.

The test, which took place in total darkness at the auditorium of the Sciences Building, aimed to show students how the light emitted by a flashlight is scattered with the financial aid of a colloidal suspension, so that the image projected on the ceiling of the auditorium went from white to yellow and finally turned completely red, simulating what happens in the sky when the sun looks white at dawn, yellow during the day and reddish at dusk.

"What happens is that the air molecules in the atmosphere scatter the light waves coming from the Sun. This effect is greater for the shorter waves - the blue ones - so when we look at the sky that is the color we see. On the other hand, when the Sun is low on the horizon, the light crosses the atmosphere in a longer path, so that almost all the blue light is scattered, and we are left with only the mostly red", explained José Ramón Isasi, professor at department of Chemistry and Soil Science.

In addition to this macro-experiment where the kids performed the test with a glass of water and the flashlight of their cell phone, the session offered ten different experiments to show different ways of generating light: from the chemical reactions that give off light and heat -when burning gunpowder cotton or a simple gummy bear-, to the different colors of fireworks -recreated using different chemical elements, ethanol and salt-; the effects of phosphorescence and fluorescence, or the cold light emitted naturally by animals such as fireflies or some species of jellyfish, and which have been tried to be replicated for use, for example, by the Army.

More lectures, workshops and guided tours

The Science Week program at the University of Navarra will continue on Thursday and Friday with experiments to "touch" the Chemistry, Biology and Physics, to position of professors and researchers of the School of Sciences and aimed at awakening the scientific vocations of primary, secondary and high school students. high school diploma.

In addition, Professor Carlos Gamazo, Full Professor of Microbiology, will give a talk on antibiotic resistance and how bacteria themselves - subject to our "persecution" - have perfected and become resistant to many of our antibiotics, which is already estimated to cause the death of ten million people a year in the future if nothing is done.

Finally, on Friday the 13th, the last lecture will be held at position by Professor David Galicia, who will review the great successes of science fiction from the point of view of Biology.