An elementary challenge
175 minutes for chemistry
Two Year 7 students at Fairfield High School in Bristol, have used their time for chemistry by learning the periodic table off by heart, amazing their classmates and teaching staff.
The pair, Saule and Matty, decided to embark on the task after they started learning about chemistry.
Saule's feat is even more remarkable as she has memorised it in her second language of English – she is from Lithuania.
Teacher Adam Hickey said: "I have never in my career met any student, let alone a couple of Year 7s, who had the desire to learn the periodic table.
"These two decided on their own to go and learn the whole thing from start to finish.
"While there are some YouTube clips of celebrities reciting the table in a haphazard way, doing it in the correct order enables the students to know about the number of subatomic particles in the nucleus, which is critical in knowing everything else about the element."
Principal Cat Mangham highlighted what a brilliant achievement this is. "I'm sure these students will go on to have great success in science and other STEM subjects. I hope their initiative will inspire other students to challenge themselves too," she said.
Watch Saule and Matty recite the periodic table off by heart.
175 minutes for chemistry
As the oldest chemical society in the world, we celebrated our 175th anniversary in 2016. We wanted to mark this milestone by recognising the important contributions our community makes to the chemical sciences. We asked our members and supporters to dedicate 175 minutes to chemistry in 2016 and share their stories with us. We featured these stories throughout the year on our website, in print in RSC News, and on social media using #time4chem.
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