Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) has been awarded over £2000 funding through the Royal Society Partnership Scheme.
The grant has been awarded to the College’s Sixth Form Physics Department, providing students with the opportunity to build their own Cosmic Ray Muon Detector.
Martin Gallacher, Subject Leader for Physics at NULC, explains what a Cosmic Ray Muon Detector is used for: “Muons are charged particles that are created in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays collide with the atoms in the air. We plan to build an electronic detector using materials sourced from Birmingham University and Fermilab in Chicago. The detector will then be capable of digitally counting the number of muons that pass through it and we can use it to investigate various factors that may affect the muon count rate. We can even use it to verify Einstein’s Theory of Relativity!”
The Physics department have been working with particle physicists from Birmingham University who have provided expert lectures and workshops with the talented NULC students.
The College will now work in collaboration with Birmingham University on the project and are planning a trip to the University in the new term to begin using their detector before ordering the equipment to build their own at the College
Martin added: “It’s a long term project which is due to finish at the end of 2014, so not only will our current Physics students be involved but also those students who’re currently in High School and planning to study Physics at Newcastle-under-Lyme College in September.”
Each year, around 1100 bright and ambitious students from across Staffordshire and Cheshire choose to study AS and A Levels at Newcastle-under-Lyme College’s Sixth Form Centre. The College provides AS and A Levels in more than 35 different subjects.
In 2012, 153 A* and A grades were achieved with around two thirds of our students achieving the top A*-C grades and 11 subjects enjoying 100% pass rates including Accounting, Dance, English Language, English Language and Literature, Film Studies, French, Geography, Media Studies, Photography, Textiles and Critical Thinking. At NULC more students from go on to university than from any other college in Staffordshire* (*Data from UCAS).
To find out more about studying at Newcastle-under-Lyme College’s Sixth Form Centre visit www.nulc.ac.uk or contact the Information Point on 01782 254254 or email info@nulc.ac.uk.
