Amalgam of ideas and inventions

Updated on: Saturday, September 17, 2011

There was the crowd, enthusiasm and energy akin to all college festivals. But this fest was one with a difference. It was a chemistry festival that saw the participation of students from all streams, including Commerce and Arts.

‘Amalgam 2011', the two-day national chemistry festival of the St. Francis College for Women, was witness to over 1,000 students from about 30 colleges in and out of the city on its first day, here on Thursday. While chemistry based events of the fest tested abilities of science wizards from junior, degree and post-graduate colleges; several others had students from non-science backgrounds occupied.

The ‘Period-table Tambola', however, grabbed the limelight for the day. While numbers from one to 100 are struck off as they are called out in a regular game of tambola, the game here saw chemical elements with their atomic weights take the place of numerals i.e. Hydrogen was at 1, Helium at 2, Lithium at 3 and so on.

Several other events to demystify chemistry and make it interesting, including preparation of live demo experiments and 3D models by students, were also conducted. Experiments on sugar levels in aerated and non-aerated drinks and that on determining fat content in different types of milk bagged prizes. A quiz on varied subjects for students from all streams, a contest on Ad jingles, short-film making, crossword, JAM and collage-making were among other events conducted on the first day. Contests on designing gadgets, scientific paper writing, graffiti and photography are among those lined up for day two of the fest. The student with most novel and creative ideas will walk away as the ‘Scientist of the Day'.

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