Physics Trip to Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

I recently had the opportunity to go on a trip to the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, where we spent the day learning about Particle Physics. The trip was an eye-opening experience that left me with a newfound appreciation for the world of Particle Physics.

We started the day with a lecture on particle accelerators and particle acceleration theory. It was fascinating to learn about the science behind particle accelerators and how they work. We then had a workshop on dealing with data from the large hadron collider using Python. The workshop was interactive and fun, and we learned valuable skills that will be useful in the future.

We also had lectures on how the large Hadron Collider works and all the experiments that have been done using it. One of the most interesting things I learned was about how the Higgs boson was discovered. It started as something theoretical that was only created to help the standard model of Particle Physics, and it was only discovered many years later after multiple experiments to try and find it. This was a fascinating insight into what we know about Particle Physics and even Physics as a whole.

We finished the trip by visiting the electron accelerator in the laboratory. We were lucky enough to see how the current accelerator works and what they are planning for it in the future. It was amazing to see the technology and engineering that goes into creating such powerful machines.

Overall, the trip was a fantastic experience. It allowed us to see first-hand how Particle Physics works and gave us a glimpse into the amazing things that scientists are working on. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to go on this trip and hope that more students in the future will have similar opportunities.

Rada K, Year 12