Dozens of chemistry students were recently involved in the annual Royal Australian Chemical Institute CQ Regional Schools Titration Competition, which is hosted and coordinated by CQUniversity.

Rockhampton Campus hosted Rockhampton Grammar School, Rockhampton Girls Grammar School and Glenmore State High School. Gladstone Campus hosted Chanel College and Bundaberg Campus hosted Bundaberg North State High School. Aldridge SHS and Toolooa SHS competed in labs at their own schools.

Congratulations to Toolooa SHS which continued its good form to win the QAL Trophy again this year. Toolooa topped the Australian national chemical analysis finals in 2010, out of 134 teams nationally. Runners-up were the teams from Bundaberg North SHS. The top three teams will compete again in October for the national finals.

The winning team from Toolooa SHS: Bryn Rohdmann, Josephine Tucker and Kahlia Mallet-Jackson

This is the 23rd year of the CQ regional competition. The diligent students were seeking the most accurate analysis of two chemical solutions. They bonded with team mates and competitors from other schools, striving to top their region and perhaps even the nation.

The CQ regional competition is coordinated by Dr Vicky Vicente-Beckett from the School of Medical & Applied Sciences at CQUniversity.

Titrations are all about good volumetric skills and precision in measuring, separating and analysing constituent chemicals in unknown samples.

The competition involves the performance of two chemical titrations: the standardisation of the concentration of a strong base (sodium hydroxide) and  the determination of the concentration of an unknown weak acid (acetic acid).

Students must be trained carefully to develop the skills needed to handle precise volumetric apparatus (i.e. pipette and burette) and deliver the correct volumes for the reaction.

This analytical skill is very important in for analysts working in industrial, chemical and clinical laboratories.

Event coordinator Dr Vicky Vicente-Beckett holding the QAL trophy for the CQ Titration Competition 
The team from Aldridge SHS 
The Bundaberg North SHS team in action 
Gina Richter-Stretton from Glenmore State High 
Lisa Stephson from Girls Grammar

Angus Campbell from Rockhampton Grammar School

Daniel Bridgeman (L) and Peter McAuley (R) from Rockhampton Grammar School

A close-up of the end-point of the titration

Hats off to all competitors