Dozens of diligent high school students gathered at CQUniversity campuses in Rockhampton, Gladstone and Bundaberg this week (Aug 12) to seek the most accurate analysis of 2 chemical solutions.

They bonded with team mates and competitors from other schools, striving to top their region and perhaps even the nation.

The top three teams - Bundaberg North SHS (Team 1), Toolooa SHS (Team 2) and Rockhampton Girls Grammar School (Team 1) - are invited to participate in the Finals of the Australian National Chemical Analysis Competition in October.

Tamara Harrold (front) from Rockhampton Girls Grammar School and Sophie Wilson from The Cathedral College

The annual Royal Australian Chemical Institute CQ Regional Schools Titration Competition  is hosted and coordinated by CQUniversity.

This is the 21st year of the CQ regional competition, which feeds into the Australian National Chemical Analysis Competition finals in October.

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 2 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 for analysts working in industrial, chemical, clinical and research laboratories.

Rockhampton Grammar School team members 
Gladstone schools also competed 
Action from the Bundaberg leg of the competition