Two thousand teenagers are attending the 21st annual Physics At Work exhibition, which starts today (20 September) and features forensic scientists and a car that can do thousands of miles to the gallon.

Physics At Work is run by the Cavendish Laboratory to give 14- to 16-year-olds the chance to meet scientists working in academic and commercial fields and learn more about their research. There are no tickets remaining for this year’s event.

Among the exhibitors is a team from the Forensic Science Service in Huntingdon, which supports police forces in England and Wales. They will be showing students how physics can help police identify hit-and-run drivers - for example, the kinetic energy created when the driver’s knee hits a car panel becomes thermal energy which melts the point of impact, trapping fibres from the driver’s trousers.

The Cambridge staff taking part in this year’s exhibitions include Team Crocodile, who have been building one of the world’s most fuel-efficient cars. While the average Formula 1 vehicle can only manage two miles per gallon, the Team Crocodile car can do 2,800 miles per gallon.

Physics At Work runs from 20 to 22 September and is sponsored by:

  • The Cavendish Laboratory;
  • The Institute of Physics East Anglia Branch;
  • The Institute of Physics Education Department;
  • EPSRC through the outreach programme of the Condensed Matter Theory Portfolio Partnership and the Novel Quantum Order in Interacting Electron Metals Portfolio Partnership;
  • Goodfellow Metals.

  • Picture shows the Team Crocodile car.

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