°µÍø±¬ÁÏapp Magazine The Right Chemistry
For the past six years, gifted high school chemistry students have come to °µÍø±¬ÁÏapp to compete in the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad. The American Chemical Society sponsors the annual exam. °µÍø±¬ÁÏapp Professor Allan Nishimura belongs to the California Los Padres section and facilitates the olympiad.
During the first round, close to 200 students from 11 local high schools took a qualifying test. The top 10 traveled to °µÍø±¬ÁÏapp April 16 for a five-hour exam that included multiple-choice questions, a written response and a lab question. For the latter, students had to devise an experiment to solve the problem. The Los Padres section awarded $500 to the chemistry teacher whose student scored the highest in the national exam. An anonymous °µÍø±¬ÁÏapp donor has also given prize money. The top student received $250, the next highest, $150, and the third-place finisher took home $100.
A panel at the ACS DivCHED Examination Institute graded the exam and selected 20 students for a study camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado in June. The top four compete with finalists from 60 countries in Taiwan in July.