BOLTON staged its own Christmas Lectures this festive season inspired by the UK's flagship science series which was broadcast on national television this week.

The science lectures have become a TV tradition over the Christmas holiday period and Bolton School hosted two festive lectures for young Einsteins.

Experiments were conducted by Dr Steve Rossington, lecturer in physical organic chemistry at the University of Salford.

Young people watched liquid nitrogen creating bright blue liquid oxygen, which had magnetic properties, nitrous oxide — laughing gas — was mixed with carbon disulphide and ignited to produce a bright blue flame. The explosive powers of hydrogen were also showcased.

A spokesman for Bolton School said: "Dr Rossington cooled an inflated balloon using liquid nitrogen and then let it warm up to room temperature again to give a visual demonstration of Charles’ Law, and showed Boyle’s Law by placing a partially-inflated balloon in a vacuum and watching it expand. He demonstrated how sound waves cannot travel through a vacuum by called upon a volunteer from the audience to play some music through a speaker and then placing this inside the vacuum, silencing the music."

He added: "There were numerous opportunities to showcase the explosive powers of hydrogen.The propulsive powers of this highly reactive element were also revealed as the experiments drew to a close he fired hydrogen-powered bottle-rockets across the hall, much to the delight of the audience. These were just a few of the fascinating chemical reactions which featured in the RSC’s Christmas Lecture and pupils were excited to see what was going to happen next throughout the presentation. They were able to not only see chemistry in action, but also learn about the science behind the spectacle."