Battle of
the Burets

The Battle of the Burets ...

... is a peculiarly St Louis event. Every March, teams (pairs) of high school chemistry students battle to be the best titrators in the region, by determining the normality of an unknown acid solution. All teams compete in preliminary heats, and the top prelim teams face off once more in the final round. In each round, teams have six minutes to arrive at their answer using any information they accumulate within that time period. They may perform a single titration. Or they might perform two or three titrations and either average the results or pick the result that feels right to them.

In 2010, Schools at War Meet in a Decisive Battle

The three finalist teams before their head-to-head-to-head championship titration

On Thursday February 25th, 21 teams from 11 local high schools gathered to participate in the 2010 Battle of the Burets competition sponsored by the St Louis Section of the American Chemical Society and St Louis Community College–Florissant Valley.

In preliminary rounds, seven teams came within 0.5% of the correct concentration. Both Pattonville entries and a single team from Clayton topped their divisions and advanced to the finals. Two of the three finalist teams also came within 0.5%. The Clayton team of Meredith Redick and Ian Miller took top honors.

Pattonville’s Rachel Roemmich and Gina Glogovac show the tension of the final round

Clayton High champions Meredith Redick and Ian Miller (in lucky hat) receive their trophy from Sue Dudek