Chemistry

Course summary

Chemistry is an exciting and relevant science that provides answers to everyday questions through a practical and problem-solving approach. If you study chemistry in the Sixth Form you will meet intellectually challenging ideas and consider numbers infinitely large and particles infinitesimally small. You will gain an understanding of the molecular complexity of the world around us and an insight into how and why chemical reactions happen. Yet your study of chemistry will not be simply an encounter with fundamental ideas and concepts but the development of a wide range of transferable skills that will last a lifetime. Course content • Module 1 – Development of practical skills in Chemistry: skills of planning, implementing, analysis and evaluation. • Module 2 – Foundations in Chemistry: atoms, compounds, molecules and equations; Amount of substance; Acid-base and redox reactions; Electrons, bonding and structure. • Module 3 – Periodic table and energy: the periodic table and periodicity; Group 2 and the halogens; Qualitative analysis; Enthalpy changes; Reaction rates and equilibrium (qualitative). • Module 4 – Core organic Chemistry: basic concepts; Hydrocarbons; Alcohols and haloalkanes; Organic synthesis; Analytical techniques (IR and MS). • Module 5 – Physical Chemistry and transition elements: reaction rates and equilibrium (quantitative); pH and buffers; Enthalpy, entropy and free energy; Redox and electrode potentials; Transition elements. • Module 6 – Organic Chemistry and analysis: aromatic compounds; Carbonyl compounds; Carboxylic acids and esters; Nitrogen compounds; Polymers; Organic synthesis; Chromatography and spectroscopy (NMR).