Chemistry

Course summary

WHY STUDY CHEMISTRY? Students will gain knowledge and an understanding of fundamental chemical concepts in order to explain aspects of contemporary chemistry. They will discover how chemistry works in both academia and industry, and will begin to understand the physical world around them at the molecular level. There is a strong emphasis on practical work, including analysis and evaluation, and a wide range of experiments are conducted throughout the course. CONTENT OF THE COURSE: The topics build upon GCSE knowledge covering atomic structure, quantitative chemistry, bonding, the periodic table, basic organic chemistry, redox chemistry, energetics, kinetics, equilibria and analytical techniques. Some content from the ‘A2’ part of the course is also covered in SFC1, including spectroscopy and Gibbs free energy. SFC2 Chemistry extends the old AS Level concepts, often in a quantitative way. New topics on acid-base equilibria, transition metals, entropy, spectroscopy, aromatic chemistry and organic synthesis are introduced. There is also a synoptic component to the examinations.