Chemistry

Course summary

The aims of the specification should encourage candidates to: • Develop essential knowledge and understanding of the concepts of chemistry and the skills needed for the use of these in new and changing situations. • Develop an understanding of the link between theory and experiment. • Be aware of how advances in information technology and instrumentation are used in chemistry. • Bring together knowledge of ways in which different areas of chemistry relate to each other. Year 1 Physical chemistry • Atomic structure • Amount of substance • Bonding • Energetics and Kinetics • Chemical equilibria and Le Chatelier's principle • Oxidation, reduction, and redox equations Inorganic chemistry • Periodicity • Group 2, the alkaline earth metals, and Group 7(17), the halogens Organic chemistry • Introduction to organic chemistry • Alkanes and Halogenoalkanes • Alkenes and Alcohols • Organic analysis Year 2 Physical chemistry • Thermodynamics • Rate equations • Equilibrium constant Kp for homogeneous systems • Electrode potentials and electrochemical cells • Acids and bases Inorganic chemistry • Properties of Period 3 elements and their oxides • Transition metals • Reactions of ions in aqueous solution • Organic chemistry Optical isomerism • Aldehydes and ketones • Carboxylic acids and derivatives • Aromatic chemistry • Amines • Polymers • Amino acids, proteins, and DNA • Organic synthesis • Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy • Chromatography