Chemistry

Course summary

Chemistry is the study of everything material. What we eat, wear, drive, build and listen to is all affected by Chemistry. You will gain a challenging and fascinating insight into the building blocks of our planet. Starting with the structure of atoms and how they bond together, the course covers many aspects of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. The practical aspects of the course will develop your analytical skills using a range of chemicals and high-precision A First Year of A-Level • Physical Chemistry (atomic structure, amounts of substances, bonding, energetics, kinetics, chemical equilibria and Le Chatelier’s Principle). • Inorganic Chemistry (periodicity, Group 2 Alkaline Earth Metals, Group 7(17) The Halogens). • Organic Chemistry (alkanes, halogenoalkanes, alkenes, alcohols, organic analysis). Second Year of A-Level • Physical Chemistry (thermodynamics, rate equations, equilibrium constant for homogeneous systems, electrode potentials and electrochemical cells). • 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, NMR spectroscopy, chromatography).