A: Atoms and the periodic table
A: Atoms and the periodic table Topic
Content
Atomic structure, A1: Atoms
Understanding what is meant Being able to use the names by the terms: atom, compound and symbols of the elements. and element. Understanding the basic principles behind the periodic table.
A2: Chemical equations
Understanding both word and symbol equations including state symbols to represent reactions. Looking at the mass of products and reactants. HT: Understanding how to write balanced half and ionic equations
A3: Mixtures
Understanding what is meant by a mixture and the ways in which a mixture can be separated. Understanding how the model of the atom has been developed over time and has led to the modern structure of the atom.
Being able to suggest suitable separation techniques for a given mixture.
A5: Subatomic particles
Understanding the relative charge and mass of neutrons, protons and electrons and how ions vary from atoms. Understand the terms atomic number and mass number and work out the number of neutrons from them and how isotopes of an element vary from one another.
Ability to use standard form.
A6: Electronic structure
Understanding how the electrons are arranged in an atom and how to represent the electronic structure of the first 20 elements.
A4: Understanding the atom
Skills and experiments
Topic
Content
The periodic table, A7: Understanding the periodic table
Understanding how the elements in the periodic table are arranged. The relation between electronic structure and elements in the same group. Explaining the difference between non-metals and metals in the periodic table.
A8: History of the periodic table
Understanding how the changes and developments in the periodic table has led to the modern form of the table. Describing the developments scientists made, including Mendeleev.
A9: Group 0 and 1
Understanding why the noble gases are unreactive and describe the trends down the group and hence their properties. Describe how the properties of group one elements vary due to trends down the group. Describe the reactions of Li, Na and K with oxygen, chlorine and water. Understanding how the elements in group 7 vary in properties due to electronic structure and trends down the group. Understand the reactions of group 7 including chlorine, bromine and iodine with metals and non-metals. Understanding displacement of halogens. Understanding the difference between group 1 elements and the transition elements including physical and chemical properties. Describing how the transition elements form compounds and are used as catalysts.
A10: Group 7
A11: Transition elements (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
Describing displacement reactions using the trends in the group.
B: Bonding and structure Topic
Content
Chemical bonds, B1: Ionic bonding
Understanding what occurs with electrons when non-metals and metals react. Describing and displaying the process of ionic bonding.
B2: Ionic structures
Understanding the forces involved in ionic structures. When ionic structures conduct electricity and why they have high melting points.
B3: Covalent bonding
Understanding how covalent bonds form. Drawing simple covalent molecules and understanding giant covalent molecules and polymers. Understanding why simple covalent molecules have low melting and boiling points and don’t conduct electricity. Describing the limitations of using diagrams to represent bonding.
Recognising giant covalent, simple covalent and polymers from diagrams.
B4: Giant covalent structures
Understanding the structures of diamond, graphite fullerenes and graphene.
Representing giant covalent structures as 3D and 2D forms.
B5: Metallic bonding
Understanding how the atoms in metals are arranged and bonded. Understand some properties of metals.
B6: States of matter
Understanding the three states of matter and their melting and boiling points. HT: Being able the describe the limitations of the particle theory. Understanding ‘nano’ dimensions and comparing them to typical dimensions. Understand the uses of nanoparticles and the associated risks.
B7: Nanoparticles (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
Being able to predict the states of substances.
Ability to use ratios, fractions and percentages. Estimating the results of calculations. Order of magnitude calculations. Surface area and volume
C: Chemical calculations Topic
Content
Mass, moles and Understanding the concentrations, ‘conservation of mass’ law and C1: Mass in chemical reactions the terms relative atomic and formula mass. Understanding the changes in mass when gases are involved. C2: Using equations in calculations
HT: Understanding how balanced symbol equations can be used to work out masses. Understanding the mole and how to work out the number of moles when given a mass.
C3: Balancing equations
HT: Understanding how to balance an equation using masses of reactants and products. Understand the effects of limiting reactant quantities. Understanding what is meant by the term concentration of a solution and how to calculate the solution concentration. HT: Describe how solute mass and volume solution are related to concentration
C4: Concentrations of solutions
Skills and experiments Using uncertainties in calculations.
HT: Changing the subject of a formula, algebraic skills and use decimal form for expressions.
C5: Titrations (Chemistry only)
Understanding the process of Practical C2: Determining the titrating an acid against an alkali. volumes of solutions of a strong acid HT: Understanding how to calculate and a strong alkali by titration. the number of moles, mass, volume and concentrations in titrations
C6: Volume of gases (Chemistry only)
HT: Understanding how to calculate the volume of a gas at room pressure and temperature and how the volumes can be calculated from the balanced equation.
HT: Use of ratios, fractions and percentages
Topic
Content
Yields of reactions, C7: Percentage yield (Chemistry only)
Understanding what is meant by the term yield and what affects the yield. Understand how to calculate percentage yields. Understanding what is meant by atom economy and its importance. How to calculate atom economy.
C8: Atom economy (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
D: Chemical and energy changes Topic
Content
Reactivity of metals, D1: The reactivity series
Understanding the principles of reduction and oxidation concerning metal oxides. Describe the reactivity of metals from chemical reactions including reactions with water and dilute acid. Understanding how metals are extracted and evaluate the processes involved. Being able to identify oxidation and reduction in terms of gain or loss of oxygen. Understand carbon and hydrogen in the reactivity series. Understanding when a metal can be displaced by another metal from a compound. HT: Understanding oxidation and reduction in terms of electron transfer.
D2: Extraction of metals
D3: Displacing metals
Acid reactions, D4: Acids and metals
D5: Making salts
Understanding the reactions of hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid with magnesium, iron and zinc. HT: Understanding why these reactions are redox reactions and identify the oxidised and reduced species. Understanding how salts are formed. Describe what happens when a base, alkali or carbonate reacts with an acid and be able to make predictions about the salt that will be formed. Understand how to obtain a dry sample of a soluble salt.
Skills and experiments
Practical C1: How to produce a sample of a soluble salt from the evaporation of a solution.
Topic
Content
Skills and experiments
D6: Neutralisation
Understanding what is meant by an acidic and alkaline solution. Describe how to determine the pH of a solution using universal indicator. Understanding the pH scale and what occurs during a neutralisation reaction. HT: Understanding and using the terms strong, weak, dilute and concentrated correctly. Describing the relationship of pH and H+.
Investigating the changes in pH during a neutralisation reaction.
D7: Strong and weak acids
Electrolysis, D8: The electrolysis process
Understanding what happens during the electrolysis process. Understand which substances are electrolysed and why. Describe what changes occur at the electrodes and the effect water has. HT: The use of half equations in electrolysis
D9: Extracting metals using electrolysis
Understanding when electrolysis is used to extract metals and why. Describing the process of extracting aluminium from aluminium oxide.
D10: Electrolysis of aqueous solutions
Understanding how inert electrodes are used in the electrolysis of aqueous solutions and be able to form predictions about the products formed from electrolysis.
Measuring the pH value at different concentrations of acids.
Practical C3: Investigate what happens when aqueous solutions are electrolysed using inert electrodes.
Topic
Content
Skills and experiments
Exothermic and endothermic reactions, D11: Energy changes in reactions
Understanding the principles behind ‘transferring’ energy and the relation to chemical reactions. Understanding the difference between exothermic and endothermic reactions. Understanding how to use chemical reactions in everyday life and the specific uses of exothermic and endothermic reactions. Describe the benefits and drawbacks of these uses. Understanding what reaction profiles are and how to draw them for endothermic and exothermic reactions. Understand what is meant by activation energy. HT: Understanding what energy changes occur when bonds are made or broken and what the overall energy change of the reaction will be. Calculating energy transfers with bond energies. Understanding and using information on chemical cells including the relative reactivity of metals.
Practical C4: Investigating the variable which affect the temperature changes in reacting solutions
D12: Using chemical reactions
D13: Reaction profiles
D14: Bond making and breaking
Using chemical and fuel cells, D15: Cells and batteries (Chemistry only) D16: Fuel cells (Chemistry only)
Understanding what a fuel cells is and being able compare the fuel cell to rechargeable cells and batteries. HT: Use half equations to explain the electrode reactions in a fuel cell.
Being able to evaluate the everyday uses of chemical reactions.
Being able to evaluate the use of chemical cells. Carry out experiments to investigate chemical cells.
E: The rate of chemical change Topic
Content
Skills and experiments
Rates, E1: Finding the rate of a reaction
Understanding what is meant by the rate of a reaction and how the rate can be found. Understanding how to calculate the mean rate of reaction. HT: Calculating the rate of a reaction at a specific time. Understanding the collision theory and how this relates to the rate of a reaction. Understand the term activation energy.
Being able to make predictions of results, graph work including interpreting, plotting and transferring information. HT: Calculating the gradient of tangents.
E3: Changing the rate of a reaction
Understanding what factors affect the rate of a reaction including pressure, surface area, temperature.
Being able to use the collision theory to explain how each factor affects the rate of a reaction. Practical C5: Investigate how changes to the concentration affects the rate of a reaction.
E4: Using catalysts
Understand what a catalyst is and why they are important in chemical reactions. Be able to explain the action of catalysts in relation to activation energy. Understanding what is meant by a reversible reaction and how to represent them. Understanding the chemical reactions taking place in a reversible reaction and what energy transfers are taking place. Understanding how a reversible reaction can be in equilibrium. HT: Understanding Le Chatelier’s Principle and how changes to the concentration affect the equilibrium. HT: Understanding how changes in temperature and pressure affect reversible reactions at equilibrium.
Investigate the effect of catalysts by adding different metal salts to a reaction.
E2: Collision theory and activation energy
Reversible reactions, E5: Energy changes in reversible reactions
E6: Dynamic equilibrium
E7: Changing conditions
F: Organic chemistry Topic
Content
Carbon compounds as fuels, F1: Hydrocarbons
Understanding what hydrocarbons are and what crude oil is. Understanding what an alkane is and how the first four alkanes are represented. Understanding the properties of hydrocarbons and how they vary with size. Understanding how crude oil is separated into fractions and how the fractions are used. Understanding what products are formed when hydrocarbon fuels undergo complete and incomplete combustion. Write equations for the complete combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. Understanding why the process of cracking is important and be able to provide examples to illustrate its usefulness. Describe the differences between alkenes and alkanes. Understanding the structure of the first four alkenes. Understand the terms homologous series and functional group and be able to state the general formula of alkenes. Describe the reaction of alkenes with oxygen and the reactions of the first four alkenes with: hydrogen, water and the halogens. Understanding the structure of the first four alcohols and describe some uses. Describe the reactions of alcohols with sodium, burning in air, with water, with an oxidising agent. Understand how to write balanced chemical equations for alcohol combustion.
F2: Fractional distillation
F3: Burning hydrocarbons
F4: Cracking hydrocarbons
Organic reactions, F5: The alkenes (Chemistry only)
F6: The alcohols (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
Topic
Content
F7: Carboxylic acids (Chemistry only)
Understand the structure of the first four carboxylic acids and their characteristic properties. Describe their reactions with carbonates and dissolving in water. Describe their reactions with alcohols and understand the resulting esters. HT: Explain why carboxylic acids are weak acids
Polymers, F8: Addition polymerisation (Chemistry only)
Understanding how to recognise addition polymers and monomers. Understanding how to draw diagrams to represent the formation of a polymer. Describe the relation between monomers and polymers. HT: Understanding the principles of condensation polymerisation including the functional groups of the monomers and the repeating units of the polymers. Describe how polyesters are formed. Understanding some of the polymers which are important for life including starch, cellulose and proteins. Understand the structure of nucleotides and how they form DNA. HT: Understanding how amino acids form proteins by condensation polymerisation
F9: Condensation polymerisation (Chemistry only)
F10: Natural polymers (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
G: Analysis and resources Topic
Content
Chemical analysis, G1: Pure substances and formulations
Understanding what is meant by a pure substance and how to use melting and boiling points to determine if a substance is pure. Understand what a formulation is and how to identify formulations. Understanding how chromatography separates mixtures and how it can distinguish between pure and impure substances. Understand how Rf values are determined. Understanding how to test for: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and chlorine. Understand what positive and negative results are for each test.
G2: Chromatography
G3: Testing for gases
G4: Testing for positive ions (Chemistry only)
Understanding how to carry out flame tests to test for metal ions including lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium and copper. Understand how sodium hydroxide can be used to identify metal ions.
G5: Testing for negative ions (Chemistry only)
Understanding how to test for: carbonates, halides and sulfates.
G6: Instrumental methods (Chemistry only)
Understanding the advantages of instrumental analysis compared to chemical tests. Understand how to interpret information from a flame emission spectroscopy.
Skills and experiments
Being able to interpret chromatograms. Practical C6: Investigate how paper chromatography separates coloured substances and calculate Rf.
Practical C7: Using all the chemical tests to identify unknown ionic compounds.
Topic
Content
Chemistry of the atmosphere, G7: The early atmosphere
Understanding how theories have developed about the composition of the early atmosphere and how to interpret and evaluate evidence about the early atmosphere.
G8: The developing atmosphere
Understanding how the atmosphere changed over time and has led to the modern composition of the atmosphere.
G9: Greenhouse gases
Understanding what is meant by greenhouse gases and what they cause. Understand the uncertainties in greenhouse gas evidence and be able to evaluate the quality of the evidence including the importance of peer review. Understanding the effects of global climate change and discuss the scale of them. Understand carbon foot print and explain how the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane may be reduced but also understand why these actions may have limited effects. Understanding how burning fuels can lead to harmful gases being released and explain the effects of each gas.
G10: Climate change
G11: Atmospheric pollutants
Using the Earth’s resources, G12: Renewable and finite resources G13: Water
Understanding that natural products can be replaced by synthetic or agriculture products. Distinguishing between renewable and finite resources. Understanding the difference between potable and pure water. Describe the treatment of salty and ground water and explain the differences between them.
Skills and experiments
Interpret information from graph and numerical form. Use orders of magnitude to evaluate data. Practical C8: Analysis and purification of water samples from different sources.
Topic
Content
G14: Waste water treatment
Understanding waste water is treated so that it is safe to drink. Understand the differences in obtaining potable water from ground, salt and waste water.
G15: Biological methods of extracting metal
HT: Understanding the alternative biological methods of extracting metal from ores. Being able to evaluate these methods.
G16: Life cycle assessments
Understanding what a life cycle assessment is and being able to carry out simple LCAs comparisons for shopping bags made of plastic and paper. Understanding the principles behind reduce, reuse and recycle and how this can reduce environmental impact. Being able to evaluate the ways of reducing the use of finite resources. Understanding the term corrosion and rusting being an example of corrosion. Describe how experiments show the conditions needed for rusting. Understand methods of preventing rusting. Understanding why metals used are often alloys and provide examples of alloyed metals. Evaluate the use of alloys.
G17: Using less resources
Using materials, G18: Corrosion (Chemistry only)
G19: Useful alloys (Chemistry only)
G20: Ceramics and composites Understanding the differences in physical properties between glass, (Chemistry only)
clay ceramics, polymers, composites and metals. Understand how the properties of each are related to their uses.
Skills and experiments
Interpret LCA’s of materials when given appropriate information. Translate information from graphical to numerical form. Be able to make predictions about results.
Topic
Content
G21: Polymer properties (Chemistry only)
Understanding how the properties of polymers vary with the monomers used. Describe how altering the reaction conditions can affect the resulting polymer. Describe the differences between thermosetting and thermosoftening. Understanding the importance of nitrogen containing fertilisers. Describe the process of producing ammonia in the Haber process. HT: Be able to apply the principles of dynamic equilibrium to the Haber process. Describe how the varying factors affect the yield of ammonia. Understanding how ammonia can be used to produce fertilisers and how fertilisers are produced in the lab. Understanding what compounds are used to produce fertiliser and the processes involved to obtain these compounds. How fertilisers are produced in industry and comparing them to lab procedures.
G22: The Haber process (Chemistry only)
G23: Producing fertilisers (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
Content
Atomic structure, A1: Atoms
Understanding what is meant Being able to use the names by the terms: atom, compound and symbols of the elements. and element. Understanding the basic principles behind the periodic table.
A2: Chemical equations
Understanding both word and symbol equations including state symbols to represent reactions. Looking at the mass of products and reactants. HT: Understanding how to write balanced half and ionic equations
A3: Mixtures
Understanding what is meant by a mixture and the ways in which a mixture can be separated. Understanding how the model of the atom has been developed over time and has led to the modern structure of the atom.
Being able to suggest suitable separation techniques for a given mixture.
A5: Subatomic particles
Understanding the relative charge and mass of neutrons, protons and electrons and how ions vary from atoms. Understand the terms atomic number and mass number and work out the number of neutrons from them and how isotopes of an element vary from one another.
Ability to use standard form.
A6: Electronic structure
Understanding how the electrons are arranged in an atom and how to represent the electronic structure of the first 20 elements.
A4: Understanding the atom
Skills and experiments
Topic
Content
The periodic table, A7: Understanding the periodic table
Understanding how the elements in the periodic table are arranged. The relation between electronic structure and elements in the same group. Explaining the difference between non-metals and metals in the periodic table.
A8: History of the periodic table
Understanding how the changes and developments in the periodic table has led to the modern form of the table. Describing the developments scientists made, including Mendeleev.
A9: Group 0 and 1
Understanding why the noble gases are unreactive and describe the trends down the group and hence their properties. Describe how the properties of group one elements vary due to trends down the group. Describe the reactions of Li, Na and K with oxygen, chlorine and water. Understanding how the elements in group 7 vary in properties due to electronic structure and trends down the group. Understand the reactions of group 7 including chlorine, bromine and iodine with metals and non-metals. Understanding displacement of halogens. Understanding the difference between group 1 elements and the transition elements including physical and chemical properties. Describing how the transition elements form compounds and are used as catalysts.
A10: Group 7
A11: Transition elements (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
Describing displacement reactions using the trends in the group.
B: Bonding and structure Topic
Content
Chemical bonds, B1: Ionic bonding
Understanding what occurs with electrons when non-metals and metals react. Describing and displaying the process of ionic bonding.
B2: Ionic structures
Understanding the forces involved in ionic structures. When ionic structures conduct electricity and why they have high melting points.
B3: Covalent bonding
Understanding how covalent bonds form. Drawing simple covalent molecules and understanding giant covalent molecules and polymers. Understanding why simple covalent molecules have low melting and boiling points and don’t conduct electricity. Describing the limitations of using diagrams to represent bonding.
Recognising giant covalent, simple covalent and polymers from diagrams.
B4: Giant covalent structures
Understanding the structures of diamond, graphite fullerenes and graphene.
Representing giant covalent structures as 3D and 2D forms.
B5: Metallic bonding
Understanding how the atoms in metals are arranged and bonded. Understand some properties of metals.
B6: States of matter
Understanding the three states of matter and their melting and boiling points. HT: Being able the describe the limitations of the particle theory. Understanding ‘nano’ dimensions and comparing them to typical dimensions. Understand the uses of nanoparticles and the associated risks.
B7: Nanoparticles (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
Being able to predict the states of substances.
Ability to use ratios, fractions and percentages. Estimating the results of calculations. Order of magnitude calculations. Surface area and volume
C: Chemical calculations Topic
Content
Mass, moles and Understanding the concentrations, ‘conservation of mass’ law and C1: Mass in chemical reactions the terms relative atomic and formula mass. Understanding the changes in mass when gases are involved. C2: Using equations in calculations
HT: Understanding how balanced symbol equations can be used to work out masses. Understanding the mole and how to work out the number of moles when given a mass.
C3: Balancing equations
HT: Understanding how to balance an equation using masses of reactants and products. Understand the effects of limiting reactant quantities. Understanding what is meant by the term concentration of a solution and how to calculate the solution concentration. HT: Describe how solute mass and volume solution are related to concentration
C4: Concentrations of solutions
Skills and experiments Using uncertainties in calculations.
HT: Changing the subject of a formula, algebraic skills and use decimal form for expressions.
C5: Titrations (Chemistry only)
Understanding the process of Practical C2: Determining the titrating an acid against an alkali. volumes of solutions of a strong acid HT: Understanding how to calculate and a strong alkali by titration. the number of moles, mass, volume and concentrations in titrations
C6: Volume of gases (Chemistry only)
HT: Understanding how to calculate the volume of a gas at room pressure and temperature and how the volumes can be calculated from the balanced equation.
HT: Use of ratios, fractions and percentages
Topic
Content
Yields of reactions, C7: Percentage yield (Chemistry only)
Understanding what is meant by the term yield and what affects the yield. Understand how to calculate percentage yields. Understanding what is meant by atom economy and its importance. How to calculate atom economy.
C8: Atom economy (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
D: Chemical and energy changes Topic
Content
Reactivity of metals, D1: The reactivity series
Understanding the principles of reduction and oxidation concerning metal oxides. Describe the reactivity of metals from chemical reactions including reactions with water and dilute acid. Understanding how metals are extracted and evaluate the processes involved. Being able to identify oxidation and reduction in terms of gain or loss of oxygen. Understand carbon and hydrogen in the reactivity series. Understanding when a metal can be displaced by another metal from a compound. HT: Understanding oxidation and reduction in terms of electron transfer.
D2: Extraction of metals
D3: Displacing metals
Acid reactions, D4: Acids and metals
D5: Making salts
Understanding the reactions of hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid with magnesium, iron and zinc. HT: Understanding why these reactions are redox reactions and identify the oxidised and reduced species. Understanding how salts are formed. Describe what happens when a base, alkali or carbonate reacts with an acid and be able to make predictions about the salt that will be formed. Understand how to obtain a dry sample of a soluble salt.
Skills and experiments
Practical C1: How to produce a sample of a soluble salt from the evaporation of a solution.
Topic
Content
Skills and experiments
D6: Neutralisation
Understanding what is meant by an acidic and alkaline solution. Describe how to determine the pH of a solution using universal indicator. Understanding the pH scale and what occurs during a neutralisation reaction. HT: Understanding and using the terms strong, weak, dilute and concentrated correctly. Describing the relationship of pH and H+.
Investigating the changes in pH during a neutralisation reaction.
D7: Strong and weak acids
Electrolysis, D8: The electrolysis process
Understanding what happens during the electrolysis process. Understand which substances are electrolysed and why. Describe what changes occur at the electrodes and the effect water has. HT: The use of half equations in electrolysis
D9: Extracting metals using electrolysis
Understanding when electrolysis is used to extract metals and why. Describing the process of extracting aluminium from aluminium oxide.
D10: Electrolysis of aqueous solutions
Understanding how inert electrodes are used in the electrolysis of aqueous solutions and be able to form predictions about the products formed from electrolysis.
Measuring the pH value at different concentrations of acids.
Practical C3: Investigate what happens when aqueous solutions are electrolysed using inert electrodes.
Topic
Content
Skills and experiments
Exothermic and endothermic reactions, D11: Energy changes in reactions
Understanding the principles behind ‘transferring’ energy and the relation to chemical reactions. Understanding the difference between exothermic and endothermic reactions. Understanding how to use chemical reactions in everyday life and the specific uses of exothermic and endothermic reactions. Describe the benefits and drawbacks of these uses. Understanding what reaction profiles are and how to draw them for endothermic and exothermic reactions. Understand what is meant by activation energy. HT: Understanding what energy changes occur when bonds are made or broken and what the overall energy change of the reaction will be. Calculating energy transfers with bond energies. Understanding and using information on chemical cells including the relative reactivity of metals.
Practical C4: Investigating the variable which affect the temperature changes in reacting solutions
D12: Using chemical reactions
D13: Reaction profiles
D14: Bond making and breaking
Using chemical and fuel cells, D15: Cells and batteries (Chemistry only) D16: Fuel cells (Chemistry only)
Understanding what a fuel cells is and being able compare the fuel cell to rechargeable cells and batteries. HT: Use half equations to explain the electrode reactions in a fuel cell.
Being able to evaluate the everyday uses of chemical reactions.
Being able to evaluate the use of chemical cells. Carry out experiments to investigate chemical cells.
E: The rate of chemical change Topic
Content
Skills and experiments
Rates, E1: Finding the rate of a reaction
Understanding what is meant by the rate of a reaction and how the rate can be found. Understanding how to calculate the mean rate of reaction. HT: Calculating the rate of a reaction at a specific time. Understanding the collision theory and how this relates to the rate of a reaction. Understand the term activation energy.
Being able to make predictions of results, graph work including interpreting, plotting and transferring information. HT: Calculating the gradient of tangents.
E3: Changing the rate of a reaction
Understanding what factors affect the rate of a reaction including pressure, surface area, temperature.
Being able to use the collision theory to explain how each factor affects the rate of a reaction. Practical C5: Investigate how changes to the concentration affects the rate of a reaction.
E4: Using catalysts
Understand what a catalyst is and why they are important in chemical reactions. Be able to explain the action of catalysts in relation to activation energy. Understanding what is meant by a reversible reaction and how to represent them. Understanding the chemical reactions taking place in a reversible reaction and what energy transfers are taking place. Understanding how a reversible reaction can be in equilibrium. HT: Understanding Le Chatelier’s Principle and how changes to the concentration affect the equilibrium. HT: Understanding how changes in temperature and pressure affect reversible reactions at equilibrium.
Investigate the effect of catalysts by adding different metal salts to a reaction.
E2: Collision theory and activation energy
Reversible reactions, E5: Energy changes in reversible reactions
E6: Dynamic equilibrium
E7: Changing conditions
F: Organic chemistry Topic
Content
Carbon compounds as fuels, F1: Hydrocarbons
Understanding what hydrocarbons are and what crude oil is. Understanding what an alkane is and how the first four alkanes are represented. Understanding the properties of hydrocarbons and how they vary with size. Understanding how crude oil is separated into fractions and how the fractions are used. Understanding what products are formed when hydrocarbon fuels undergo complete and incomplete combustion. Write equations for the complete combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. Understanding why the process of cracking is important and be able to provide examples to illustrate its usefulness. Describe the differences between alkenes and alkanes. Understanding the structure of the first four alkenes. Understand the terms homologous series and functional group and be able to state the general formula of alkenes. Describe the reaction of alkenes with oxygen and the reactions of the first four alkenes with: hydrogen, water and the halogens. Understanding the structure of the first four alcohols and describe some uses. Describe the reactions of alcohols with sodium, burning in air, with water, with an oxidising agent. Understand how to write balanced chemical equations for alcohol combustion.
F2: Fractional distillation
F3: Burning hydrocarbons
F4: Cracking hydrocarbons
Organic reactions, F5: The alkenes (Chemistry only)
F6: The alcohols (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
Topic
Content
F7: Carboxylic acids (Chemistry only)
Understand the structure of the first four carboxylic acids and their characteristic properties. Describe their reactions with carbonates and dissolving in water. Describe their reactions with alcohols and understand the resulting esters. HT: Explain why carboxylic acids are weak acids
Polymers, F8: Addition polymerisation (Chemistry only)
Understanding how to recognise addition polymers and monomers. Understanding how to draw diagrams to represent the formation of a polymer. Describe the relation between monomers and polymers. HT: Understanding the principles of condensation polymerisation including the functional groups of the monomers and the repeating units of the polymers. Describe how polyesters are formed. Understanding some of the polymers which are important for life including starch, cellulose and proteins. Understand the structure of nucleotides and how they form DNA. HT: Understanding how amino acids form proteins by condensation polymerisation
F9: Condensation polymerisation (Chemistry only)
F10: Natural polymers (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
G: Analysis and resources Topic
Content
Chemical analysis, G1: Pure substances and formulations
Understanding what is meant by a pure substance and how to use melting and boiling points to determine if a substance is pure. Understand what a formulation is and how to identify formulations. Understanding how chromatography separates mixtures and how it can distinguish between pure and impure substances. Understand how Rf values are determined. Understanding how to test for: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and chlorine. Understand what positive and negative results are for each test.
G2: Chromatography
G3: Testing for gases
G4: Testing for positive ions (Chemistry only)
Understanding how to carry out flame tests to test for metal ions including lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium and copper. Understand how sodium hydroxide can be used to identify metal ions.
G5: Testing for negative ions (Chemistry only)
Understanding how to test for: carbonates, halides and sulfates.
G6: Instrumental methods (Chemistry only)
Understanding the advantages of instrumental analysis compared to chemical tests. Understand how to interpret information from a flame emission spectroscopy.
Skills and experiments
Being able to interpret chromatograms. Practical C6: Investigate how paper chromatography separates coloured substances and calculate Rf.
Practical C7: Using all the chemical tests to identify unknown ionic compounds.
Topic
Content
Chemistry of the atmosphere, G7: The early atmosphere
Understanding how theories have developed about the composition of the early atmosphere and how to interpret and evaluate evidence about the early atmosphere.
G8: The developing atmosphere
Understanding how the atmosphere changed over time and has led to the modern composition of the atmosphere.
G9: Greenhouse gases
Understanding what is meant by greenhouse gases and what they cause. Understand the uncertainties in greenhouse gas evidence and be able to evaluate the quality of the evidence including the importance of peer review. Understanding the effects of global climate change and discuss the scale of them. Understand carbon foot print and explain how the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane may be reduced but also understand why these actions may have limited effects. Understanding how burning fuels can lead to harmful gases being released and explain the effects of each gas.
G10: Climate change
G11: Atmospheric pollutants
Using the Earth’s resources, G12: Renewable and finite resources G13: Water
Understanding that natural products can be replaced by synthetic or agriculture products. Distinguishing between renewable and finite resources. Understanding the difference between potable and pure water. Describe the treatment of salty and ground water and explain the differences between them.
Skills and experiments
Interpret information from graph and numerical form. Use orders of magnitude to evaluate data. Practical C8: Analysis and purification of water samples from different sources.
Topic
Content
G14: Waste water treatment
Understanding waste water is treated so that it is safe to drink. Understand the differences in obtaining potable water from ground, salt and waste water.
G15: Biological methods of extracting metal
HT: Understanding the alternative biological methods of extracting metal from ores. Being able to evaluate these methods.
G16: Life cycle assessments
Understanding what a life cycle assessment is and being able to carry out simple LCAs comparisons for shopping bags made of plastic and paper. Understanding the principles behind reduce, reuse and recycle and how this can reduce environmental impact. Being able to evaluate the ways of reducing the use of finite resources. Understanding the term corrosion and rusting being an example of corrosion. Describe how experiments show the conditions needed for rusting. Understand methods of preventing rusting. Understanding why metals used are often alloys and provide examples of alloyed metals. Evaluate the use of alloys.
G17: Using less resources
Using materials, G18: Corrosion (Chemistry only)
G19: Useful alloys (Chemistry only)
G20: Ceramics and composites Understanding the differences in physical properties between glass, (Chemistry only)
clay ceramics, polymers, composites and metals. Understand how the properties of each are related to their uses.
Skills and experiments
Interpret LCA’s of materials when given appropriate information. Translate information from graphical to numerical form. Be able to make predictions about results.
Topic
Content
G21: Polymer properties (Chemistry only)
Understanding how the properties of polymers vary with the monomers used. Describe how altering the reaction conditions can affect the resulting polymer. Describe the differences between thermosetting and thermosoftening. Understanding the importance of nitrogen containing fertilisers. Describe the process of producing ammonia in the Haber process. HT: Be able to apply the principles of dynamic equilibrium to the Haber process. Describe how the varying factors affect the yield of ammonia. Understanding how ammonia can be used to produce fertilisers and how fertilisers are produced in the lab. Understanding what compounds are used to produce fertiliser and the processes involved to obtain these compounds. How fertilisers are produced in industry and comparing them to lab procedures.
G22: The Haber process (Chemistry only)
G23: Producing fertilisers (Chemistry only)
Skills and experiments
