Each topic page follows the 9701 syllabus in order: what the syllabus asks you to do, the explanations, worked examples and interactive models, then misconceptions, a self-test, definitions and a summary.
- Topic 1
Atomic structure
Particles in the atom, atomic and ionic radius, isotopes, shells, sub-shells and atomic orbitals, electron configurations, and first and successive ionisation energies, with embedded animations and…
- Topic 2
Atoms, molecules and stoichiometry
With topic 4.1 the ideal gas equation - relative masses, the mole, formulae, equations, reacting masses, gas volumes, concentrations, titrations and yield, with embedded animations and…
- Topics 3 & 4
Chemical bonding and states of matter
And topic 4.2 Bonding and structure: electronegativity, ionic, metallic and covalent bonding, shapes of molecules, intermolecular forces and lattice structures, with embedded animations and live…
- Topic 5
Chemical energetics
Enthalpy change, exothermic and endothermic reactions, reaction pathway diagrams, standard conditions and the standard enthalpy changes, bond energies, calorimetry with q = mcDT, and Hess's law…
- Topic 6
Electrochemistry
Redox processes - oxidation and reduction as electron transfer, half-equations, oxidising and reducing agents, oxidation numbers and the rules for assigning them, Roman numerals, disproportionation, balancing redox…
- Topic 7
Equilibria
Reversible reactions and dynamic equilibrium, Le Chatelier's principle, Kc and Kp expressions, units and calculations, mole fraction and partial pressure, the Haber and Contact processes, and the…
- Topic 8
Reaction kinetics
Rate of reaction and how it is measured and calculated, collision theory and effective collisions, the effect of concentration and pressure, activation energy and reaction pathway diagrams, the…
- Topic 9
The Periodic Table: chemical periodicity
The Periodic Table - chemical periodicity: the periodicity of atomic radius, ionic radius, melting point and electrical conductivity across period 3, the reactions of the elements with oxygen, chlorine and water, the…
- Topic 10
Group 2
The reactions of magnesium, calcium, strontium and barium with oxygen, water and dilute hydrochloric and sulfuric acids; the behaviour of the oxides, hydroxides and carbonates with water and those acids; the…
- Topic 11
Group 17
The colours and volatility of chlorine, bromine and iodine and the trend in the strength of the halogen molecules; the halogens as oxidising agents, their reactions with hydrogen and the thermal stability of…
- Topic 12
Nitrogen and sulfur
The lack of reactivity of nitrogen; ammonia as a Brønsted–Lowry base, the formation and structure of the ammonium ion and the displacement of ammonia from ammonium salts; natural and man-made oxides…
- Topic 13
An introduction to AS Level organic chemistry
Hydrocarbons, functional groups and the general, structural, displayed and skeletal formulae; systematic nomenclature; the terms and mechanism names that the rest of the…
- Topic 14
Hydrocarbons
How alkanes are made, their complete and incomplete combustion, free-radical substitution and its initiation, propagation and termination steps, cracking, the unreactivity of alkanes towards polar…
- Topic 15
Halogen compounds
Sub-topic 15.1 Halogenoalkanes: the three routes that make them, the primary/secondary/tertiary classification, nucleophilic substitution by hydroxide, cyanide, ammonia and water, the silver nitrate…
- Topic 16
Hydroxy compounds
Sub-topic 16.1 Alcohols: the six routes that produce alcohols, primary/secondary/tertiary classification including diols and triols, combustion, substitution to halogenoalkanes, the reaction with…
- Topic 17
Carbonyl compounds
Aldehydes and ketones: synthesis from alcohols by oxidation, reduction by NaBH4 and LiAlH4, nucleophilic addition of HCN with mechanism, the 2,4-DNPH test, Fehling's and Tollens' tests, and the tri-iodomethane reaction…
- Topic 18
Carboxylic acids and derivatives
And 18.2 Esters: carboxylic acid production from alcohols, aldehydes, nitriles and esters, reactions as acids, esterification, reduction by LiAlH4, ester production and hydrolysis — with embedded…
- Topic 19
Nitrogen compounds
Sub-topic 19.1 Primary amines: making a primary amine from a halogenoalkane with excess ammonia in ethanol heated under pressure - the equation, why each condition is there, the mechanism, why the…
- Topic 20
Polymerisation
Sub-topic 20.1 Addition polymerisation - poly(ethene) and poly(chloroethene), what happens to the bonds, drawing the repeat unit from any monomer, writing the equation, naming, copolymers, finding the…
- Topic 21
Organic synthesis
Sub-topic 21.1 - identifying the functional groups in a molecule with several, predicting how each reacts, devising multi-step routes from the AS reactions of topics 14 to 20, and analysing a given…
- Topic 22
Analytical techniques
22.1 infrared spectroscopy (why bonds absorb, the dipole rule, the data table, reading O-H, C=O, N-H and C-O absorptions, following a reaction) and 22.2 mass spectrometry (m/e and isotopic…