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Blog posts

It smells fishy to me 28 June 2015

“Amines smell of rotting fish” is often quoted in chemistry textbooks. As chemists we should probably look at this the other way round and state that rotting fish smell of amines (the amine functional... more

Updated version of the 2014 Guide 17 March 2015

Almost exactly one year after the new Chemistry 2014 Guide was published (for first assessment in 2016) an updated version has just appeared on the OCC.This updated version is dated February 2015 and... more

A nitrogen-free explosive 9 March 2015

Have you ever wonder exactly why airlines are so wary of passengers carrying more than 100 cm3 of liquids on board airplanes?Poster produced by the British Airports Authority ©The liquid they are most... more

A different type of 'bucky ball' 9 February 2015

Most IB teachers and students will know that ‘bucky ball’ is a slang term for the C60 molecule, buckminsterfullerene, which is covered in Sub-topic 4.3 Covalent structures on the syllabus. more

Chemical misconceptions 28 JIB Docs (2) Teamary 2015

We’ve all come across chemical misconceptions and part of our job as chemistry teachers it to try to combat them. For example, would you eat something that contains octadecadienoic acid, hexadecaenoic... more

A problem with scandium 16 December 2014

(Note: This blog was first written in February 2013 and referred to the 2007 programme (for last exams in 2015). See the update added at the end which concerns the new (2014) programme.)The IUPAC Compendium... more

Be careful when you do a demonstration 11 November 2014

The reaction of sodium with water is often demonstrated by a teacher as it is not recommended that students do the reaction for themselves. It would appear that this is the experiment being performed... more

Malt whiskey and ppm 29 October 2014

I stayed last week on the Scottish Isle of Arran and spent one morning enjoying a very practical application (‘Utilization’) of chemistry by going round the Isle of Arran distillery. As well as seeing... more

Motion sickness drugs 29 September 2014

What do the drugs scopolamine and cinnarizine have in common? Both are used to prevent motion sickness (sea-sickness) effectively. Since many of your students (and me!) are likely to suffer from motion... more

New Study Guide published today 14 August 2014

My new Study Guide for the 2014 programme (first examinations in 2016) is published today. The previous editions, which cover the 2007 programme, were (and still are) extremely popular with students and... more