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Latest updates

Alkanes, alkenes & addition polymers17 August 2022

The naming, structural isomerism and physical properties of the alkanes and alkenes have all been covered in the previous sub-topic. This sub-topic is concerned with the chemical reactions of the alkanes... more

Graphical techniques17 August 2022

During the past decades the IB has used the same graph several times as the basis of a question. The latest is in the specimen papers for the new programme. The graph used is:It is an interesting graph... more

Uncertainty & errors 17 August 2022

1. Accuracy and precisionWhen marking titration results it is not unusual to come across something like this:Titration of 25.00 cm3 of x mol dm-3 hydrochloric acid with a standardized solution of 1.00... more

Electrochemical cells (AHL) 17 August 2022

1. Voltaic cells and standard electrode potentialsThis topic causes students considerable difficulty when they come to answer questions on standard electrode potentials in Paper 2. It is also a topic... more

Electrochemical cells17 August 2022

This sub-topic follows on neatly from the last one on oxidation and reduction and in particular the activity series. If you did some practical work where students added metals to solutions containing... more

Oxidation & reduction17 August 2022

We should encourage students to think critically and ask searching questions. In the previous syllabus this topic started with the definition that oxidation is the loss of electrons. In this new programme... more

pH titration curves17 August 2022

It might be instructive to ask students to try to plot a graph to show how the hydrogen ion concentration changes as 0.100 mol dm-3 sodium hydroxide solution is added to 50.0 cm3 of 0.100 mol dm-3 hydrochloric... more

Lewis acids & bases17 August 2022

BrØnsted and Lowry independently put forward their acid-base theory based on proton transfer in 1923. In the same year Gilbert Lewis from the United States of America. proposed an even more encompassing... more

Acid deposition17 August 2022

The term 'acid rain' was first coined by Robert Smith (1817-1884) a Scottish chemist, in a book entitled 'Air and Rain: The Beginnings of a Chemical Climatology' published in 1872. Although the effect... more

Strong & weak acids & bases17 August 2022

This sub-topic is really a very basic introduction to the differences between strong and weak as applied to acids and bases. Where it can get slightly tricky is when students are asked to determine the... more