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Latest updates

Misuse of formulas26 March 2020

Students often use mathematical formulas to solve chemical problems in exams and sometimes arrive at the wrong answer. This page looks at why this is so and encourages students to work always from first... more

Electrochemistry, rechargeable batteries & fuel cells answers11 March 2020

1. (a) Lead metal(b) Anode (−): Pb + SO42− → PbSO4 + 2e−Cathode (+): PbO2 + 4H+ + SO42− + 2e− → PbSO4 + 2H2OOverall reaction: Pb + PbO2 + 4H+ + 2SO42− → 2PbSO4 + 2H2O(c) 2PbSO4 + 2H2O... more

Writing the essay9 March 2020

Once the research question is agreed students need to understand that all they will be judged on ultimately is the quality of their final Essay and how it fits the four summative assessment criteria together... more

Short cut to give students access to a pageFree9 March 2020

The site now has a new feature which enables you to quickly give (or take away) student access for those pages over which you have control as to whether or not they are accessible by students. Using this... more

Manipulating equilibrium constants 27 February 2020

The importance of the relationship between the equilibrium constant and the balanced stoichiometric equilibrium reaction it relates to is stressed. What happens to the value of the equilibrium constant... more

COVID-19 and Student Access27 February 2020

Student access was set up to enable teachers to set assignments, including questions from qBank on all the topics in the core. AHL and options, and to give students access to selected pages on the site... more

Topics 8 & 18 18 February 2020

Topics 8 and 18 follow on neatly from Topics 7 & 17 as much of Acids and bases concerns equilibrium in aqueous solution. Since students will already have come across some classic acid-base reactions I... more

VSEPR8 February 2020

For some reason students seem to find it very difficult to predict the shape and bond angles of a simple molecule or ion using Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion Theory (VSEPR). At first sight this... more

Gamification & IB chemistry crossword30 JIB Docs (2) Teamary 2020

There are many articles that suggest that students learning is enhanced by playing educational games (for example, Tutor doctor's "How gaming can enhance students learning" and Learning theories' "Gamification... more

Proteins & enzymes questions 29 JIB Docs (2) Teamary 2020

1. Three 2-amino acids are aspartic acid, glutamic acid and threonine.Their structures are given in Section 33 of the IB chemistry data booklet.(a) Draw the structure of one trimer containing the residues... more