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Latest updates

Spreadsheets for data processing 14 October 2018

Spreadsheets in their current form have been around since the early 1980s. Essentially a spreadsheet consists of multiple cells. A cell contains data in the form of numbers, alphIB Docs (2) Teammeric text or formulas.... more

Software for graph plotting 14 October 2018

Completion of the form 4/PSOW requires that students must use graph plotting software at least once during their practical course but it does not have to be assessed. Maybe I am a little old fashioned... more

Determination of an organic structure13 October 2018

This practical exercise does not form part of the mandatory laboratory components but perhaps it should. Students are supposed to cover five different types of ICT during the practical scheme of work... more

Hydrolysis of halogenoalkanes13 October 2018

The study of the nucleophilic substitution reactions of halogenoalkanes cuts right across the Core and the Additional Higher Level material on the syllabus. In sub-topic 10.2 Standard Level students need... more

Chlorine in swimming pools 13 October 2018

Chlorine is an oxidizing agent and is added to swimming pool water in order to disinfect it[1]. The problem is that there needs to be enough chlorine present to disinfect the water but not too much to... more

Polarity of molecules13 October 2018

The traditional practical way to show whether the molecules of a substance are polar was to put the liquid in a burette and use a charged rod to see if it would deflect the liquid as it ran out of the... more

Boiling points of mixtures13 October 2018

This is an excellent practical and well worth doing. It introduces your students to setting up and using reflux apparatus. They have to overcome the practical problem of reading the thermometer through... more

The halogens13 October 2018

The chemical and physical properties of the halogens appear under Topic 3.2 Periodic trends on the core. Although the physical properties such as atomic and ionic radii are often covered with the remainder... more

Common chemical reactions13 October 2018

I usually start teaching the course with the first part of Topic 2.1 The nuclear atom. Once students know what an atom is I start Topic 1 Stoichiometric relationships. If your students have come up through... more

Preparation & purification of aspirin 13 October 2018

The photograph of the packet above is an interesting image as each tablet contains 75 mg of aspirin. When aspirin is taken to relieve the symptoms of pain or fever the tablets usually contain 300 mg of... more