ZIMSEC A-Level Chemistry

Atoms, Molecules and Stoichiometry

Form 5 (relative masses, mass spectra, the mole, formulae, stoichiometric calculations) and Form 6 (reaction ratios, titration, percentage yield and purity).

• 6.1.1.1 Relative masses of atoms and molecules; the mole and the Avogadro constant
• 6.1.1.2 Mass spectra
• 6.1.1.3 Empirical and molecular formulae
• 6.1.1.4 Stoichiometric calculations and reaction ratios; percentage yield and percentage purity
• 6.1.1.5 Titration

Atomic Structure

Form 5.

• 6.1.2.1 Sub-atomic particles
• 6.1.2.2 Electronic configurations
• 6.1.2.3 Ionisation energy

Chemical Bonding

Form 5.

• 6.1.3.1 Ionic bonding and metallic bonding
• 6.1.3.2 Covalent bonding, bond reactivity and dative bonding
• 6.1.3.3 Shapes of molecules
• 6.1.3.4 Intermolecular forces: van der Waals' forces, hydrogen bonding and permanent dipoles

States of Matter

Form 5.

• 6.1.4.1 Gaseous state
• 6.1.4.2 Liquid state and solid state

Chemical Energetics

Form 5.

• 6.1.5.1 Enthalpy changes
• 6.1.5.2 Hess' law and Born-Haber cycles
• 6.1.5.3 Charge density

Electrochemistry

Form 5 (redox, electrode potentials, electrolysis) and Form 6 (redox titration, fuel cells, quantitative electrolysis).

• 6.1.6.1 Redox processes
• 6.1.6.2 Electrode potentials
• 6.1.6.3 Electrolysis of acidified water
• 6.1.6.4 Electrolytic purification of copper/nickel; extraction of aluminium; production of chlorine from brine
• 6.1.6.5 Redox titration
• 6.1.6.6 Fuel cells
• 6.1.6.7 Quantitative electrolysis

Equilibria

Form 5 (chemical and ionic equilibria) and Form 6 (buffer solutions and solubility products).

• 6.1.7.1 Chemical equilibria and factors affecting equilibrium
• 6.1.7.2 Equilibrium constants
• 6.1.7.3 Brønsted-Lowry theory of acids and bases
• 6.1.7.4 pH and pOH
• 6.1.7.5 Acid and base dissociation constants
• 6.1.7.6 Choice of indicators and titration curves
• 6.1.7.7 Buffer solutions
• 6.1.7.8 Solubility products

Reaction Kinetics

Form 5 (rates, rate equations, mechanisms) and Form 6 (catalysis).

• 6.1.8.1 Reaction rates and factors affecting rates of reactions
• 6.1.8.2 Rate equations
• 6.1.8.3 Mechanism of reactions
• 6.1.8.4 Catalysis: homogeneous and heterogeneous

Chemical Periodicity of Period 3

Form 5.

• 6.2.1.1 Variation in physical properties
• 6.2.1.2 Variation in chemical properties

Chemistry of Group II Elements

Form 5.

• 6.2.2.1 Trends in physical and chemical properties; properties and uses of Group II compounds

Chemistry of Group IV Elements

Form 5.

• 6.2.3.1 Trends in physical properties; properties and uses of Group IV elements and compounds
• 6.2.3.2 Trends in chemical properties

Chemistry of Group VII Elements

Form 5.

• 6.2.4.1 Trends in physical properties
• 6.2.4.2 Trends in chemical properties
• 6.2.4.3 Properties and uses of Group VII elements and compounds

Hydrocarbons

Form 6.

• 6.3.1.1 Nomenclature and isomerism
• 6.3.1.2 Preparation and occurrence; physical properties
• 6.3.1.3 Chemical properties
• 6.3.1.4 Reaction mechanisms

Halogen Derivatives

Form 6.

• 6.3.2.1 Nomenclature, isomerism and chemical properties
• 6.3.2.2 Uses and environmental impact

Hydroxy Compounds

Form 6.

• 6.3.3.1 Nomenclature, isomerism, manufacture of ethanol and physical properties
• 6.3.3.2 Chemical properties of alcohols
• 6.3.3.3 Chemical properties of phenols

Carbonyl Compounds

Form 6.

• 6.3.4.1 Nomenclature, isomerism and preparation
• 6.3.4.2 Chemical properties: nucleophilic addition

Carboxylic Acids and Derivatives

Form 6.

• 6.3.5.1 Nomenclature, preparation and occurrence
• 6.3.5.2 Chemical properties
• 6.3.5.3 Uses of carboxylic acids and esters

Nitrogen Compounds

Form 6. In the copy read, the amide and amino-acid objectives are printed on the page headed Polymerisation; they are placed here.

• 6.3.6.1 Preparation and occurrence
• 6.3.6.2 Chemical properties; dyestuff
• 6.3.6.3 Amides
• 6.3.6.4 Amino acids and proteins

Polymerisation

Form 6.

• 6.3.7.1 Types of polymerisation: addition and condensation
• 6.3.7.2 Uses of polymers

Transition Elements

Form 6: general properties, then vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and the platinum group metals.

• 6.4.1.1 Characteristic properties; variable oxidation state; catalysis; magnetism
• 6.4.1.2 Complex formation
• 6.4.1.3 Colour concept
• 6.4.1.4 Vanadium and chromium
• 6.4.1.5 Manganese
• 6.4.1.6 Iron
• 6.4.1.7 Cobalt and nickel
• 6.4.1.8 Copper
• 6.4.1.9 Platinum group metals (PGM)

Phase Equilibria

Form 6.

• 6.4.2.1 Steam distillation
• 6.4.2.2 Distribution between phases
• 6.4.2.3 Chromatography
• 6.4.2.4 Electrophoresis and genetic fingerprinting

Environmental Chemistry

Form 6.

• 6.4.3.1 Air pollution and control; power generation
• 6.4.3.2 Waste management: ion exchange, incineration, landfilling, recycling

Nano Chemistry

Form 6.

• 6.4.4.1 Properties and applications of nanomaterials

Chemistry of Nitrogen and Sulphur

Listed under Applied Chemistry in the topic list, but taught in Form 5 under Inorganic Chemistry in the scope and sequence chart and the competency matrix…

• 6.4.5.1 Chemical properties of nitrogen
• 6.4.5.2 Chemical properties of sulphur; Haber process; Contact process
• 6.4.5.3 Environmental impacts of nitrogen and sulphur compounds

Practical skills (Paper 4)

Not a content topic of the syllabus: this node is ours, from the Paper 4 description (three compulsory structured questions on qualitative analysis…

• P.1 Quantitative analysis
• P.2 Qualitative analysis
• P.3 Planning and design