The first few weeks of your A Level Chemistry coursebuilds upon some basic principles and skills studied at GSCE.

To make the transition from GCSE to A Level as smooth as possible, you need to re-visit a number of topics and complete some related exercises before the start of the course. You can do this looking back in your notes or revision guide, or by accessing familiarwebsites in addition to those given below.

Our expectations are that you will come to your first lesson confident and competent in the following topics:

  1. ATOMIC STRUCTURE

1. Website:

– locate and work through ‘Inside the Atom’ and ‘Atomic Shorthand’

2. Construct a table which shows the relative mass, relative charge and location for each of the following particles in the atom: proton, electron and neutron.

3.Give a definition for the following terms:

(i) atomic (proton) number (ii) mass number (iii) isotopes.

4.Work out the number of protons, electrons and neutrons in the following particles.

(i) 4 He (ii)31P (iii) 37Cl (iv) 16O 2 – (iv) 23 Na+ (you will need to refer to a Periodic Table)

  1. IONIC FORMULAE and BALANCING CHEMICAL EQUATIONS
  1. Website:

– locate and work through ‘Formulae and Equations’ Powerpoint (under physical chem)

2. Use a Periodic Table to work out the formulae of the following ions:

(i) aluminium, (ii) oxide (iii) potassium, (iv) chloride, (v) calcium.

3. Write formulae for the following compounds:

(i) potassium chloride, (ii) calcium chloride, (iii) potassium oxide, (iv) aluminium oxide.

4. Given the formulae for the sulfate (SO42 –), carbonate (CO32 –), ammonium (NH4+) and

hydroxide (OH –) ions,write formulae for the following compounds:

(i) calciumsulfate, (ii) potassium carbonate,

(iii) aluminium hydroxide, (iv) ammonium sulfate.

5. Balance the following equations:

(i) Mg + HCl → MgCl2 + H2

(ii)Na + O2 → Na2O

(iii)N2 + H2 → NH3

(iv) Pb(NO3)2 + KCl → PbCl2 + KNO3

(v)H2SO4 + Ca(OH)2 → CaSO4 + H2O

  1. BASIC MATHS – significant figures, standard form, rearranging equations and unit conversion.
  1. Website:

Work through the significant figure examples given in the website above.

Write the following numbers to the quoted number of significant figures.

a)672400 3 sig figs………………… c)0.044 sig figs………………….

b)7 3 sig figs………………… d)9361742 sig figs………………….

  1. Write the following numbers in standard form.

a)53900…………………..c)0.0872……………………

b)0.71………………...... d)69000000……………………

  1. Write the following numbers in ordinary form.

a)8.341 x 105………………….. c)6.7 x 10–3……………………

b)5.29 x 10–3………………...... d)17.2 x 105……………………

  1. Website:

Locate and work through the ‘Rearrange a Formula’ power point.

Answer the following by rearranging the equations below:

a) What does R equal ifPV = nRT ?……………………

b) What does T equal if q = mcT ?……………………

c) What does c equal if n = c x V ?……………………

1000

d) What does H equal if G = H – TS ? ……………………

  1. Website:

Work through the unit conversion examples given in the above website.

Answer the following by re-arranging the equations below:

a)Convert 100 kPa (kilo Pascals) of pressure to Pa (Pascals).

b)Convert a 25 L (Litre) volume to mL (Millilitres).

c)Convert a heat of reaction value 1200 J (Joules) to kJ (kilo Joules).

Keep your answers to the questions above in a safe place. You will need to hand them in to your chemistry tutor in your first chemistry lesson. We look forward to seeing you then.