Chemistry A Level at St Benedict's Catholic High School
Chemistry is for thinkers, dreamers and doers! Students who like to think and solve problems will love the challenge of this course. Those who dream of making new discoveries or of changing the world by solving the energy crisis or synthesising a new drug to treat cancer will love the scope of this course.
AS Level – Physical Chemistry
Atomic structure, Amount of substance, Bonding, Energetics, Kinetics, Chemical equilibria and Le Chatelier’s principle, Oxidation, reduction and redox equations
AS Level – Inorganic Chemistry
Periodicity, Group 2, the alkaline earth metals, Group 7(17), the halogens
AS Level – Organic Chemistry
Introduction to organic chemistry, Alkanes, Halogenoalkanes, Alkenes, Alcohols, Organic analysis
The full A level examines all the above and:
Thermodynamics, Rate equations, Equilibrium constant Kc for homogeneous systems, Electrode potentials and electrochemical cells, Acids and bases
Properties of Period 3 elements and their oxides, Transition metals, Reactions of ions in aqueous solution
Optical isomerism, Aldehydes and ketones, Carboxylic acids and derivatives, Aromatic chemistry, Amines, Polymers, Amino acids, proteins and DNA, Organic synthesis, Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Chromatography
We want students who: Can cope with a challenging course and who have an interest in Chemistry. We want students who can work independently and can absorb detailed information. Students will need to be resilient and highly motivated.
There will be three two hour papers worth one hundred and five marks for the first two papers and ninety for the third to assess the two years content. There is no coursework but practical understanding will be assessed in the papers.
The places that A Level Chemistry can take you are legion. Here are a very few: doctor, vet, pathologist, forensic scientist, brewer, nanotechnologist, chemical engineer, cheese maker, systems analyst, the nuclear industry, plastics designer
How to apply
If you want to apply for this course, you will need to contact St Benedict's Catholic High School directly.