Chemistry Year 12

Aims and Purpose/Intent
• Understand theoretical concepts and practical applications of core chemistry concepts.
• Develop essential knowledge and understanding of different areas of the subject and how they relate to each other.
• Use theories, models and ideas to develop scientific explanations.
• Analyse and interpret data to provide evidence, recognising correlations and causal relationships.
• Develop competence and confidence in a variety of practical, mathematical and problem solving skills.
• Develop communication skills to present ideas, construct explanations, critique claims and justify opinions.
• Develop enquiry skills through collecting data, devising questions, planning variables and testing hypotheses.

Physical chemistry:
Atomic structure of elements and electron arrangement; use of the mole to measure quantities; the effect of different types of intermolecular forces and bonding on the physical and chemical properties of compounds; measurement of enthalpy change in chemical reactions; how changes in reaction conditions affect the speed of a chemical reaction and how these conditions can be manipulated; predicting the effect of changes in temperature; pressure and concentration on the yield of reversible reactions; how changes in the oxidation state of an element in a compound or ion is used to identify oxidised and reduced elements.

Inorganic chemistry:
The historical development of the Periodic Table as an example of how scientific ideas and explanations develop over time; trends in the solubilities of the hydroxides and the sulfates of the alkaline earth metals are linked to their uses; trends in the physical properties of the halogens including the ability of halogens to act as oxidising and halide ions to act as reducing agents.

Organic chemistry:
Naming organic compounds according to the IUPAC system and the ways in which the structure and formula of molecules can be represented; cracking and combustion of alkanes; nucleophilic substitution and elimination reactions involving halogenoalkanes; addition reactions of alkenes including addition polymers; production, oxidation and elimination reactions of alcohols; uses of and interpretation of mass spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy in organic analysis.

Chemistry Year 13

Aims and Purpose/Intent 
• Understand theoretical concepts and practical applications of core chemistry concepts.
• Develop essential knowledge and understanding of different areas of the subject and how they relate to each other.
• Use theories, models and ideas to develop scientific explanations.
• Analyse and interpret data to provide evidence, recognising correlations and causal relationships.
• Develop competence and confidence in a variety of practical, mathematical and problem-solving skills.
• Develop communication skills to present ideas, construct explanations, critique claims and justify opinions.
• Develop enquiry skills through collecting data, devising questions, planning variables and testing hypotheses.

Physical chemistry:
Born-Haber cycles, Gibbs free-energy change and entropy change in thermodynamics; the mathematical relationship between rate of reaction and concentration and the information it gives regarding the mechanism of reaction; use of the equilibrium constant to calculate equilibrium yield and its application to industrial process; redox reactions in electrochemical cells and their commercial applications; determination of pH in strong and weak acids and bases and calculations using buffer solutions.

Inorganic chemistry:
Reactions of the Period 3 elements with oxygen and trends in properties across the period; the compounds of the transition metals formed in different oxidation states and shapes of complex ions.

Organic chemistry:
Optical isomerism; reaction mechanisms involving aldehydes and ketones; structure and reactions of carboxylic acids and esters including acylation; bonding and electrophilic substitution reactions involving benzene rings; preparation and base and nucleophilic properties of amines; condensation polymers including their properties and uses, as well as problems associated with their re-use and disposal; properties of amino acids and the formation and study of proteins; structure of DNA; multi-step synthesis of organic compounds; techniques used to deduce the structure of compounds, including nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and chromatography.