Chemistry answering skills

Disclaimer: These notes are based on my opinion on how the questions should be tackled. Do take it with a pinch of salt, and practice to see how they are applied.

Stoichiometry
1. Calculating empirical formula and then molecular formula a. Find the mass ratio/ percentage of each element i. The question should have stated the percentage by mass of ___ in the compound, find the others by subtracting from 100% b. Find the mole ratio of each element i. Take the mass ratio/ percentage of an element and divide it by its Mr ii. Simplify to integers to get the mole ratio
6 94

c. This mole ratio is the empirical formula i. For example, mole ratio of H:O is 1:1 Empirical formula = HO d. Divide the Mr of the molecular formula with the Mr of the empirical formula to find the number of atoms of each element in the molecular formula i. For example, if Mr of molecular formula is 34, and that of the empirical formula is 17, the molecular formula is H 2 O 2 e.

iii. For example, mass ratio of H:O is 6:94 Mole ratio of H:O = 1 : 16 1:1

Chemical bonding
1. Strength of covalent bond a. Size of atoms i. Larger atom = larger bond length b. Extent of orbital overlap i. Larger bond length = smaller orbital overlap c. Thus bond strength 2. Drawing optical isomers a. Label chiral carbon b. Show bond angle c. Show direction of bond i. Into plane ii. Out of plane iii. In plane d. Reflect along the mirror plane i. The substituents and their bond direction on the left and right of the chiral carbon switch sides ii. Middle and top substituents stay the same 3. If drawing diagraming showing bonding, remember to a. Include bond angles clearly b. Show atoms that are on the same plane (with dotted lines) Done by Nickolas Teo Jia Ming

c. Show the overall charge with a big square bracket 4. Bond angle with tetrahedral and lone pairs (two parts to the answer) a. No lone pairs (CCl 4 ) = 109.5o b. 1 lone pair (NH 3 ) = Less than 109.5o, approximately 107o c. 2 lone pair (H 2 O) = Less than 109.5o, approximately 104.5o

Gas laws

1. Take note of the units in the equation = a. Pressure is in Pascal or atm b. Volume is in 3 c. Temperature is in Kelvin 2. At higher temperatures, there is less positive deviation is less, as when temperature increases, the volume increases, causing less deviation 3. For drawing the deviation from ideal gases a. At low temperatures (and pressures), negative deviation as attractive forces are present to reduce the impact on the walls of the container i. Depends on inter-molecular bonding b. At high pressures (and temperatures), positive deviation as volume of molecules are significant, increasing the volume of the container above the expected value i. Depends on Mr

Periodic table
1. Explain atomic radius change a. Describe nuclear charge change b. Describe screening effect change c. Describe effective nuclear charge change d. State change 2. Describing melting point a. State structure b. Metals i. Number of electrons delocalized ii. Charge of cation iii. Radius of cation iv. Relative strength of metallic bond c. Non-metals i. No hydrogen bonding Mr hence size of electron cloud Polarisability Relative strength of VDW forces of attraction ii. Hydrogen bonding present Number of hydrogen bonds per molecule Relative strength of hydrogen bonds d. Hence more/less energy required to break the bonds

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3. Describing electrical conductivity a. Availability of mobile charge carriers i. Metals Valence electrons delocalized into the sea of delocalized electrons ii. Silicon Semiconductor At high temperatures, the electrons are excited to a higher energy state and are delocalized iii. Non-metals Valence electrons are localized in a covalent bond, hence no mobile charge carriers 4. Describing Ionization energy a. It is the minimum energy required to completely remove 1 mole of electrons from 1 mole of ground state gaseous atoms (or ions) b. Affected by i. Atomic radius ii. Change in subshell iii. Interelectronic repulsion 5. Describing how Period 3 non-metals react with water a. They have vacant energetically-accessible 3d orbitals that can form a dative bond with water molecules, by accepting an electron pair, thereby allowing hydrolysis to occur

Chemical energetics
1. Definitions a. Definitions usually include enthalpy change with a few exceptions i. Lattice energy is the heat energy evolved ii. Ionisation energy is the minimum energy required iii. Bond energy is the average energy needed to break 2. When doing lattice energy explanation b. Compare the charge and radius of the ions involved c. When explaining, say the magnitude of lattice energy, not more or less, as it is always negative Always have state symbols when writing chemical energetics equations, as a change in state will have a marked difference Dont forget the positive and negative signs in your answers! The reason for second ionisation energy being greater than the first is a. Nuclear charge of atom remains constant b. Remaining electrons more strongly attracted c. Overcome attractive forces between positively charged ion and negatively-charged electrons When drawing an energy diagram a. Dont forget state symbols a. | | + +

+

3. 4. 5.

6.

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b. Label the enthalpy change next to each arrow

Group study
1. When explaining melting point a. ___ is covalent/ ionic b. With a ___ structure c. With ___ forces of attraction between ___ d. Hence more/ less energy is required to overcome the ___ bond e. Giving rise to a higher/ lower melting point 2. For thermal stability of Group II metals a. Increase in ionic radius down the group, while charge remains the same b. Charge density and hence polarising power decreases c. Distorts the electron cloud of the anion to a lesser extent, weakening the intramolecular bonds of the anion less d. More energy required to break the bonds to decompose it.

Chemical equilibrium
1. Use the Initial, Change, equilibrium table when they say that the volume is fixed a. If pressure is fixed, find the partial pressures of the gases 2. To determine which half-cell is present, just look at the products and reactants present. 3. When writing the rate equation, dont forget that 1 is part of the units 4. Reason for keeping volume of reaction mixture constant a. To allow the concentration of the reactant to be directly proportional to the volume used 5. Factors that affect the rate of reaction a. Temperature i. Higher temperature Reactant particles possess more kinetic energy Collide into each other more often + larger proportion of reactant particles possesses sufficient energy for an effective collision, more than the activation energy Increase in frequency of effective collision Greater rate of reaction. b. Catalyst i. Lowers the activation energy of the reaction By providing an alternative pathway (for homogenous catalyst) ii. Larger proportion of reactant particles possesses sufficient energy for an effective collision, more than the activation energy Increase in frequency of effective collision Greater rate of reaction. c. Concentration of reactants i. Increase in number of reactant particles per unit area Collide into each other more often + more reactant particles possesses sufficient energy for an effective collision, more than the activation energy Increase in frequency of effective collision Greater rate of reaction. More particles, not greater proportion

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6. When calculating the solubility product, ionic product or the solubility when two mixtures are mixed, remember to account for the dilution factor a. When equal volume of two reactants are mixed, the dilution factor is 2

Ionic equilibrium
1. pH of buffer when acid/base is added a. Calculate number of moles of substance added b. Calculate number of moles of weak acid/base left after reaction c. Calculate number of moles of conjugate acid/base left after reaction i. Change in number of moles of weak acid/base = Change in number of moles of conjugate x (-1) d. Calculate concentration of acid and salt i. Note the change in total volume e. Calculate pH using equation 2. Sketching the titration curve a. Initial pH i. lg(/ ) b. pH of maximum buffering capacity i. c. pH of equivalence point i. Find number of moles of salt ii. Hence find concentration of salt iii. Find K a or K b of salt From the K a or K b of the acid/base iv. Find concentration of [OH-] /

v. Find pH (from pOH) d. Final pH asymptote e. Volume of neutralization and maximum buffering capacity i. Maximum buffering capacity is either half or double of volume of neutralization 3. Describing the titration curve (for adding strong base to weak acid, adapt for other conditions) a. Before neutralization, the initial pH was ___ b. It gradually increased when ___ was added c. Between ___ cm3 to ___ cm3 of ___ added, the graph is flat as the pH does not change much, due to the buffering capacity of the conjugate acid-base pair. d. At neutralization, the addition of 1 drop of ___ resulted in the sharp rise in pH from ___ to ___ e. After neutralization, the pH tends to that of ___ 4. Defining buffer solution

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a. A buffer solution is a solution that resists changes in pH when a small amount of acid and base is added b. An acidic buffer can be prepared by mixing a weak acid with a salt, of the weak acid with a strong base c. A basic buffer can be prepared by mixing a weak base with a salt, of the same weak base with a strong acid 5. When describing how a conjugate acid base pair acts as a buffer through equations, include a label by saying when small amounts of acid/base is added 6. When finding from [+ ] a. Do not use the generalized formula of [ + ] = 7. When HCl reacts with a carbonate a. If HCl is limiting i. An equilibrium reaction occurs where hydrogen carbonate is formed 8. When calculating the pH (greater or less than 7) of the equivalence point of a di or tribasic acid a. If the salt can still act as an acid (e.g. HPO 4 2-) i. Write two equations One for the salt acting as a conjugate base a. HPO 4 2- + H 2 O H 2 PO 4 - + OH One for the salt acting as an acid a. HPO 4 2- + H 2 O PO 4 3- + H 3 O+ ii. Consider whether there is more OH- or H 3 O+, by looking at the respective and If is smaller than the , there is more OH- than H 3 O+ , thus the solution has a pH greater than 7 b. Use the original formula of =
[ +] [ +]2

Proteins
1. When referring to amino acids, refer to them as zwitterions, not molecules. a. Molecules implies no charge

Organic Chemistry
1. For deduction questions, each deduction has two parts a. Structure of compound deduced i. Alkene, carbon-carbon double bond o Decolourisation of bromine o Decolourisation of acidified KMnO 4 under reflux o Catalytic hydration ii. Carboxylic acid o Reacts with carbonate o Esterification iii. Alcohol

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Primary o Decolourisation of acidified KMnO 4 under reflux o React with sodium metal Secondary o Decolourisation of acidified KMnO 4 under reflux o React with sodium metal Tertiary o React with sodium metal

2.

3.

4.

5.

iv. Amine Primary Secondary Tertiary v. Amide vi. Ester o Sweet smelling vii. Carbonyl compound Ketone o Reduced by NaBH 4 Aldehyde o Tollens or Fehlings reagent o Reduced by NaBH 4 viii. Benzene ring o Low C:H ratio ix. Phenol o Violet colouration with neutral FeCl3 o React with bases b. Type of reaction observed i. Oxidation ii. Reduction iii. Halogenation To differentiate between acyl halide and halogenoalkane a. Add water and dilute AgNO 3 i. Acyl halide will have precipitate as hydrolysis occurs When showing mechanism dont forget a. The arrows showing electron movement b. The lone pairs of elections c. Fast or slow step d. Partial charges For the probability of products from free radical substitution a. The number of H atoms that can be substituted to give the product b. The stability of the radical intermediate formed i. Tertiary is the most stable, primary is the least ii. Stability is similar to that of carbocations, where electron donating alkyl groups stabilise the radical Dont forget that there is a C in the molecular formula for carboxylic acid derivatives Done by Nickolas Teo Jia Ming

6.

7. 8. 9. 10.

a. Ethanoate is CH 3 COOb. Propanoyl chloride is CH 3 CH 2 COCl List of suffixes a. Alkane: -ane b. Alkene: -ene c. Alcohol: -ol d. Aldehyde: -anal e. Ketone: -anone f. Carboxylic acid: -anoic acid g. Acyl chloride: -anoyl chloride h. Amine: -ylamine i. Amide: -anamide Whenever acid or alkali is added, dont forget to check the charges on the carboxylic acid, amine or phenol groups Phenylamine is a poor base, as the lone pair of electrons on the nitrogen atom is delocalised into the benzene ring. For step-down reactions (lose a carbon) a. Oxidation of an alkene For step-up reactions (gain a carbon) a. Nucleophilic addition to carbonyl compound using CNb. Electrophilic addition to benzene using halogenoalkane c. Nucleophilic substitution to halogenoalkane using RO- or RCO 2 i. Na in excess alcohol, reflux ii. Silver (I) salt of carboxylic acid, reflux d. Esterification

Amino acids and proteins

1. Dont forget the explanation when tackling polypeptide hydrolysis questions, where you have to piece together fragments of amino acids a. There are no branching because each amino acid can only form a peptide bond with 2 other amino acids b. Explanation should state which peptide bonds are broken to give the different fragments

Isomerism
1. To explain how a compound is optically active a. It has a chiral carbon which is bonded to 4 different groups i. Can be other elements, so long as its bonded to 4 different groups b. The molecule has no line of symmetry c. The molecule is non-superimposable on its mirror image

Transition elements
1. Maximum oxidation number Done by Nickolas Teo Jia Ming

2. 3.

4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

a. Depends on number of valence elections i. Low IE makes them easily removed b. High IE to remove electrons from inner quantum shell i. Due to stronger attraction as they are closer to the nucleus To identify the number of coordination bonds of ligands Colour of complexes and number of ligands a. [Ag(NH 3 ) 2 ]+ i. Colourless b. [Zn(NH 3 ) 4 ]2+ i. Colourless c. [CuCl4]2i. Yellow d. [CuCl2]i. Colourless e. [Cu(NH 3 ) 4 (H 2 O) 2 ]2+ i. Dark blue f. [Cu(H 2 O) 6 ]2+ i. Blue Remember that the colour of complexes seen is the colour complementary to the colour absorbed a. Knowledge of colour circle is not needed b. When asked to give the remaining colour, use the one further from the absorbed colour to be safe When ligand substitution occurs, and a bi or polydentate ligand replaces a monodentate ligand, entropy increases as the number of molecules in the system increases To explain colour of complexes a. The transition metal has partially filled 3d orbitals i. Give the number of electrons in the 3d orbital b. In the presence of the ___ ligand, its originally degenerate 3d orbital is split into two energy levels, with an energy gap between them c. d-d electron transition can occur where an electron is promoted from a lower energy 3d orbital to the higher energy one, by absorbing a wavelength of visible light which corresponds to the energy gap d. The colour of the complex seen is complementary to the colour absorbed To explain the basicity of acids a. The O-H bond is highly polarised, and the proton is easily lost When drawing a complex, dont forget the lone pairs for the dative bonds

Miscellaneous
1. When the question says describe for a test, include observations 2. Reaction pathway diagram (Hess Law) are awarded marks 3. Types of reactions a. Eliminations b. Addition

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4. 5. 6. 7.

8.

i. Electrophilic ii. Nucleophilic c. Substitution i. Electrophilic ii. Nucleophilic d. Condensation i. Only for esterification which is an addition-elimination hybrid The colour of metals are not due to d-d electron transition I 2 S 2 0 3 2a. Gives S 4 O 6 2- and IEven though some question may not ask you for equations, it is good to give to illustrate the answer if possible When a compound is separated by hydrolysis, H+ is added to one product, while OH- is added to the other product a. CaC 2 + H 2 O C 2 H 2 + Ca(OH) 2 In a n-membered ring, the members need not be carbon a. Oxygen can also be a member in a ring, in the form of ester or ether
R

Planning
1. Use simple distillation for separating a. Solvent-solute b. Liquid mixture with large boiling point difference between components i. Else use fractional distillation 2. Specify the thermometer range a. -10oC 110oC 3. Specify the volume of the Styrofoam cup a. 200 cm3 4. For energetics questions, a. There is no need to calibrate the Styrofoam cup b. Take note if it should be a temperature increase or decrease 5. When adding an liquid into an air-tight reaction vessel (for gas collection), use a dropping/ thistle funnel a. Add drop wise if an acid is added i. Else the reaction is too vigorous or too much gas produced too rapidly b. Remember to turn off the tap immediately after adding all the solution, to prevent gas from escaping i. While adding drop wise, turn off completely after adding all, as gas wont escape during adding c. Subtract the volume of solution added from the value of gas obtained, due to the addition of solution forcing gas into the gas syringe 6. For the procedure a. When asked to state an appropriate mass i. Include calculations for it if not done before b. When involving a dropping /thistle funnel

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i. Close the tap immediately after adding the liquid ii. Add drop wise if acid c. Remember to stir and measure the initial temperature for energetics questions

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