Getting ready for the IA Chemistry

March 13, 2020

Last month’s blog post gave you an overview of what the IA is all about. This month I will start explaining to you what the different criteria are and how they are assessed. If you recall there are five assessment criteria: Personal Engagement(PE) Exploration...

Understanding equilibrium – the basics

February 19, 2020

A good example of a reversible reaction is that of blue hydrated copper sulfate that can be heated to form white anhydrous copper sulfate. The heating process drives off the water. This reaction can easily be reversed by adding water to the white anhydrous copper...

Are you IA ready?

February 14, 2020

As I am sure you are aware the internal assessment (or IA) is worth 20% of your final grade. It is assessed by your teacher and then your teachers marking is looked at by a moderator. The aim of this blog post is to introduce you to the IA criteria and to give you...

Chemistry Nobel Prize – This Year’s Winners are…

February 12, 2020

… John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino for their work on something you probably take for granted and use every day of your life – the Lithium-ion battery (by the way, John Goodenough is the oldest ever winner at 97). It is great to see...

William Ramsey

December 16, 2019

On Wednesday 2nd October you may have seen the Google doodle with Sir William Ramsey (it was published to celebrate his 167th birthday): Image credit / copyright Google.com You may also have inferred from the doodle that William Ramsey had something to do with the...

E/Z cis / trans – geometric isomers

December 11, 2019

The E/Z or cis / trans system can be used to name geometric isomers. Geometric isomers are molecules that have groups above and below the plane of a ring or double bond. It is important to consider and be aware of these isomers as even though the structural formula is...