SN1 vs SN2

April 16, 2018

I have not long been back from Oxford in the UK where I was running a revision course for OSC. One of the concepts that the students seemed needing clarifying was when to decide when an organic reaction was SN1 or SN2 so I thought it may be worth sharing this with you...

Redox Cells: Revision Checklist

March 23, 2018

When I teach about redox cells, I like starting with the Daniell cell. It is an example of the world’s first battery (cell) and if you remember the details of it, you can apply to same rules to any unfamiliar redox cells. First, a diagram of the cell itself: Note that...

Global Warming

February 28, 2018

Global warming is still a topic that stirs a range of emotions in people. Is it real? Is it made up? Is it something to worry about or not? Will it actually affect you? But, love it or hate it, the topic is not going to go away. We have just had some training on how...

Acid Deposition

January 15, 2018

The topic of acid deposition can be found in the SL section of the acids and bases unit, section 8.5. As a teacher, when I first read this title I had no idea what it meant, but, as with most things in the IB, the title is actually quite descriptive, once you know...

Superacids

December 15, 2017

The concept of superacids was a new on to me until the other day when I read about a chemistry competition that had been held in Moscow earlier this summer. You may have been in this very competition so, if you had, and I get something wrong, please do put me right!...

An Introduction to Equilibria

November 24, 2017

Equilibria can be a tricky concept to understand. In order to understand it, you need a good idea of reversible reactions and then a good idea of a dynamic equilibria. So, what is a reversible reaction? Put simply, it is a reaction in which products can be turned into...