Objective 3 Command Terms

I think it is worth noting that objective 3 is not tested in paper 1 (either at SL or HL).

It does, however, form 50% of the questions for paper 2 and 3 (the other 50% of the questions come from objective 1 & 2).

Unsurprisingly, there are many objective 3 command terms:

Analyse, comment, compare, construct, deduce, derive, design, determine, discuss, evaluate, explain, predict, show, sketch, solve, suggest.

As the command terms apply to all group 4 subjects, some are more likely than others to appear in other courses (for example, I would suggest that ‘derrive’ is a mainly physics term).

In my opinion, ‘suggest’ is the hardest one to answer (eg, suggest a mechanism for this reaction) as you are never quite sure if you are thinking along the same lines as the examiner. My advice in this case is ‘always use the chemistry that you have been taught’ – if you find yourself using some non IB chemistry, you are probably making a mistake!

I would be interested to read other colleagues opinions so please feel free to answer below.