Top Tips for Success (3)

Read the question – it may seem like an obvious thing to say but make sure you do this.

Think! What is the question asking me.

A question that English speakers (if you are taking your exam in English) seem to get wrong is along the lines of:

Cl₂ + 2Br^– –> 2Cl^– + Br₂

What is the oxidising agent?

English speakers see the word ‘oxidising’ and immediately think oxidation. The substance being oxidised is Br- and they write this as their answer – but it is wrong. Why?

Well, an oxidising agent actually gets reduced, so the Cl₂ is the oxidising agent.

Why do non English speakers not have so much of a problem? In all honesty, I am not exactly sure but it must be to do with the way English speakers skim read words and process the shape of them – not the actual letters – while non English speakers do not do this.

In some ways, the reason is irrelevant – the key thing to remember is ‘Read the Question’!!