I just wanted to open a thread to discuss the 'AQA Unit 1 Chemistry exam (CHEM1)' Feel free to share notes/tips/materials/questions and thoughts on the exam.
DATE OF EXAM: 15th May 2012 - 1h 15m - PM
How are you guys revising?
I've attached the two newest past papers and mark schemes to get the ball rolling...
eek. did a practise paper and got a generous 50/70 on chem1 which is about 75UMS, time to do some more revision. some stupid mistakes with some minor details not learned. hope that the chem1 in may has low boundaries so those prone to error amongst us don't suffer too much.
This is the most valuable advice from me at this moment. The past papers are based on an older system or so it appears, one that is primarily based around definition work, yet the January 2012 paper sat, was based only on application, with the last 2 questions based also on theory of application (ie: Mass Spectrometry 5 marker and several maths application and towards the start, application and uses of trends and shape/bonding application). So be wary that whilst past papers are awesome revision tools to show what you should learn EXTRA, you should bear in mind to go over application in Chem1/2 extensively for June and use past papers to figure out weaknesses and to resolve said weaknesses. With all that said, i got a U . GoodLuck people on May 15 2012. (edit: first test ever in Chemistry, Unit 1 Jan2012, i got a high percentage U, regardless i have put in the effort to hopefully pass and get a high grade, unlike the mistake of cramming in 1-2 days in January 11-12 for 13th exam. Good Luck people.
This is the most valuable advice from me at this moment. The past papers are based on an older system or so it appears, one that is primarily based around definition work, yet the January 2012 paper sat, was based only on application, with the last 2 questions based also on theory of application (ie: Mass Spectrometry 5 marker and several maths application and towards the start, application and uses of trends and shape/bonding application). So be wary that whilst past papers are awesome revision tools to show what you should learn EXTRA, you should bear in mind to go over application in Chem1/2 extensively for June and use past papers to figure out weaknesses and to resolve said weaknesses. With all that said, i got a U . GoodLuck people on May 15 2012. (edit: first test ever in Chemistry, Unit 1 Jan2012, i got a high percentage U, regardless i have put in the effort to hopefully pass and get a high grade, unlike the mistake of cramming in 1-2 days in January 11-12 for 13th exam. Good Luck people.
ye nice observation, my teacher basicaly said to me that what didnt come up in the last paper will most probly come up this time and that the topics they focused on in th exam will be less focused on this time round. unlucky on geting that U, quite a few of my mates got U's aswell :/
ye nice observation, my teacher basicaly said to me that what didnt come up in the last paper will most probly come up this time and that the topics they focused on in th exam will be less focused on this time round. unlucky on geting that U, quite a few of my mates got U's aswell :/
Personally I think that is terrible advice. You should not hedge your bets. Revise everything.
This is the most valuable advice from me at this moment. The past papers are based on an older system or so it appears, one that is primarily based around definition work, yet the January 2012 paper sat, was based only on application, with the last 2 questions based also on theory of application (ie: Mass Spectrometry 5 marker and several maths application and towards the start, application and uses of trends and shape/bonding application). So be wary that whilst past papers are awesome revision tools to show what you should learn EXTRA, you should bear in mind to go over application in Chem1/2 extensively for June and use past papers to figure out weaknesses and to resolve said weaknesses. With all that said, i got a U . GoodLuck people on May 15 2012. (edit: first test ever in Chemistry, Unit 1 Jan2012, i got a high percentage U, regardless i have put in the effort to hopefully pass and get a high grade, unlike the mistake of cramming in 1-2 days in January 11-12 for 13th exam. Good Luck people.
Thank youu, I will bear all of this in mind..I got a U for this paper too No more cramming 2 days before!!
check the how much amount of substance content there is in june 2011 compared to jan 2012 and you will see ....
June 2011 has absolutely tonnes of Substance content. Jan 2012 had barely any Amount of Substance content, apart from 2-3 questions, the whole Jan 2012 was all application and the June 2011 was not, it was almost only substance.
indeed but i bet they will focus on topics that havent been seen for a while e.g electronegativity, polarity, ionisation energy deffinitions(1st or 2nd) probly a question on ionic bonding/ metallic and prob 12-15 marks didicated to amount of substance compared to 8-10 marks in the jan 2012. and as always mass spec always comes up as they need to have atleast some analytical chemistry in there. obviously this is just my estimation.... they might just focus on organic again but its highly unlikely
Edit: oh and lets not forget the lovely 3 mark periodicity questions wasn't that many of them last time
indeed but i bet they will focus on topics that havent been seen for a while e.g electronegativity, polarity, ionisation energy deffinitions(1st or 2nd) probly a question on ionic bonding/ metallic and prob 12-15 marks didicated to amount of substance compared to 8-10 marks in the jan 2012. and as always mass spec always comes up as they need to have atleast some analytical chemistry in there. obviously this is just my estimation.... they might just focus on organic again but its highly unlikely
Edit: oh and lets not forget the lovely 3 mark periodicity questions wasn't that many of them last time
Definitions? I don't really think so tbh. The focus of the last exam was applying, so I think they will stick with that. May there will be a few common definitions though .
Although I do think you're right about the bit in bold!
There isn't much organic they can focus on really, I think that part of the exam will be smaller tbh
But, I think if you knew the content it wasn't difficult to apply. I think the trick is to just know all the content and do all the past papers...
I think it was more to do with people panicking when they saw the first few questions and just gave up as a result. Specially when people know that grades boundaries are pretty high for this exam usually. I was like WTF? Then decided to do the last pages and work my way towards the front
Definitions? I don't really think so tbh. The focus of the last exam was applying, so I think they will stick with that. May there will be a few common definitions though .
Although I do think you're right about the bit in bold!
There isn't much organic they can focus on really, I think that part of the exam will be smaller tbh
I think it was more to do with people panicking when they saw the first few questions and just gave up as a result. Specially when people know that grades boundaries are pretty high for this exam usually. I was like WTF? Then decided to do the last pages and work my way towards the front
Good luck people
There was 2-3 pages of organic chemistry in january so i doubt they will be doing the same thing in may ;p. as for the definition of ionisation energy i think there is a high chance it will come up as it is a legit part of the syllabus which hasnt come up in exams for a while. how come ya dont agree with me on the electronegativity bit and polarity etc? they could ask you to define electronegaitvy/ ask for trends in electronegativity etc etc Good luck to you too are you doing this exam again? and are you doing the chem2 exam aswell?