As someone who got an A* at GCSE maths, who struggled with both AS and A2 chemistry maths, I would advise you to take maths alongside chemistry. Then again, I'd advise everyone doing A-levels to take maths.
The attached file is an AS-level maths question, if this scares you off then I'd advise not taking it
No maths in chemistry A level is as 'difficult' as the last question on C2 maths paper.
Most of the maths is easy, and even if you aren't doing AS/A2 maths then you could probably get along with just plugging the numbers into the logarithm-type chemistry formulas without having to understand what they mean. However, there were two people in my chemistry class that didn't do maths, and so when we were given a question in the final exam which required knowing what the inverse of ln is, they had absolutely no idea: one of the textbooks admittedly did have the reverse of the formula in it, but it wasn't a spec point and so only the maths students - or those who had read every single word of this specific textbook inside out - could answer the question.
Most of maths in AS chemistry is pretty straight forward with things like rearranging equations At A2 it does get quite a bit more complex with harder equations and logarithms. Off the top of my head you might struggle with the Arrhenius equation but it is definitely do-able if you work hard. Nevertheless, A level maths would definitely be helpful but wouldn't be a necessity.
Most of the maths is easy, and even if you aren't doing AS/A2 maths then you could probably get along with just plugging the numbers into the logarithm-type chemistry formulas without having to understand what they mean. However, there were two people in my chemistry class that didn't do maths, and so when we were given a question in the final exam which required knowing what the inverse of ln is, they had absolutely no idea: one of the textbooks admittedly did have the reverse of the formula in it, but it wasn't a spec point and so only the maths students - or those who had read every single word of this specific textbook inside out - could answer the question.
Do you know the grades that them two students got overall??
Most of maths in AS chemistry is pretty straight forward with things like rearranging equations At A2 it does get quite a bit more complex with harder equations and logarithms. Off the top of my head you might struggle with the Arrhenius equation but it is definitely do-able if you work hard. Nevertheless, A level maths would definitely be helpful but wouldn't be a necessity.
I'm hoping to get at least an A overall, do you think that's possible without maths?
I did Chemistry and Maths at A-level and would say you would have the edge if you did A-level Maths especially in A2. There is a whole exam if you do OCR A F325 (old spec finished 2016) which is 70% calculation based on fairly difficult mole questions and calculating stuff like Kc, Kw, Ka and other stuff which require a quite high level knowledge of indices and logs weirdly enough. I'm not saying its not still doable but for sure you will struggle more with the calculation side to Chemistry without A-level Maths.
Do you think I'd be able to get an A without A-Level maths?
You could do just AS maths and then drop it and just take 3 a levels in yr 13, it would be hard to do really well in chemistry if you loose touch with maths
You will be just fine without doing A level maths. I wouldn't say theres a lot of maths in chemistry, just a moderate amount.
What will help you with the maths is understanding the theory behind it and obviously you'll learn that. (Heck if you don't understand the maths bits then just memorise the methods for each type of question and you'll do just fine)
You could do just AS maths and then drop it and just take 3 a levels in yr 13, it would be hard to do really well in chemistry if you loose touch with maths
I disagree, most of it is just multiplication/division with an odd bit of logs here and there
You could do just AS maths and then drop it and just take 3 a levels in yr 13, it would be hard to do really well in chemistry if you loose touch with maths
I just don't feel like I'd get a good grade in A-Level maths, so I'd be sacrificing my grade to do better in chemistry
I've just been to enrol and I intended to take A-Level Chemistry. The head of sixth form urged me not to take Chemistry without taking atleast AS Maths because apparently I'll massively struggle at A2.
This is the first time I've ever been told that Maths is crucial for A-Level Chemistry.
I'm quite competent with maths (A* at GCSE) however I really don't enjoy it and I really don't want to take it at A-Level at all.
So how important is A-Level maths for Chemistry? And will I completely crumble if I don't take it; like the head of sixth form said?
Do I need maths
(Excuse the misspelling of Chemistry in the title)
AS Maths is not needed for chemistry at all, I know people at my sixth form who got A's in it and went on to study Medicine without ever going near an A-level maths textbook.
Most of my chemistry class did maths a-level, and the one person who didn't, got an A, whilst the others struggled with chemistry and maths. As long as you can rearrange and do basic maths calculations you'll be find with the majority of the content. There is some logaritms in it, but I'm sure your teacher will explain, and even if you don't understand it, just remembering the method of how to use them will be good enough.
I've just been to enrol and I intended to take A-Level Chemistry. The head of sixth form urged me not to take Chemistry without taking atleast AS Maths because apparently I'll massively struggle at A2.
This is the first time I've ever been told that Maths is crucial for A-Level Chemistry.
I'm quite competent with maths (A* at GCSE) however I really don't enjoy it and I really don't want to take it at A-Level at all.
So how important is A-Level maths for Chemistry? And will I completely crumble if I don't take it; like the head of sixth form said?
Do I need maths
(Excuse the misspelling of Chemistry in the title)
I wouldn't say it was crucial. Admittedly I did do AS maths, but the only real use of it that you do in A2 chem mostly just involves pressing a button on your calculator. I didn't feel as if I had to draw on any of the knowledge from AS maths in order to do well in chem.
It is true that chemistry is fairly maths-heavy, but it's more to do with calculations to find concentration and moles and other fun stuff like that. I'd say remembering and applying the equations/methods is more difficult than the maths itself, which when you get down to it is mostly just multiplication/division/addition/subtraction (I mean if you're picky there's a fair bit of standard form and maybe laws of indices, but that's covered at GCSE anyway).
If you don't want to do maths, don't. There's no point wasting time doing a qualification you don't want to do because one topic in it briefly comes up in a subject you actually want to do. If you're competent with maths and can handle the content in chemistry (as well as putting the work in obv), there's absolutely no reason why you can't do well.
i would recommend taking it however if you really don't want to then don't...just keep practicing those calculations and it should become easier..personally me and 2 other people in my chem class that did maths a level found the calculations a lot easier compared to other people..at least try AS maths and you should be fine.
I've just been to enrol and I intended to take A-Level Chemistry. The head of sixth form urged me not to take Chemistry without taking atleast AS Maths because apparently I'll massively struggle at A2.
This is the first time I've ever been told that Maths is crucial for A-Level Chemistry.
I'm quite competent with maths (A* at GCSE) however I really don't enjoy it and I really don't want to take it at A-Level at all.
So how important is A-Level maths for Chemistry? And will I completely crumble if I don't take it; like the head of sixth form said?
Do I need maths
(Excuse the misspelling of Chemistry in the title)
Yes, there is quite a lot of maths at A2. However it is easily doable without taking AS maths, you will just have to do a bit more practise than those with AS maths.
i would recommend taking it however if you really don't want to then don't...just keep practicing those calculations and it should become easier..personally me and 2 other people in my chem class that did maths a level found the calculations a lot easier compared to other people..at least try AS maths and you should be fine.
How many of these calculations actually are there? Are the exams full of them?