AS/A Chemistry
Discussion for A-Level students and for those choosing their A-Level subjects.
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AS/A ChemistryHello,
I am thinking of swapping one of my options around if possible to take OCR Salters AS/A Chemistry. But I would be grateful if there is anyone out there who takes this course & could answer a few questions!
Could you tell me how you find the course, and also how much practical work there is and how involved the practicals get (i'm not a great one for practicals). What is the practical AS coursework like?
Some people have said what they tell you at GCSE (I took Sci OCR Double GCSE) is is all a 'lie'. Can you shed any light on this?!
Sorry if this Q might seem a bit ignorant, but do you have to know the periodic table by heart or do they just give it to you like GCSE?
Thanks! Matt -
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(Original post by thebluesurf)
Hello,
I am thinking of swapping one of my options around if possible to take OCR Salters AS/A Chemistry. But I would be grateful if there is anyone out there who takes this course & could answer a few questions!
Could you tell me how you find the course, and also how much practical work there is and how involved the practicals get (i'm not a great one for practicals). What is the practical AS coursework like?
Some people have said what they tell you at GCSE (I took Sci OCR Double GCSE) is is all a 'lie'. Can you shed any light on this?!
Sorry if this Q might seem a bit ignorant, but do you have to know the periodic table by heart or do they just give it to you like GCSE?
Thanks! Matt
I cant give you any advice on that board as i did aqa which i thought was ok apart from the huge amount of memory work needed, but they give you a periodic table, as far as lieing goes lets just say that the dot cross diagram is appropiate for everything you need to know at GCSE but the actual arrangement of electrons is different and this is explained as it is needed to explian the new context introduced in the course -
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Yeah I've just finished my GCSEs and have started working for AS Chem. I'm finding it easy going (so far). I was reading that the electron configuration should be represented at AS, sort of like this: i.e. Carbon(Original post by iceberg_1)
I cant give you any advice on that board as i did aqa which i thought was ok apart from the huge amount of memory work needed, but they give you a periodic table, as far as lieing goes lets just say that the dot cross diagram is appropiate for everything you need to know at GCSE but the actual arrangement of electrons is different and this is explained as it is needed to explian the new context introduced in the course
E --x--x--x--x-- (Second energy level)
n
e ----x----x---- (First energy level)
r
g [Nucleus]
y
I read that this is the proper way to show atomic structures as there is no set way to determine the behaviour of the electrons in orbit (whilst the GCSE method was leading towards a particular path of orbit which was wrong. I'm glad you said this is a "lie" as I was slightly confused until now, thanks. -
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i did Salters Chem back in the day*...(Original post by thebluesurf)
But I would be grateful if there is anyone out there who takes this course & could answer a few questions!
Could you tell me how you find the course, and also how much practical work there is and how involved the practicals get (i'm not a great one for practicals). What is the practical AS coursework like?
it is practical heavy (but i thought that was the point of the specific course?
) we'd do at least 1/2 per week - but they are fairly structures with precise instructions etc. 
AS cwk was some fairly short practicals & an open book exam. the open book exam tests communication/language skills as well as scientific. & the exams tend to require that as well as scientific knowledge (from the "Chemical Ideas" book) you need to know context/applications/examples (from the "Chemical Storylines" book - which some people in my class hated - because it actually requires some effort to read in your own time, rather than just turning up to lessons & being naturally talented at the subject).
A2 seemed fairly cwk heavy - it's worth a whole 90UMS module & is in the form of an 'Individual Investigation' - which may be good or bad, depending on how you work..
*so am open to corrections if the details have changed! -
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This may be a stupid question, but whats the difference between Salters Chemistry and normal Chemistry? I've heard that Salters has more to do with relevant aspects of Chemistry in society, but I'm not sure what that really means
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Also, in looking at the two, do universitys favour one over the other? I'm guessing it depends on the course..... -
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Thanks for the helpful replies, *phew* at the fact they give you the P.table!
With regards to the practical c/w again, do they mark you based on someone observing you conducting the practical, or is it the same as GCSE whereby you complete practical(s) and then write up about it etc? Thanks! -
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Ive done both Salters OCR and normal OCR chemistry, and the salters one is harder and more annoying. It is more practical based and you have to follow the background storylines to it. As for OCR normal, they seperate the organic chemistry from the inorganic in seperate modules so its quite straight forward and the AS organic helps with the A2 organic. Also the coursework is based on simple experiments and you can do upto 3 over the year with the best marks going through.
