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OCR AS Chemistry Practical - First one, very nervous!!

In a week or two I will be taking my first assessed practical for OCR AS Chemistry and I have a couple of questions :smile:

I DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT WILL BE ON THE TEST!!!! So please don't tell me!
It's an observations practical so does anyone know any hints or tips for writing the best answers for this type of test?
Are they hard questions generally?
Did you revise much for your tests?
That's all I can think of for now - thank you!!

Reply 1

Nymthae

Observations are literally just that.

Key words are just things like effervescence/bubbling etc.
If there's colour change then make sure you state from what to what.
There's a difference between colourless and clear solutions! Use the right word.
Precipitation?

Reply 2

DoDoBeDo

Seriously, just write what you see. :smile:

As Nymthae said, use technical terms (effervescence, gas evolved etc) .
If there's a colour change, clearly state that it went from something like "orange to green" and if a precipitate is formed clearly state what colour it is!
Also, if there's heating involved make sure you record observations from when it was hot AND once it's cooled. :smile:

If there's no reaction, state it, don't leave a space blank or whatever!
I doubt you'll have to measure anything precisely in this particular exam, but if you do make sure you do it to the required decimal points. (It's not just 0 it's 0.00 :smile:

Always make sure you do that because precision is paramount! The mark schemes for these practicals can be very pedantic).

READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. Many times. Seriously. I can't advise that enough!

Good luck! :smile: