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UK Chemistry Olympiad

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Original post by .snowflake.
Same. Question 3 was actually quite hard!!


My friend was really lucky because he just knows loads about that kind of stuff. Answered the whole question correctly :|
Reply 21
What was the paper out of? I didn't count but I think it was about the same as the 2011 paper, which my teacher said was 41/55 for a gold?
Reply 22
Original post by BlueDuck
I just did it. The last question was okay but some of it was just plain weird. A few of my friends just gave up half way through and doodled on the side of the questions paper for the rest of the time.



Anyone currently doing A levels - be them AS or A2s - can do it.


I agree. Wish I had done more past papers because I could have sworn I'd seen them before -- ah well. I can always do it again in Year 13. Will be lucky to get a gold to be honest.
Reply 23
I failed it badly :/ did no preparation though.
Reply 24
Original post by .snowflake.

Original post by .snowflake.
Have you done any of the A2 spec? If not, you'll struggle with a lot of it. There are past papers on the RSC website that you can have a look at.


Hmm, i've looked at the past papers and can do probable about 40-50% of the stuff.

I haven't done any A2 stuff, am on unit 2 of AS.
Reply 25
Original post by oli_G
Hmm, i've looked at the past papers and can do probable about 40-50% of the stuff.

I haven't done any A2 stuff, am on unit 2 of AS.


Sometimes they explain things to you in the exam (e.g. what NMR spectroscopy is or what a chiral centre is), but sometimes they don't. For example, requiring knowledge of what optical isomers are. Did they really claim the paper is accessible to Year 12s? Doesn't seem that way. :confused:
Reply 26
Original post by .snowflake.
It's for year 12 and 13. Did it this afternoon. Opens paper, looks at the questions. My first response was Oh dear, Why didnt I put my lucky socks on?' Wasn't actually that bad, once you got started.


Haha, my expression when I opened that paper was :smile:

which slowly changed to :confused:

which ended up as :mad:

When is Round 2?
Reply 27

Original post by Zhy
Haha, my expression when I opened that paper was :smile:

which slowly changed to :confused:

which ended up as :mad:

When is Round 2?


Are you a year 12 as well?
Reply 28
Original post by oli_G
Are you a year 12 as well?


Yes, my teacher made me sit it on 30th Jan and I'll get the results after half-term. Have a feeling I didn't do too well...
Reply 29

Original post by Zhy
Yes, my teacher made me sit it on 30th Jan and I'll get the results after half-term. Have a feeling I didn't do too well...


Well good luck, I take it this friday.

I've tried looking over stuff like complicated organic chem (as drug synthesis questions seem to come up a lot). It's hard :frown:
I didn't know this existed. I thought they only extended on the Maths.
Reply 31
Original post by Ilyas
I didn't know this existed. I thought they only extended on the Maths.


The chemistry one is harder in my opinion... really do not like drawing things! Explains why I hate geometry in BMO1.
Original post by Zhy
The chemistry one is harder in my opinion... really do not like drawing things! Explains why I hate geometry in BMO1.


I have my Chemistry A level, questions like:

"The surface on the inside of the tin can is scratched... <insert smelly chemistry>"

:dontknow:
Original post by Ilyas
I have my Chemistry A level, questions like:

"The surface on the inside of the tin can is scratched... <insert smelly chemistry>"

:dontknow:


The organic questions of the Edexcel spec are reasonably easy. The organic question on the ICO make you want to weep.
Original post by Zhy
The chemistry one is harder in my opinion... really do not like drawing things! Explains why I hate geometry in BMO1.


One of the lads who sat the chem olympiad with me also does the maths olympiad and finds the maths one easier because 'with the maths one, you can work stuff out, with the chemistry one, you have to know stuff!'
Reply 35
Original post by BlueDuck
Anyone currently doing A levels - be them AS or A2s - can do it.


All be it rather badly! there are concepts there that no one will have heard of, for example in the 2007 past paper, A level candidates would not know about the dueterium shift, required (in question 4 (i think...)) however its deductable by guess work..
Reply 36
Original post by .snowflake.
One of the lads who sat the chem olympiad with me also does the maths olympiad and finds the maths one easier because 'with the maths one, you can work stuff out, with the chemistry one, you have to know stuff!'


I suppose... although with the maths one it can help to be able to dish out heavy mathematical formulae. This paper though! :frown:
Original post by Zhy
I suppose... although with the maths one it can help to be able to dish out heavy mathematical formulae. This paper though! :frown:


True. There were three of us doing it. One was scribbling away right from the beginning whilst i was looking through the paper thinking ohdear :/ Maybe I should have put my lucky socks on. That really annoyed me, and the other guy was going 'Oh dear', EVERY TIME he turned the page. They'll probably have done better than I did, and they're Y12's!!

Did anyone else find it really odd that they want to know what we're hoping to study at uni?
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 38
Original post by .snowflake.


Did anyone else find it really odd that they want to know what we're hoping to study at uni?


Wanting to study Chemistry, obviously! It makes sense I think, they'll want to know if they are losing the best students to other subjects.

Thought Q3 was a bit strange, really relied on you knowing specific things. Bit harsh if (like me!) you didn't have a clue! I quite liked Q5 actually, if only for that clever jump in the middle. :P

Is it marked by our teachers? If so I should know how I did by the end of the week! Our Chem teacher is a god at marking!
Original post by __abd__
Wanting to study Chemistry, obviously! It makes sense I think, they'll want to know if they are losing the best students to other subjects.

Thought Q3 was a bit strange, really relied on you knowing specific things. Bit harsh if (like me!) you didn't have a clue! I quite liked Q5 actually, if only for that clever jump in the middle. :P

Is it marked by our teachers? If so I should know how I did by the end of the week! Our Chem teacher is a god at marking!


Same. Chemistry <3 Q3 was odd. two of the 'give the systematic names' questions i got. Only because we used one of them yesterday.

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