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Do I need Maths for A-Level Chemsitry?

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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 :tongue:

No maths in chemistry A level is as 'difficult' as the last question on C2 maths paper.

Reply 21

Lainathiel

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.

:smile:

Reply 22

jacobcc7

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.

Reply 23

ACER676

Original post by james Thompson56

You talking about Kc the equilibrium constant?

Reply 24

TheBrownSloth

Original post by Lainathiel

Do you know the grades that them two students got overall??

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Reply 25

TheBrownSloth

Original post by jacobcc7

I'm hoping to get at least an A overall, do you think that's possible without maths?

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Reply 26

TheBrownSloth

Original post by ACER676

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?

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Reply 27

Zacken

Original post by TomSuffolk

I'm hoping to get at least an A overall, do you think that's possible without maths?

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Original post by TomSuffolk

Do you think I'd be able to get an A without A-Level maths?

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You could get an A* in Chemistry without doing Maths A-Level.

Reply 28

james Thompson56

Original post by TomSuffolk

Do you think I'd be able to get an A without A-Level maths?

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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

Reply 29

Infamous*

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)

Reply 30

Infamous*

Original post by james Thompson56

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

Reply 31

TheBrownSloth

Original post by james Thompson56

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

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Reply 32

TheBrownSloth

Shouldn't the teacher be prepared for students that haven't taken maths anyway? So surely they'd go through it in detail

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Reply 33

username1539513

Original post by TomSuffolk

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.

Reply 34

B_9710

Original post by TomSuffolk

Shouldn't the teacher be prepared for students that haven't taken maths anyway? So surely they'd go through it in detail

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The only maths in chemistry is rearranging equations.

Reply 35

S F

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.

Reply 36

lightwoXd

Original post by TomSuffolk

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.

Reply 37

username1333513

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.

Reply 38

MCPC247

Original post by TomSuffolk

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.