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Do I need Maths for A-Level Chemsitry?

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Original post by AqsaMx
I finished my A2s this year so very recent :smile:


Have you heard much about the new spec id be taking? For example did your teachers mention anything?
:h:
Reply 102
Avatar for mollyyx
mollyyx
Honestly, it doesn't really matter. I took Chemistry and Maths (along with further maths and physics), and Chemistry (AS at least, I can only speak from experience) definitely doesn't required the majority of the maths that you will learn at a-level. For my exam board (WJEC), the first topic was fairly maths based, however it's nothing you either should know already from gcse maths or that you can easily pick up and learn just like anything in chemistry! So I would say, take maths a-level if you want to, but if you don't enjoy maths or find it difficult to understand then don't bother, you don't NEED if for chemistry, 100%.
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)


I've just finished AS, and you definitely do not need Maths, of course Maths is featured in Chemistry and more so in A level Year 2, but you just need to practise and it really shouldn't be that hard. I was unfazed by my A2 revision book which arrived today...so no you do not need Maths. However took Physics at AS so that may have help, but really there are maths skills in the revision books anyway.

Just to put it into perspective I was one of the few without Maths, I beat nearly 90% of my class, some people who did Maths ended up with D's to U's. Although I think I was the only one in my class to do well without Maths, so yeah..
No one in my sixth form got above a C with no A level maths. Great mathematical prowess is not necessarily needed but doing a level maths keeps your mathematical bran ticking over, making any chemistry calculations much easier.
You don't need to understand maths to do maths in chemistry, you need to understand chemistry to do maths in chemistry.
You could be a great at maths, but if you don't understand the chemistry, your maths skills will be if no use.
Original post by TheyCallMePolish
No one in my sixth form got above a C with no A level maths. Great mathematical prowess is not necessarily needed but doing a level maths keeps your mathematical bran ticking over, making any chemistry calculations much easier.


Depends on the person. If you are mathematically incompetent you shouldn't really take Maths or Chemistry at A level. A person who was in my 6th form ended up with AAA in Biology Chemistry and Geography and Literature AS didn't do Maths at A level at all, ended up doing Medicine at university. If your chemistry teachers are bad or school overall and you lack mathematical skills and motivation yes you will probably fail
Not at all.

I did OCR chemistry and it never goes beyond rearranging equations.

Can you make x the subject of the following?

4(x^2)/y = y

tbh, i don't think it gets harder than that. Seriously, most people in my chemistry who said "Oh. the maths is so hard in chemistry" found it as such because as soon as anything mathematical came up they switched off because they thought they couldn't do maths rather than an actual inability to do it.

My advice would be if you don't like maths, don't think of it in terms of algebra etc. One of the things about the maths in chemistry was that you could explain where all the formulae came from. Unlike maths where x is just some abstract concept [H+] made sense and its value and position in the formula could be explained from the reaction. If you understand the chemistry going on then you don't need any mathematical ability.
(edited 7 years ago)
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)



What is going on here? People comparing the maths in chemistry to C2? R u m4d?

OP Listen. You don't need AS maths; it really doesn't help at all. The maths in chemistry is based on problem solving and common sense, rather than any real sophistacation.

AS Chemistry consists of finding the number of moles/mass/mr, often using ratios, and often converting between units.

N=m/Mr accounts for a lot of the mathematical situations in chemistry. V=NxVm/PV=nRT/pH=-log[H+]/E=hf/q=mxcxdeltaxt/enthalpy change per mol = -q/nEnthalpy change =bonds broken + formed/enthalpy change = products - reactants(or vice versa) accounts for everything else.

OP, I scraped an A* in GCSE maths. You're probably better at it then me, yet I had near full UMS in AS Chemistry. Trust me, you don't need AS maths.
You 100% don't need maths AS . All you do is rearrange SIMPLE formula which is yr 7 /8 maths

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Original post by Marked Target
Not at all.

I did OCR chemistry and it never goes beyond rearranging equations.

Can you make x the subject of the following?

4(x^2)/y = y

tbh, i don't think it gets harder than that. Seriously, most people in my chemistry who said "Oh. the maths is so hard in chemistry" found it as such because as soon as anything mathematical came up they switched off because they thought they couldn't do maths rather than an actual inability to do it.

My advice would be if you don't like maths, don't think of it in terms of algebra etc. One of the things about the maths in chemistry was that you could explain where all the formulae came from. Unlike maths where x is just some abstract concept [H+] made sense and its value and position in the formula could be explained from the reaction. If you understand the chemistry going on then you don't need any mathematical ability.


X = root((y^2)/4) ???

It'll be embarrassing if i'm wrong now haha 😩



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Original post by TomSuffolk
X = root((y^2)/4) ???

It'll be embarrassing if i'm wrong now haha 😩


Posted from TSR Mobile

±y/2 \pm y/2 :wink:
Original post by GradeA*UnderA
What is going on here? People comparing the maths in chemistry to C2? R u m4d?

OP Listen. You don't need AS maths; it really doesn't help at all. The maths in chemistry is based on problem solving and common sense, rather than any real sophistacation.

AS Chemistry consists of finding the number of moles/mass/mr, often using ratios, and often converting between units.

N=m/Mr accounts for a lot of the mathematical situations in chemistry. V=NxVm/PV=nRT/pH=-log[H+]/E=hf/q=mxcxdeltaxt/enthalpy change per mol = -q/nEnthalpy change =bonds broken + formed/enthalpy change = products - reactants(or vice versa) accounts for everything else.

OP, I scraped an A* in GCSE maths. You're probably better at it then me, yet I had near full UMS in AS Chemistry. Trust me, you don't need AS maths.


I'm not so worried about AS Chemistry, more A2 Chemistry.

Do you know if/how much harder the maths gets at A2?


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by B_9710
±y/2 \pm y/2 :wink:


So was I wrong?😂


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by B_9710
±y/2 \pm y/2 :wink:

Original post by TomSuffolk
X = root((y^2)/4) ???
It'll be embarrassing if i'm wrong now haha 😩


Ye, both right. though +- y/2 is the simplification of (y^2/4)^1/2 so B_9710 wins. :wink:

A2 chemistry has more maths in it than AS. AS is mostly a/b=c and rearranging that whereas A2 has some logs and powers thrown in more often.

You should have done titrations. Iirc, AS doesn't have much beyond this. A2 jas Kc and Ph calculations but these aren't much harder. You certainly do not need a full A level in maths to be able to do it.
Original post by Marked Target
Ye, both right. though +- y/2 is the simplification of (y^2/4)^1/2 so B_9710 wins. :wink:

A2 chemistry has more maths in it than AS. AS is mostly a/b=c and rearranging that whereas A2 has some logs and powers thrown in more often.

You should have done titrations. Iirc, AS doesn't have much beyond this. A2 jas Kc and Ph calculations but these aren't much harder. You certainly do not need a full A level in maths to be able to do it.


I think that clearly shows a difference between GCSE and A-Level Maths, because I have no idea how to even reach B_9710's answer haha

I feel like with the time I'd be stressing trying to learn A-Level Maths anyway, I could alternatively dedicate that time to working on the maths aspects of chemistry anyway





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(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by TomSuffolk
I think that clearly shows a difference between GCSE and A-Level Maths, because I have no idea how to even reach B_9710's answer haha

I feel like with the time I'd be stressing trying to learn A-Level Maths anyway, I could alternatively dedicate that time to working on the maths aspects of chemistry anyway





Posted from TSR Mobile


All I did was GCSE maths.
Original post by TomSuffolk
I think that clearly shows a difference between GCSE and A-Level Maths, because I have no idea how to even reach B_9710's answer haha

I feel like with the time I'd be stressing trying to learn A-Level Maths anyway, I could alternatively dedicate that time to working on the maths aspects of chemistry anyway


root(y2/4) = root(y2)/root(4) = (+-y)/(+-2) = +- (y/2)

Sry, this is sort of off topic.

You would be learning a lot of stuff in A level maths which is not related to chemistry at all. If you don't enjoy maths I wouldn't take it. Iirc, you don't need maths for a chemistry degree either but I would have a quick look at the degree you want to do because if it does need maths you don't want to screw yourself.
Original post by Marked Target
root(y2/4) = root(y2)/root(4) = (+-y)/(+-2) = +- (y/2)


Not quite. 4≠±2 \sqrt 4 \neq \pm 2 .
Original post by B_9710
Not quite. 4≠±2 \sqrt 4 \neq \pm 2 .


Hm? Because its the denominator? I'd say the argument is semantic at best. Even if it is +- 2 (how do you do this fancy maths thing? I must know) then the signs will cancel such that the only answers are +- (y/2) regardless.

I don't see why it shouldn't be. If i gave you y/root(4) then the answer is +- y/2.
(edited 7 years ago)

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