How to memorise all mechanisms in a level chemistry

char1219

i do a level ocr a chemistry
thanks

Reply 1

Maga^_^

Original post

by char1219

i do a level ocr a chemistry
thanks

I would just say practise as much as you possibly can. If you have a whiteboard keep drawing them until you can't get it wrong. That's how i memorised them.
hope that helps

Reply 2

Methene

Break them down, step by step. You should try to understand the reason for everything happening, rather than just the fact that it does happen. This way you can make sense of what you're learning while also being able to apply the reasoning to other mechanisms. Not only does it make remembering what happens easier, but it also can help if your recall fails you - the point of being able to understanding each process means that you can predict or make an educated guess at what is likely to happen.

Reply 3

UtterlyUseless69

Original post

by char1219

i do a level ocr a chemistry
thanks

As above, practice makes perfect.

Instead of memorising specific cases (e.g where the substrate is propene and the electrophile is HBr etc), I would learn generalised mechanisms for A level, e.g the general forms of:

-Electrophilic addition {alkenes and alkynes}

-Nucleophilic substitution (SN2 for OCR A) {haloalkanes only}

-Nucleophilic addition {aldehydes and ketones - you look at this mechanism in year 13}

-Electrophilic substitution {arenes, e.g benzene and phenol - you look at this mechanism in year 13}

I would also learn organic substrates are capable of undergoing these types of mechanisms so you have an easier time identifying which mechanism you need. I have put these in curly brackets.

Mr Murray-Green chemistry tutorials appears to cover all of these mechanisms in a short video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PQPQud8POB4

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 4

char1219

Original post

by UtterlyUseless69

As above, practice makes perfect.
Instead of memorising specific cases (e.g where the substrate is propene and the electrophile is HBr etc), I would learn generalised mechanisms for A level, e.g the general forms of:
-Electrophilic addition {alkenes and alkynes}
-Nucleophilic substitution (SN2 for OCR A) {haloalkanes only}
-Nucleophilic addition {aldehydes and ketones - you look at this mechanism in year 13}
-Electrophilic substitution {arenes, e.g benzene and phenol - you look at this mechanism in year 13}
I would also learn organic substrates are capable of undergoing these types of mechanisms so you have an easier time identifying which mechanism you need. I have put these in curly brackets.
Mr Murray-Green chemistry tutorials appears to cover all of these mechanisms in a short video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PQPQud8POB4

thanks a lot :smile:

)

Reply 5

ksmithk

Memorising isn't a great method as it takes away understanding. What you need are mechanism rules to follow so you can see the patterns (they're all very similar). Schools generally don't spell it out for you though, no idea why not. OCR A also ask unfamiliar mechanism questions regularly so if you don't know the rules you're just guessing.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Articles for you

Personal Statement - Aerospace Engineering 2

How The Student Room is moderated

To keep The Student Room safe for everyone, we moderate posts that are added to the site.

Try out the app

Continue on web