GCSE → A Level transition

OCR A Chemistry Student sheet

Transition from GCSE to A Level

Moving from GCSE Science to A Level can be a daunting leap. You’ll be expected to remember a lot more facts,
equations, and definitions, and you will need to learn new maths skills and develop confidence in applying what
you already know to unfamiliar situations.
This worksheet aims to give you a head start by helping you:
 to pre-learn some useful knowledge from the first chapters of your A Level course
 understand and practice of some of the maths skills you’ll need.

Learning objectives
After completing the worksheet you should be able to:
 define practical science key terms
 recall the answers to the retrieval questions
 perform maths skills including:
o converting between units and standard form and decimals
o balancing chemical equations
o rearranging equations
o calculating moles and masses
o calculating percentage yield and percentage error
o interpreting graphs of reactions.

How to complete this task

Answer the questions in this task on a separate sheet. Your name and the date should be at the top of your sheet.
Do not leave any questions unanswered. You will need to bring the answer sheet to your first lesson with Mr
Bridge. You will be tested on the content of this transition task during the first full week of term in September.

What to do if you do not understand something

 Look it up – use on line resources.eg www.chemguide.co.uk – youtube also has some useful videos.
 Use your GCSE revision guide to remind yourself of key terms.
 In Chemistry A level, the amount of substance is the number of moles.

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Retrieval questions
You need to be confident about the definitions of terms that describe measurements and results in A Level
Chemistry.
Learn the answers to the questions below then cover the answers column with a piece of paper and write as many
answers as you can. Check and repeat.

Practical science key terms

When is a measurement valid? when it measures what it is supposed to be measuring

When is a result accurate? when it is close to the true value
What are precise results? when repeat measurements are consistent/agree closely with each
other
What is repeatability? how precise repeated measurements are when they are taken by
the same person, using the same equipment, under the same
conditions
What is reproducibility? how precise repeated measurements are when they are taken by
different people, using different equipment
What is the uncertainty of a measurement? the interval within which the true value is expected to lie
Define measurement error the difference between a measured value and the true value
What type of error is caused by results varying random error
around the true value in an unpredictable way?
What is a systematic error? a consistent difference between the measured values and true
values
What does zero error mean? a measuring instrument gives a false reading when the true value
should be zero
Which variable is changed or selected by the independent variable
investigator?
What is a dependent variable? a variable that is measured every time the independent variable is
changed
Define a fair test a test in which only the independent variable is allowed to affect the
dependent variable
What are control variables? variables that should be kept constant to avoid them affecting the
dependent variable

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Atoms, ions, and compounds

Learn the answers to the questions below then cover the answers column with a piece of paper and
write as many answers as you can. Check and repeat.
What does an atom consist of? a nucleus containing protons and neutrons, surrounded by electrons
What are the relative masses of a proton, 1
1, 1, and respectively
neutron, and electron? 1836
What are the relative charges of a proton, +1, 0, and -1 respectively
neutron, and electron?
How do the number of protons and electrons they are the same because atoms have neutral charge
differ in an atom?
How does the number of protons differ between it does not differ – all atoms of the same element have the same
atoms of the same element? number of protons
What force holds an atom nucleus together? strong nuclear force
What is the proton number / atomic number of the number of protons in the atom’s nucleus of an element
an element?
What is the mass number of an element? number of protons + number of neutrons
What is an isotope? an atom with the same number of protons but different number of
neutrons
What is the equation for relative isotopic mass? mass of an isotope
relative isotopic mass  1 th
mass of 1 atom of 12 C
12
What is the equation for relative atomic mass weighted mean mass of 1 atom
th
(Ar)? relative atomic mass  1 12
mass of 1 atom of C
12
What is the equation for relative molecular mass average mass of 1 molecule
th
(Mr)? relative molecular mass  1 12
mass of 1 atom of C
12
What is an ion? an atom or group of atoms with a charge (a different number of
electrons to protons)
Define the term cation a positive ion (atom with fewer electrons than protons)
Define the term anion a negative ion (atom with more electrons than protons)
What is the function of a mass spectrometer? it accurately determines the mass and abundance of separate atoms
or molecules, to help us identify them
What is a mass spectrum? the output from a mass spectrometer that shows the different
isotopes that make up an element
What is a binary compound? a compound which contains only two elements

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Maths skills
1 Core mathematical skills
A practical chemist must be proficient in standard form, significant figures, decimal places, SI
units, and unit conversion.

1.1 Standard form

In science, very large and very small numbers are usually written in standard form. Standard
form is writing a number in the format A × 10x where A is a number from 1 to 10 and x is the
number of places you move the decimal place.
For example, to express a large number such as 50 000 mol dm−3 in standard form, A = 5 and x =
4 as there are four numbers after the initial 5.
Therefore, it would be written as 5×104 mol dm−3.
To give a small number such as 0.000 02 Nm2 in standard form, A = 2 and there are five
numbers before it so x = −5.
So it is written as 2×10−5 Nm2.

Practice questions
1 Change the following values to standard form.
a boiling point of sodium chloride: 1413 °C
b largest nanoparticles: 0.0 001×10−3 m
c number of atoms in 1 mol of water: 1806×1021
2 Change the following values to ordinary numbers.
a 5.5×10−6 b 2.9×102 c 1.115×104 d 1.412×10−3 e 7.2×101

1.2 Significant figures and decimal places

In chemistry, you are often asked to express numbers to either three or four significant figures.
The word significant means to ‘have meaning’. A number that is expressed in significant figures
will only have digits that are important to the number’s precision.
It is important to record your data and your answers to calculations to a reasonable number of
significant figures. Too many and your answer is claiming an accuracy that it does not have, too
few and you are not showing the precision and care required in scientific analysis.
For example, 6.9301 becomes 6.93 if written to three significant figures.
Likewise, 0.000 434 56 is 0.000 435 to three significant figures.
Notice that the zeros before the figure are not significant – they just show you how large the
number is by the position of the decimal point. Here, a 5 follows the last significant digit, so just
as with decimals, it must be rounded up.
Any zeros between the other significant figures are significant. For example, 0.003 018 is
0.003 02 to three significant figures.
Sometimes numbers are expressed to a number of decimal places. The decimal point is a place
holder and the number of digits afterwards is the number of decimal places.

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For example, the mathematical number pi is 3 to zero decimal places, 3.1 to one decimal place,
3.14 to two decimal places, and 3.142 to three decimal places.

Practice questions
3 Give the following values in the stated number of significant figures (s.f.).
a 36.937 (3 s.f.) b 258 (2 s.f.) c 0.043 19 (2 s.f.) d 7 999 032 (1 s.f.)
4 Use the equation:
number of molecules = number of moles × 6.02 × 1023 molecules per mole
to calculate the number of molecules in 0.5 moles of oxygen. Write your answer in standard
form to 3 s.f.
5 Give the following values in the stated number of decimal places (d.p.).
a 4.763 (1 d.p.) b 0.543 (2 d.p.) c 1.005 (2 d.p.) d 1.9996 (3 d.p.)

1.3 Converting units

Units are defined so that, for example, every scientist who measures a mass in kilograms uses
the same size for the kilogram and gets the same value for the mass. Scientific measurement
depends on standard units – most are Système International (SI) units.
If you convert between units and round numbers properly it allows quoted measurements to be
understood within the scale of the observations.

Multiplication factor Prefix Symbol

109 giga G
10 6
mega M
103 kilo k
10 –2
centi c
10–3 milli m
10 –6
micro µ
10–9 nano n

Unit conversions are common. For instance, you could be converting an enthalpy change of
488 889 J mol−1 into kJ mol−1. A kilo is 103 so you need to divide by this number or move the
decimal point three places to the left.
488 889 ÷ 103 kJ mol−1 = 488.889 kJ mol−1
Converting from mJ mol−1 to kJ mol−1, you need to go from 103 to 10−3, or move the decimal point
six places to the left.
333 mJ mol−1 is 0.000 333 kJ mol−1
If you want to convert from 333 mJ mol−1 to nJ mol−1, you would have to go from 10−9 to 10−3, or
move the decimal point six places to the right.
333 mJ mol−1 is 333 000 000 nJ mol−1

Practice question
6 Calculate the following unit conversions.
a 300 µm to m

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b 5 MJ to mJ
c 10 GW to kW

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2 Balancing chemical equations

2.1 Conservation of mass

When new substances are made during chemical reactions, atoms are not created or destroyed
– they just become rearranged in new ways. So, there is always the same number of each type
of atom before and after the reaction, and the total mass before the reaction is the same as the
total mass after the reaction. This is known as the conservation of mass.
You need to be able to use the principle of conservation of mass to write formulae, and balanced
chemical equations and half equations.

2.2 Balancing an equation

The equation below shows the correct formulae but it is not balanced.
H2 + O2 → H2O
While there are two hydrogen atoms on both sides of the equation, there is only one oxygen
atom on the right-hand side of the equation against two oxygen atoms on the left-hand side.
Therefore, a two must be placed before the H 2O.
H2 + O2 → 2H2O
Now the oxygen atoms are balanced but the hydrogen atoms are no longer balanced. A two
must be placed in front of the H2.
2H2 + O2 → 2H2O
The number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms is the same on both sides, so the equation is
balanced.

Practice question
1 Balance the following equations.
a C + O2 → CO
b N2 + H2 → NH3
c C2H4 + O2 → H2O + CO2

2.3 Balancing an equation with fractions

To balance the equation below:
C2H6 + O2 → CO2 + H2O
 Place a two before the CO2 to balance the carbon atoms.
 Place a three in front of the H2O to balance the hydrogen atoms.
C2H6 + O2 → 2CO2 + 3H2O
There are now four oxygen atoms in the carbon dioxide molecules plus three oxygen atoms in
the water molecules, giving a total of seven oxygen atoms on the product side.
 To balance the equation, place three and a half in front of the O 2.
C2H6 + 3½O2 → 2CO2 + 3H2O
 Finally, multiply the equation by 2 to get whole numbers.
2C2H6 + 7O2 → 4CO2 + 6H2O

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Practice question
2 Balance the equations below.
a C6H14 + O2 → CO2 + H2O
b NH2CH2COOH + O2 → CO2 + H2O + N2

2.4 Balancing an equation with brackets

Ca(OH)2 + HCl → CaCl2 + H2O
Here the brackets around the hydroxide (OH−) group show that the Ca(OH)2 unit contains one
calcium atom, two oxygen atoms, and two hydrogen atoms.
To balance the equation, place a two before the HCl and another before the H 2O.
Ca(OH)2 + 2HCl → CaCl2 + 2H2O

Practice question
3 Balance the equations below.
a Mg(OH)2 + HNO3 → Mg(NO3)2 + H2O
b Fe(NO3)2 + Na3PO4 → Fe3(PO4)2 + NaNO3

3 Rearranging equations and calculating concentrations

3.1 Rearranging equations

In chemistry, you sometimes need to rearrange an equation to find the desired values.
For example, you may know the amount of a substance (n) and the mass of it you have (m), and
need to find its molar mass (M).
The amount of substance (n) is equal to the mass you have (m) divided by the molar mass (M):

You need to rearrange the equation to make the molar mass (M) the subject.
Multiply both sides by the molar mass (M):
M×n=m
Then divide both sides by the amount of substance (n):

Practice questions

1 Rearrange the equation to make:

a n the subject of the equation

b V the subject of the equation.
2 Rearrange the equation PV = nRT to make:

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a n the subject of the equation

b T the subject of the equation.

3.2 Calculating concentration

The concentration of a solution (a solute dissolved in a solvent) is a way of saying how much
solute, in moles, is dissolved in 1 dm3 or 1 litre of solution.
Concentration is usually measured using units of mol dm−3. (It can also be measured in g dm3.)
The concentration of the amount of substance dissolved in a given volume of a solution is given
by the equation:

where n is the amount of substance in moles, c is the concentration, and V is the volume in dm3.

The equation can be rearranged to calculate:

 the amount of substance n, in moles, from a known volume and concentration of solution
 the volume V of a solution from a known amount of substance, in moles, and the
concentration of the solution.

Practice questions
3 Calculate the concentration, in mol dm−3, of a solution formed when 0.2 moles of a solute is dissolved in 50 cm 3
of solution.
4 Calculate the concentration, in mol dm−3, of a solution formed when 0.05 moles of a solute is dissolved in 2.0
dm3 of solution.
5 Calculate the number of moles of NaOH in an aqueous solution of 36 cm 3 of 0.1 mol dm−3.

4 Molar calculations

4.1 Calculating masses and gas volumes

The balanced equation for a reaction shows how many moles of each reactant and product are
involved in a chemical reaction.
If the amount, in moles, of one of the reactants or products is known, the number of moles of any
other reactants or products can be calculated.
The number of moles (n), the mass of the substance (m), and the molar mass (M) are linked by:

Note: The molar mass of a substance is the mass per mole of the substance. For CaCO3, for
example, the atomic mass of calcium is 40.1, carbon is 12, and oxygen is 16. So the molar mass
of CaCO3 is:
40.1 + 12 + (16 × 3) = 100.1. The units are g mol−1.

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Look at this worked example. A student heated 2.50 g of calcium carbonate, which decomposed
as shown in the equation:
CaCO3(s) → CaO(s) + CO2(g)
The molar mass of calcium carbonate is 100.1 g mol−1.
a Calculate the amount, in moles, of calcium carbonate that decomposes.

 2.50/100.1  0.025 mol

b Calculate the amount, in moles, of carbon dioxide that forms.

From the balanced equation, the number of moles of calcium carbonate  number of moles
of carbon dioxide  0.025 mol

Practice questions
1 In a reaction, 0.486 g of magnesium was added to oxygen to produce magnesium oxide.
2Mg(s) + O2(g) → 2MgO(s)
a Calculate the amount, in moles, of magnesium that reacted.
b Calculate the amount, in moles, of magnesium oxide made.
c Calculate the mass, in grams, of magnesium oxide made.
2 Oscar heated 4.25 g of sodium nitrate. The equation for the decomposition of
sodium nitrate is:
2NaNO3(s) → 2NaNO2(s) + O2(g)
a Calculate the amount, in moles, of sodium nitrate that reacted.
b Calculate the amount, in moles, of oxygen made.
3 0.500 kg of magnesium carbonate decomposes on heating to form magnesium oxide and carbon dioxide. Give
your answers to 3 significant figures.
MgCO3(s) → MgO(s) + CO2(g)
a Calculate the amount, in moles, of magnesium carbonate used.
b Calculate the amount, in moles, of carbon dioxide produced.

5 Percentage yields and percentage errors

5.1 Calculating percentage yield

Chemists often find that an experiment makes a smaller amount of product than expected. They
can predict the amount of product made in a reaction by calculating the percentage yield.
The percentage yield links the actual amount of product made, in moles, and the theoretical
yield, in moles:

percentage yield 

Look at this worked example. A student added ethanol to propanoic acid to make the ester, ethyl
propanoate, and water.
C2H5OH + C2H5COOH → C2H5COOC2H5 + H2O

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The experiment has a theoretical yield of 5.00 g.

The actual yield is 4.50 g.
The molar mass of C2H5COOC2H5 = 102.0 g mol−1
Calculate the percentage yield of the reaction.

Actual amount of ethyl propanoate: = 4.5/102  0.0441 mol

Theoretical amount of ethyl propanoate: = 5.0/102  0.0490 mol

percentage yield  (0.0441/0.0490) × 100%  90%

Practice questions
1 Calculate the percentage yield of a reaction with a theoretical yield of 4.75 moles of product and an actual yield
of 3.19 moles of product. Give your answer to 3 significant figures.
2 Calculate the percentage yield of a reaction with a theoretical yield of 12.00 moles of product and an actual
yield of 6.25 moles of product. Give your answer to 3 significant figures.

5.3 Calculating percentage error in apparatus

The percentage error of a measurement is calculated from the maximum error for the piece of
apparatus being used and the value measured:

percentage error  × 100%

Look at this worked example. In an experiment to measure temperature changes, an excess of

zinc powder was added to 50 cm3 of copper(II) sulfate solution to produce zinc sulfate and
copper.
Zn(s) + CuSO4(aq) → ZnSO4(aq) + Cu(s)
The measuring cylinder used to measure the copper(II) sulfate solution has a maximum error of
±2 cm3.
a Calculate the percentage error.
percentage error  (2/50) × 100%  4%
b A thermometer has a maximum error of ±0.05 °C.
Calculate the percentage error when the thermometer is used to record a temperature rise of
3.9 °C. Give your answer to 3 significant figures.
percentage error  (2 × 0.05)/3.9 × 100%  2.56%
(Notice that two measurements of temperature are required to calculate the temperature
change so the maximum error is doubled.)

Practice questions
3 A gas syringe has a maximum error of ±0.5 cm3. Calculate the maximum percentage error when recording
these values. Give your answers to 3 significant figures.
a 21.0 cm3 b 43.0 cm3
4 A thermometer has a maximum error of ±0.5 °C. Calculate the maximum percentage error when recording
these temperature rises. Give your answers to 3 significant figures.

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a 12.0 °C b 37.6 °C

6 Graphs and tangents

6.1 Deducing reaction rates

To investigate the reaction rate during a reaction, you can measure the volume of the product
formed, such as a gas, or the colour change to work out the concentration of a reactant during
the experiment. By measuring this concentration at repeated intervals, you can plot a
concentration–time graph.

Note: When a chemical is listed in square brackets, it just means ‘the concentration of’ that
chemical. For example, [O2] is just shorthand for the concentration of oxygen molecules.
By measuring the gradient (slope) of the graph, you can calculate the rate of the reaction. In the
graph above, you can see that the gradient changes as the graph is a curve. If you want to know
the rate of reaction when the graph is curved, you need to determine the gradient of the curve.
So, you need to plot a tangent.
The tangent is the straight line that just touches the curve. The gradient of the tangent is the
gradient of the curve at the point where it touches the curve.
Looking at the graph above. When the concentration of A has halved to 1.0 mol dm −3, the tangent
intercepts the y-axis at 1.75 and the x-axis at 48.

The gradient is = −0.0365 (3 s.f.).

So the rate is 0.0365 mol dm−3 s−1.

Practice question
1 Using the graph above, calculate the rate of reaction when the concentration of A halves again to 0.5 mol dm−3.

6.2 Deducing the half-life of a reactant

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In chemistry, half-life can also be used to describe the decrease in concentration of a reactant in
a reaction. In other words, the half-life of a reactant is the time taken for the concentration of the
reactant to fall by half.

Practice question
2 The table below shows the change in concentration of bromine during the course of a reaction.

Time / s [Br2] / mol dm−3

0 0.0100
60 0.0090
120 0.0066
180 0.0053
240 0.0044
360 0.0028

a Plot a concentration–time graph for the data in the table.

b Calculate the rate of decrease of Br2 concentration by drawing tangents.
c Find the half-life at two points and deduce the order of the reaction.

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