ATAR Notes: Forum

VCE Stuff => VCE Science => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Chemistry => Topic started by: soccerboi on June 12, 2012, 08:59:59 pm

Title: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: soccerboi on June 12, 2012, 08:59:59 pm

Maybe by listing them here, we can learn of each others' errors and have a list to follow when we are checking over our paper once we've finished.

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: polkadot on June 12, 2012, 09:03:55 pm

Forgetting to add the water in an esterification reaction!

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: rebeckab on June 12, 2012, 09:07:42 pm

Checking the molar masses!!! I swear this is the only thing I get wrong in my stoich questions, and it's so frustrating!
And be more specific in my explanations - use values, numbers etc from question

I was actually just writing out my own list like this hahah :)

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: Destiny on June 12, 2012, 09:09:29 pm

Forgetting units.
Forgetting sig figs
SHAKE THAT FLASK (lol standard solutions)
Thymol blue, we hate you. (as a pH indicator)
Positively charged ions

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: soccerboi on June 12, 2012, 09:12:35 pm

Mine are:
- remember to write the by-products or a reaction. e.g water for condensation
- refer back to chemical equations so that i use correct mol ratios
- remember to write the catalyst/reagent above the arrow in a reaction
- make sure you include the + when describing a fragment that forms a peak on the mass spectrum
- look out for symmetry when counting environments
- take care when naming compounds, slips can be easily made
- don't confuse linoleic for linolenic
- when adding or subtracting in back titration calculations, remember that it's the lowest number of decimal places, not lowest sig figs!
- watch out for dilution factors
- watch out for questions that say "what volume must be added to..."
- undiluted solutions have a greater concentration, so make sure the dilution factor is >1
- with theory questions, critically analyse the stem of the question, sometimes answers can lie within the massive paragraph they have given
- READ THE FREAKIN QUESTION, AND READ IT AGAIN AFTER I'VE ANSWERED IT! --> e.g when asked to find concentration, don't just find the mol and move on, actually proceed to find what is asked!
-DO NOT PANIC WHEN I SEE SOMETHING I CAN'T ANSWER. JUST SKIP IT AND MOVE ON AND WHEN I COME BACK TO IT I USUALLY CAN ANSWER IT XD

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: destain on June 12, 2012, 09:16:57 pm

Read the question properly, I ALWAYS miss important points or miss a 0 here and there..
States - never gonna get these right haha

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: Tonychet2 on June 12, 2012, 09:18:40 pm

dont forget states and sig figs!

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: destain on June 12, 2012, 09:20:10 pm

can you only lose 1 mark for sig figs throughout the entire paper?

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: soccerboi on June 12, 2012, 09:23:13 pm

Quote from: destain on June 12, 2012, 09:20:10 pm

can you only lose 1 mark for sig figs throughout the entire paper?

yep

Title: Re: What are common errors that you have been making and want to avoid tmr?
Post by: destain on June 12, 2012, 09:42:33 pm

and is it taht they only check one particular question(which we don't know) and they mark sig figs based on that?
so if every other of my questions arent tot he correct sig figs i wont get marks taken off>