NQE Chemistry Syllabus?

[psyxwar]

Hey, I'm sitting the NQE this year for Chemistry and I'm wondering what are some topics I should look into studying myself to prepare myself for the test?

Thanks!

[Ancora_Imparo]

YAY! Budding science olympiad students!!!

For the Chemistry exam, topics that are covered every year are:
Periodic table/main group - Trends in the periodic table, basic properties and reactions of major elements
Organic chemistry - Naming organic compounds, functional groups, basic reactions
Redox - Oxidation numbers, oxidants and reductants, writing half-equations and overall equations
Acid-base - Calculating pH, K_a values etc

Yes, they are very broad topics, so you obviously can't learn everything. Just read up on as much as you can and definitely try the past exams.
The best online resource for any Chemistry Olympiad student: www.chemguide.co.uk/

And make sure you spread the word to your friends and get them to do it too!

[psyxwar]

Thanks. Do you think I need to know Nernst equation?

[lzxnl]

Heck no. You get taught that at the summer school.

[psyxwar]

lol that's a relief.

Does anyone know where I can find pre-2007 NQE Chem papers? I remember reading that they are available somewhere, don't remember where though.

[lzxnl]

To add to the list, a basic knowledge of kinetics, equilibrium (eg Chatelier) and thermochemistry will help.

[psyxwar]

To add to the list, a basic knowledge of kinetics, equilibrium (eg Chatelier) and thermochemistry will help.

Yeah thanks. Do you reckon 3/4 level knowledge is sufficient?

[lzxnl]

I would say so, yes, although knowing a bit more about collision theory and the Maxwell Boltzmann distribution (the idea of it) would help too.
Such as WHY temperature affects equilibrium.

[psyxwar]

Should I bother looking at transition metals in any depth (all this stuff on coordination complexes, ligands) + should I touch upon the Haber process?

[lzxnl]

LOL even after the summer school I don't know much about transition metal complexes I just have a vague idea of what they are and how they work. The chemistry gets very complicated very quickly and if you're not well-versed with molecular orbital theory, I suggest you not tread too far in. Haber process won't be mentioned at all at the summer school and if it was to appear on an exam, they'd tell about it.
If you want to know about transition metal complexes for fun though, by all means

[psyxwar]

Oh thank god LOL. I was looking at it going "wtf". It does seem interesting though, but I cbf learning about it at this point in time. Yeah, fair enough. I probably need a more solid foundation first + I think I'm going off on a tangent content-wise. The exam papers seem to be more about application than raw knowledge anyways.

[appianway]

Knowing the material covered in year 12 will net you some extra points, but generally for the olympiad exams, they explain a lot of content in the question itself, so work on problem solving skills above all else.