VCE Chemistry Units 3 & 4: 2008-2012 Syllabus

[Collin Li]

As most of you know, there is now a new Chemistry Units 3&4 course for 2008. For aspiring tutors, and the 2008 VCE'ers of FSN, here is a summarised outline of Units 3&4 paraphrased from the new Study Design.

(New elements to the course will be bolded; elements that were originally in Unit 4 will be in italics)

Unit 3: Chemical pathways

Area of study 1: Chemical analysis
- volumetric analysis: simple and back titrations, acid-base and redox titrations
- gravimetric analysis
- calculations: m = nM, n = cV, pV = nRT
- oxidation numbers to write redox equations
- chromatography: interpret data from TLC, HPLC and GC
- spectroscopy: interpret data from AAS, IR, mass spectroscopy, NMR, visible-UV
- matching analytic techniques to a particular task

Area of study 2: Organic chemical pathways
- structure, systematic nomenclature of alkanes, alkenes, amines, chloroalkanes, alkanols and carboxylic acids up to C10
- common reactions: addition of alkenes, substitution of (primary chloro)alkanes, oxidation of primary alkanols, esterification
- principles of fractional distillation
- organic reaction pathways: production of esters from alkenes, condensation and polymerisation reactions that produce large biomolecules
- primary, secondary and tertiary structure of proteins and the function of enzymes
- biochemical fuels: fermentation to produce ethanol
- structure and bonding of DNA in forensic analysis
- proteins as markers for disease
- function of organic molecules in the design and synthesis of medicines including the production of aspirin from salicylic acid (benzene)

VCAA 2008 Sample exam
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/chemistry/chem1_sample_2008.pdf

[New elements to the course will be bolded; elements that were originally in Unit 3 (old course) will be in italics]

Unit 4: Chemical at work

Area of study 1: Industrial chemistry
- collision theory and factors that affect the rate of a reaction including activation energy;
- energy profile diagrams and the use of ΔH notation;
- reversible reactions: homogeneous equilibria and the equilibrium law, Le Chatelier’s Principle and factors which affect the position of equilibrium;
- pH as a measure of strength of acids and bases; Kw, Ka for weak acids;
- principles of waste management used in the chemical industry;
- the industrial production of the selected chemical
  * factors affecting the production including rate and equilibrium position, catalysts, temperature, pressure
  * waste management including generation, treatment and reduction
  * health and safety
  * uses of the selected chemical.
(Choice of "selected chemicals:" ammonia, ethene, sulfuric acid or nitric acid.)

Area of study 2: Supplying and using energy
- comparison of energy sources: types, uses and sustainability of sources including brown coal, natural gas, nuclear fi ssion and biochemical fuels;
- application of calorimetry to measure energy changes in chemical reactions in solution calorimetry and bomb calorimetry;
- use of the electrochemical series in predicting the products of redox reactions and writing half equations;
- limitations of predictions made using the electrochemical series;
- the construction and operation of simple galvanic primary and secondary cells;
- the construction and operation of fuel cells: advantages and disadvantages of fuel cells compared to conventional energy sources;
- the construction and operation of simple electrolytic cells: comparison of electrolytic cells;
- application of Faraday’s laws in electrochemistry.

VCAA 2008 Sample exam
http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/chemistry/2008chem2-samp.pdf

Mod Edit: Fixed thread title
- Edmund

[Collin Li]

I have removed all the previous posts and have now stickied this post.

Ask questions about the study design here, and I will give my interpretation - others can butt in too.

[Mao]

- proteins as markers for disease

that's freakin biology!

sorry bio people, but it SUCKS

[iamdan08]

- proteins as markers for disease

that's freakin biology!

sorry bio people, but it SUCKS

Definately agree! I chose chemistry NOT biology!!! How much emphasis do you think they will place on things such as DNA and proteins as markers for disease in the exam?

[ed_saifa]

- proteins as markers for disease

that's freakin biology!

sorry bio people, but it SUCKS

Definately agree! I chose chemistry NOT biology!!! How much emphasis do you think they will place on things such as DNA and proteins as markers for disease in the exam?

There will be heaps. At least two of the short answer questions

[chem-nerd]

I'd have to disagree. I think there would only be one, perhaps two, short answer questions on this (there are only 8 short answer qs in total).

In particular, the outcome specifically directs you to "identify and explain the role of functional groups in organic reactions and construct reaction pathways for organic molecules". Any DNA/proteomics/biofuels/drug design qs will focus on the chemistry of the functional groups, rather than the biology aspect.

[iamdan08]

I'd have to disagree. I think there would only be one, perhaps two, short answer questions on this (there are only 8 short answer qs in total).

In particular, the outcome specifically directs you to "identify and explain the role of functional groups in organic reactions and construct reaction pathways for organic molecules". Any DNA/proteomics/biofuels/drug design qs will focus on the chemistry of the functional groups, rather than the biology aspect.

I hope your right. I really hope they don't focus on the biological aspects. Everything else i'm fine with!!

[bec]

what kind of question could they ask about protein markers for disease - has anyone come across one in a sample exam?

ie. we won't need to memorise the specific proteins that can indicate heart attack/prostate cancer etc will we?

[Mao]

what kind of question could they ask about protein markers for disease - has anyone come across one in a sample exam?

ie. we won't need to memorise the specific proteins that can indicate heart attack/prostate cancer etc will we?

i've come across these from practice exams

what protein markers for disease are (i.e. cell brake, protein leaks, abnormal presence or elevated concentration)
heart disease -> muscle cell failure -> protein released into bloodstream

[bec]

i've come across these from practice exams

what protein markers for disease are (i.e. cell brake, protein leaks, abnormal presence or elevated concentration)
heart disease -> muscle cell failure -> protein released into bloodstream

cell brake? protein leaks? no idea what they even are! they're in my textbook i don't think, and we didn't even cover this unit at school - we ran out of time so they just gave us a worksheet. does anyone have any links on the net or anything that gives a brief overview that's relevant to us? thanks

[Collin Li]

Don't need to know anything in detail - you just need to be aware that the reason for the abnormally elevated concentration of the proteins (markers) indicate that there has been some "leak" of that protein due to some failure or "break."

[vce01]

do we need to know how to draw the first 2 stages of the production of aspirin?

[shinny]

given that the structures of SA and ASA arent in our data booklets; no.

[Collin Li]

My interpretation is that you do need to know them.

[shinny]

i doubt theyld be expecting us to memorise it. every apst paper ive done gives it to u or some of it, and will expect u to deduce the rest from what theyve given. but yet again, these are past papers and are no indication of what vcaa will do. but still, the fact that our data booklet has so many structures kind of implies that theyre not expecting us to memorise them.