LIST OF CHEMISTRY DESCRIPTIONS AND MECHANISMS REQUIRED FOR HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE

Pupils are expected to draw, label and describe these over and over again till they can memorise them:

1. Describe the ionic bonding in sodium chloride, magnesium oxide and calcium fluoride.
2. Describe metallic bonding.
3. Describe the covalent bonding in hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, hydrogen chloride, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane, ethane and ethene.
4. Describe covalent bonding in terms of orbital overlap, giving σ and π bonds.
5. Describe the permanent dipoles in trichloromethane.
6. Describe instantaneous dipole-induced dipoles in bromine and in liquid noble gases.
7. Describe hydrogen bonding in ammonia and water.
8. Describe how pressure is exerted by a gas in terms of collisions between gas molecules and the wall of the container.
9. Describe the ionic lattice structure of solid sodium chloride.
10. Describe the simple molecular lattice structure of solid iodine, buckminsterfullerene (C₆₀) molecules and ice.
11. Describe the giant molecular lattice structure of solid silicon (IV) oxide, graphite and diamond.
12. Describe the metallic lattice structure of solid copper.
13. Describe the determination of a value of the Avogadro constant by an electrolytic method.
14. Describe the standard hydrogen electrode.
15. Describe how to measure the standard electrode potentials of a metal in contact with its ions in aqueous solution.
16. Describe how to measure the standard electrode potentials of a non-metal in contact with its ions in aqueous solution.
17. Describe how to measure the standard electrode potential of ions of the same element in different oxidation states.
18. Describe the changes in pH during acid-base titrations for a:
    1. strong acid against a strong base,
    2. strong acid against a weak base,
    3. weak acid against a strong base,
    4. weak acid against a weak base.
19. Describe the mode of action of iron as a heterogeneous catalyst in the Haber process.
20. Using an appropriate sketch-graph, describe the variation in melting point of the elements across the third period.
21. Using an appropriate sketch-graph, describe the variation in the electrical conductivity of the elements across the third period.
22. Describe and explain the solubility, down Group 2, of the:
    1. sulfates,
    2. hydroxides.
23. Describe the formation and structure of the ammonium ion.
24. Describe the shape of and the bonding in the ethane molecule in terms of σ and π carbon-carbon bonds.
25. Describe the shape of and the bonding in the ethene molecule in terms of σ and π carbon-carbon bonds.
26. Describe the shape of and the bonding in the benzene molecule in terms of σ and π carbon-carbon bonds.
27. Describe the mechanism of free-radical substitution of alkenes with particular reference to the initiation, propagation and termination reactions.
28. Describe the mechanism of electrophilic addition in ethene using bromine.
29. Describe the mechanism of electrophilic addition in propene, using hydrogen bromide.
30. Describe the mechanism of electrophilic substitution in benzene using bromine. Describe the effect of the delocalisation of electrons in the benzene ring in such reactions.
31. Describe the mechanism of electrophilic substitution in benzene, using nitric acid. Describe the effect of the delocalisation of electrons in the benzene ring in such reactions.
32. Describe the mechanism of nucleophilic substitution (by both S_N1 and S_N2 mechanisms) in halogenoalkanes.
33. Describe and explain the relative acidities of water, phenol and ethanol.
34. Describe the mechanism of the nucleophilic addition reactions of hydrogen cyanide with aldehydes and ketones.
35. Describe how Fehling's solution and Tollen's reagent may be used to distinguish between and aldehyde and a ketone.
36. Describe the reaction of CH₃CO– compounds with alkaline aqueous iodine to give tri-iodomethane.
37. Describe and explain the relative acidities of carboxylic acids, phenols and alcohols.
38. Describe and explain the relative acidities of chlorine-substituted carboxylic acids.
39. Describe the addition-elimination reactions of acyl chlorides with nucleophiles.
40. Describe and explain the relative basicities of aqueous ammonia, ethylamine and phenylamine.
41. Describe the formation of a zwitterion from an amino acid at its isoelectric point.
42. Describe simply the process of electrophoresis and the effect of pH, using peptides and amino acids as examples.
43. Describe the formation of peptide bonds and the formation of polyamides.
44. Using an appropriate example, describe the shape and symmetry of the d orbitals, and the splitting of degenerate d orbitals into two energy levels:
    1. in octahedral complexes,
    2. in tetrahedral complexes.
45. Using an appropriate example describe, in qualitative terms, the effects of different ligands on the absorption, and hence colour.