QCE Chemistry IA2 student experiment template quiz

20 percent

10 percent

30 percent

50 percent

Unit 1 subject matter only (chemical fundamentals such as atomic structure and bonding)

Unit 2 subject matter only (molecular interactions and the chemistry of various reactions)

Unit 3 subject matter (equilibrium, acids/bases, redox, galvanic cells)

Unit 4 subject matter only (organic chemistry, structure, and chemical synthesis and design)

Research, Analysis, Interpretation, Communication

Introduction, Method, Results, and Conclusion, as in a generic lab report

Aim, Hypothesis, Variables, and Conclusion, drawn from a junior science template

Title, Apparatus, Procedure, and References, matching a standard prac write-up

Be deliberately vague and broad so that almost any result obtained can be made to look like it answers the question

Cover three completely different chemistry topics at once, so that the report demonstrates a wide range of content knowledge across the whole of Unit 3

Be copied directly from a textbook worked example, so the expected result and method are already known in advance

Identify clear independent and dependent variables, be measurable with available equipment, and link to Unit 3 syllabus content

Ignoring it entirely and presenting every single measured and calculated value as though it were perfectly exact, with no uncertainty stated anywhere

Quantitatively estimating uncertainty in each measurement, propagating to derived quantities, and discussing impact on the conclusion

Stating only that 'errors were minimised' or that 'human error occurred', without any quantitative estimate or propagation

Only listing the equipment used and its stated tolerances, without applying those tolerances to any of the actual results

A simple yes or no answer to the research question, with no discussion of validity, theory, or limitations behind it

Listing the apparatus and procedure used in the experiment again, rather than interpreting or evaluating any of the results

Linking results to the research question, evaluating the validity of conclusions, comparing to theoretical expectation, and identifying genuine limitations

Repeating the introduction and the aim word for word at the very end of the report, in place of evaluating what any of the results actually mean for the question

Frequent use of personal pronouns such as 'I' and 'we' throughout, written in an informal and conversational style

Presenting the entire report as bullet points only, with no connected prose, figures, or referenced tables anywhere

Writing the whole report as one single unbroken paragraph, with no headings, sections, figures, or structure of any kind to guide the reader

Third person, past tense, passive voice (or active per house style), figure/table referencing, IUPAC nomenclature, SI units

Up to 1500-2000 words depending on the assessment instrument

Up to 500 words only, with all data, calculations, and analysis placed in appendices that do not count

Up to 1000 words for the written report, with no separate limit applied to the discussion or evaluation section

Up to 5000 words, since the report covers an entire student-designed experiment and full uncertainty analysis

Random fluctuation in successive burette readings that varies unpredictably from one repeat trial to the next

Mis-calibrated balance, indicator endpoint error in titration, evaporation of solvent over the run

Variation in room temperature between trials that pushes individual readings up or down at random over the session

Reading the meniscus at parallax differently each time, scattering the recorded values randomly about the true value

We did this experiment in the lab and recorded what happened, and the rest of this report will go through the steps we followed, the measurements we took, and the results we got, before saying a little about what they might mean at the very end.

Chemistry is an interesting and important subject that affects many parts of daily life, and this report will explore one small corner of it through an experiment that the student designed and carried out over the course of the term.

This investigation tested how (specific IV) affects (specific DV), drawing on the QCE Chemistry Unit 3 topic of (X), with the hypothesis that (relationship) based on the principle that (theory).

Many chemicals react together in all sorts of ways, and this report looks at one such reaction in some detail without first stating a focused research question, the variables involved, or the underlying chemical theory being tested.