SA · SACE BoardQ&A
ChemistryQ&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every SA Chemistry syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
Topic 1: Monitoring the Environment
- Identify the major atmospheric pollutants, their sources, and the chemistry of photochemical smog formation.1Q&A pairs
- Explain the principles of atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) and atomic emission spectroscopy, and their use in determining trace metal concentrations.0Q&A pairs
- Explain the principles of chromatography, including gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and interpret chromatograms.0Q&A pairs
- Explain the greenhouse effect in terms of the absorption of infrared radiation by greenhouse gas molecules.0Q&A pairs
- Use redox titrations, including permanganate titrations, to determine the concentration of an analyte from balanced half-equations and stoichiometry.0Q&A pairs
- Apply volumetric analysis using acid-base titrations to determine unknown concentrations.0Q&A pairs
- Describe the key indicators of water quality, including dissolved oxygen, BOD, pH, turbidity and ion concentrations.0Q&A pairs
Topic 2: Managing Chemical Processes
- Explain how catalysts increase reaction rate by providing an alternative pathway with a lower activation energy, and represent this on an energy profile.0Q&A pairs
- Describe dynamic equilibrium in closed systems and use the equilibrium constant expression Kc to relate equilibrium concentrations and reaction extent.0Q&A pairs
- Calculate enthalpy changes from calorimetry data using q = mcΔT, and interpret exothermic and endothermic reactions.0Q&A pairs
- Apply green chemistry principles, including atom economy, to evaluate the efficiency and sustainability of chemical processes.0Q&A pairs
- Apply Le Chatelier's principle to predict the effect of changes in concentration, pressure and temperature on the position of equilibrium.0Q&A pairs
- Use collision theory to explain the effect of concentration, surface area, temperature and pressure on reaction rate.0Q&A pairs
- Explain how temperature, pressure and catalyst conditions in the Haber process are chosen to compromise between reaction rate and equilibrium yield.0Q&A pairs
Topic 3: Organic and Biological Chemistry
- Distinguish addition and condensation polymerisation, identify monomers and repeating units, and relate polymer structure to properties.0Q&A pairs
- Describe the structure of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids in terms of their monomers and the bonds formed by condensation reactions.0Q&A pairs
- Describe the formation of esters by esterification and their breakdown by hydrolysis, writing equations and naming products.0Q&A pairs
- Identify functional groups in organic molecules and describe structural isomerism, including chain, positional and functional-group isomers.1Q&A pairs
- Classify hydrocarbons as alkanes, alkenes and alkynes, and apply IUPAC nomenclature to name straight-chain and branched compounds.0Q&A pairs
- Interpret infrared spectra, mass spectra and proton NMR spectra to determine the structure of organic molecules.0Q&A pairs
- Describe the oxidation of primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols and the products formed.0Q&A pairs
- Describe the addition reactions of alkenes and the substitution reactions of haloalkanes, writing equations and products.0Q&A pairs
Topic 4: Managing Resources
- Distinguish primary and secondary cells, describe their electrode reactions, and evaluate them as energy resources.0Q&A pairs
- Describe electrolytic cells, predict electrode products, and apply Faraday's relationships to calculate amounts in electrolysis.0Q&A pairs
- Describe methods of metal extraction and explain corrosion (rusting) of iron and methods used to prevent it.0Q&A pairs
- Define and calculate the enthalpy of combustion of fuels, and compare fuels by their energy content per gram and per mole.0Q&A pairs
- Describe the operation of galvanic cells and use standard electrode potentials to calculate cell potential and predict spontaneity.0Q&A pairs
- Use life cycle analysis to evaluate the sustainability and environmental impact of materials, products and chemical processes.0Q&A pairs
- Assign oxidation numbers, identify oxidation and reduction, and balance redox equations using half-equations.0Q&A pairs