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