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HSC 2015 Chemistry Q&A Thread (2 Viewers)

Sien

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Most of my friends are going to tutor for chemistry and the teacher told us year 10s " you should think twice before choosing chemistry". Is chemistry really that hard? How much of a difference would it make if i went tutoring for chemisty?
 

photastic

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Most of my friends are going to tutor for chemistry and the teacher told us year 10s " you should think twice before choosing chemistry". Is chemistry really that hard? How much of a difference would it make if i went tutoring for chemisty?
The content for chemistry is challenging and more difficult than other subjects like physics and hsie in terms of quality and quantity required to understand. However, the exam is more straight forward than other exams. Tutoring will depend on you, where some group tutors don't care about you but perhaps the way they teach and going ahead will benefit.
 

turntaker

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The content for chemistry is challenging and more difficult than other subjects like physics and hsie in terms of quality and quantity required to understand. However, the exam is more straight forward than other exams. Tutoring will depend on you, where some group tutors don't care about you but perhaps the way they teach and going ahead will benefit.
How are the concepts in chemistry easier than physics??
 

Kaido

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Just wondering, what are the likely questions/dotpoints/topics that are in the range of 4+ marks
 

saif1788

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Most of my friends are going to tutor for chemistry and the teacher told us year 10s " you should think twice before choosing chemistry". Is chemistry really that hard? How much of a difference would it make if i went tutoring for chemisty?
Chemistry is not hard. It is an easy subject if you organize your thoughts and start from the basics up. Many students jump into answering complex questions and skip learning the basics (sometimes again) because they think they know it well. Most if not all chemistry concepts require very little mind power to understand. And are easy to simplify and explain.
Let me know if you have questions or concepts that u need to understand and will try to help you with them. There is no hars subject, there just a subject that needs a little more concentration ;-)
Repeat is the key to learning :)
All the best!
 

saif1788

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How are the concepts in chemistry easier than physics??
Chemistry concepts are actually easier than physics (or at least to me coz I didn't lile physics much lol) but they really are not that hard. U just have to get the right teacher to explain them!
 

saif1788

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Just wondering, what are the likely questions/dotpoints/topics that are in the range of 4+ marks
A few actually. Each module in chem has these questions. If u want to identify them, see which one takes more steps to answer and thats the one with more marks! Many examples.
 

happypeople

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Just wondering, what are the likely questions/dotpoints/topics that are in the range of 4+ marks
Hey everyone!

In my experience as an HSC student (doing heaps of past papers), these were the most common 4+ markers I came across :)

{Note there are more potential 4+ mark topics than listed here, and in some cases, the topics listed here may not always have a 4+ marker. Ultimately the best way to prepare for examinations is to confidently know ALL of the Chemistry HSC syllabus, and not simply placing emphasis on the topics that will be likely to have higher mark-ed questions.}

POM:
- galvanic cells questions + metal displacement + redox (with multiple parts (a, b, c etc)) + battery questions
- nuclear chemistry - discussion of commercial/medical isotopes + how transuranics are produced
- bromine water prac (again with multiple parts)
- ethanol as a fuel (benefits, costs, renewability) + comparing ethanol and ethylene (renewability again)
- polymerisation (uses of the polymers [PVC, Polystyrene, Polyethylene etc])
- fermentation
- molar heat of combustion

AE:
- environmental impact/evidence of nitrogen and sulfuric oxides (includes acid rain)
- historical development of the definitions of acids
- esterification prac
- natural indicator prac
- Le Chatelier's principle
- pH calculations + titrations (again multiple parts)
- acid/base spill management

CMM:
- haber process
- water quality and management (BOD + DO)
- monitoring combustion
- AAS
- identifying ions prac
- lawn sulfate content prac
- pollutants in the lower + upper atmosphere
- ozone as a protector in the stratosphere but a pest in the troposphere
- CFC management + effectiveness + replacements
- suitability of water sanitising methods
- microscopic membrane filters
- eutrophication + heavy metal pollution
- factors affecting concentrations of ions

Hope this helps! Good luck with your studies! :)
 

someth1ng

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Idk, I always found chemistry content harder than physics content but physics exams were harder than chemistry exams.
I find chemistry to be absurdly easy, if you ask me. The concepts in HSC are based on basic maths and there's really not much more.
 

anomalousdecay

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There is a habit of HSC Physics and Chemistry papers having an extended question (6+ marks) in the option modules.
 

pomsky

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Heyo :)
How much preparation/ past papers should we be roughly doing about now?
 

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