significance of prelim chem??? (1 Viewer)

[bonquiqui]

long story short, i was super ceebs w chem throughout the year and upon sitting an exam today, i realised that being ceebs wasnt rlly ideal LOL
how significant is prelim chem in the lead up to hsc chem? i often hear peeps saying that it builds the foundations necessary for yr12... so if i fail yr11, it might haunt my yr12 performance...??
i mean, i can do the basics like SIMPLE (rlly rlly simple) mole calculations, lewis dot structures, etcetc but lack thorough proficiency D:
could someone perhaps shed light on the foundations that im supposed to master before hitting yr12 -- both in terms of skills (ie mole calculations, LEDS, balancing eqns...etcetc) and theory (as in what theory-based stuff im supposed to know from the top of my head? like, is the whole bronze/iron/ages thing a necessity or should i be more concerned abt stuff like memorising the trends of the periodic table etcetc??)

also, does anyone know of any good chem tutoring places that could aid slow minded peeps like me lol bc the sci teachers at my school are just aint cutting it haha :'(

wow0owow ive asked lotsa qs! ANY responses are welcome!

thank

 

[Sp3ctre]

Some of the prelim is quite important such as what you listed plus understanding bonds and intermolecular forces, so taking it to the extreme: if you never listened to anything in year 11 (basically skipping year 11 Chem) and did year 12 chem straight away, it will probably affect your results to some extent. I wouldn't be too concerned about memorising theory from year 11 because that should be covered again in year 12. You still need to know things like periodic table trends, but you wouldn't be directly tested on year 11 content. For example, instead of being asked "does hydrogen or oxygen have a larger atomic radius?", you might be asked as part of a larger question "compare the size of a hydrogen and oxygen atom", and you would need to realise that you need to look at atomic radius of both atoms to answer the question. You should also focus on knowing your hydrocarbons well because you continue learning about them in the first term of year 12

 

[Robbie M]

Yeah like some of yr 11 chemistry is rubbish and you will never use ( like iron age ? ) but balancing equations, moles, inter/ intra molecular forces are very important in understanding large portions of yr 12.

 

[bonquiqui]

thank u!!! much appreciated!!

 

[eko367]

Some of it is like not important at all (i.e. all that alloy stuff and recycling aluminium or something..? I don't even remember haha).
Some of it is important, such as the mole calculations, as there will be alot of those in year 12, so it is something you should try to understand for it to be a bit easier in yr 12. Additionally, IMF's are important as well.
In terms of tutoring, some of my friends go to Matrix which is apparently good, or Talent 100. I would recommend these rather than private tutoring because you get more resources like questions, and weekly quizzes and stuff

 

[Sp3ctre]

Tbh everyone thinks a lot of the stuff covered in prelim like alloys are useless, but it really depends on what your optional topic is for year 12. If it's Shipwrecks, Corrosion and Conservation, then knowing the main compositions of common alloy like various types of steel are actually really important for that topic.