England · Pearson EdexcelSyllabus
Chemistry syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the England Chemistrysyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.
Topic 3: Chemical changes
Module overview →- What is the pH scale, and what is the difference between strong, weak, dilute and concentrated acids?Acids, bases and the pH scale: hydrogen and hydroxide ions, indicators, the pH scale and hydrogen ion concentration, strong and weak acids, dilute and concentrated, and neutralisation.9 min answer →
- How does electrolysis split compounds, and what is formed at each electrode?Electrolysis: electrolysis of molten ionic compounds and aqueous solutions, predicting the products at the electrodes, writing half-equations, and the electrolysis of copper sulfate core practical.10 min answer →
- How do we prepare a pure, dry sample of a soluble or an insoluble salt?Preparing salts: making a soluble salt from an insoluble base, the titration method for soluble salts of soluble bases, preparing insoluble salts by precipitation, and the two core practicals.10 min answer →
- What salts and other products form when acids react with metals, oxides, hydroxides and carbonates?Reactions of acids: the general reactions of acids with metals, metal oxides, metal hydroxides and metal carbonates, the salts produced, and the tests for hydrogen and carbon dioxide.9 min answer →
Topic 4: Extracting metals and equilibria
Module overview →- What is a reversible reaction, and what does dynamic equilibrium mean?Reversible reactions and equilibria: reversible reactions and the use of the reversible arrow, the energy change in each direction, dynamic equilibrium in a closed system, and the idea that the conditions affect the position of equilibrium.9 min answer →
- How do metals react with oxygen, water and acids, and what are displacement reactions?Reactions of metals: reactions with oxygen, water and dilute acids, using these to place metals in a reactivity series, displacement reactions, and recycling and life cycle considerations.9 min answer →
- How does a metal's reactivity decide how it is extracted from its ore?Extracting metals: the reactivity series, oxidation and reduction in terms of oxygen and electrons, extraction by reduction with carbon, extraction by electrolysis, and alternative biological methods.10 min answer →
Topic 8: Fuels and Earth science
Module overview →- What is crude oil, how is it separated into fuels, and how does cracking help?Hydrocarbons and fuels: crude oil and the alkanes, fractional distillation into useful fractions, the trends in the properties of the fractions, complete combustion, and cracking.10 min answer →
- What pollutants are produced when fuels burn, and what problems do they cause?Pollution from fuels: incomplete combustion and carbon monoxide and soot, sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, acid rain, and the advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen as a fuel.9 min answer →
- How did the Earth's atmosphere evolve, and how do greenhouse gases affect the climate?The Earth and atmosphere: the evolution of the atmosphere from volcanic gases to the present composition, the role of photosynthesis, the greenhouse effect, and human activities affecting greenhouse gas levels.9 min answer →
Topic 6: Groups in the periodic table
Module overview →- Why are the Group 0 noble gases so unreactive, and how do their properties vary?Group 0 the noble gases: their lack of reactivity explained by full outer shells, the trends in boiling point and density down the group, and their uses.8 min answer →
- Why do the Group 1 alkali metals get more reactive down the group?Group 1 the alkali metals: their physical properties, their reactions with water and oxygen, the trend in reactivity down the group, and the explanation in terms of electronic structure.9 min answer →
- Why do the Group 7 halogens get less reactive down the group, and what are displacement reactions?Group 7 the halogens: their physical properties and trends, their reactions to form ions and compounds, the decreasing reactivity down the group, and halogen displacement reactions.9 min answer →
Topic 1: Key concepts in chemistry
Module overview →- What is an atom made of, and how do we describe and count its particles?Atomic structure: protons, neutrons and electrons, atomic number and mass number, isotopes and relative atomic mass, and the development of the model of the atom.9 min answer →
- How do we calculate formula masses, empirical formulae, reacting masses and concentrations?Calculations in chemistry: relative formula mass, percentage by mass, empirical formulae from masses, reacting masses from balanced equations, concentration in grams per cubic decimetre, and the mole.10 min answer →
- How do we write and balance the formulae and equations that describe a reaction?Chemical formulae and equations: writing formulae from ions, balancing symbol equations, state symbols, ionic equations and half-equations, and the law of conservation of mass.9 min answer →
- How do shared electrons and a sea of delocalised electrons explain covalent and metallic substances?Covalent and metallic bonding: shared electron pairs, simple molecular and giant covalent structures (diamond, graphite, fullerenes, graphene), polymers, metallic bonding, and how each structure explains properties.10 min answer →
- How do metals and non-metals transfer electrons to form ionic compounds?Ionic bonding: the formation of ions by electron transfer, dot-and-cross diagrams, the giant ionic lattice, and how the structure explains the properties of ionic compounds.9 min answer →
- How is the periodic table arranged, and how does electronic configuration explain it?The periodic table: how the elements are arranged by atomic number into groups and periods, the development of the table by Mendeleev, metals and non-metals, and electronic configurations of the first 20 elements.9 min answer →
Topic 7: Rates of reaction and energy changes
Module overview →- How do we calculate the overall energy change of a reaction from bond energies?Bond energy calculations: breaking bonds is endothermic and making bonds is exothermic, and calculating the overall energy change of a reaction from bond energies.9 min answer →
- What is the difference between exothermic and endothermic reactions, and how do reaction profiles show it?Exothermic and endothermic reactions: the energy transfer to or from the surroundings, examples and temperature changes, reaction profiles and activation energy, and the core practical on temperature change.9 min answer →
- How do we measure the rate of a reaction, and how do catalysts speed reactions up?Measuring rates and catalysts: the core practicals measuring rate by gas volume and by a colour change, calculating rate from a graph, and how catalysts work by lowering the activation energy.10 min answer →
- What is the rate of a reaction, and how does collision theory explain the factors that change it?Rates of reaction and collision theory: the meaning of rate, how concentration, pressure, surface area and temperature affect rate, and the explanation in terms of collision frequency and activation energy.9 min answer →
Topic 5: Separate chemistry 1
Module overview →- How do we use moles and titration results to calculate concentrations?Quantitative analysis: the mole and concentration in mol/dm3, converting between g/dm3 and mol/dm3, the acid-alkali titration core practical, and calculating an unknown concentration from titration results.10 min answer →
- What makes the transition metals distinctive, and how are alloys and corrosion controlled?Transition metals, alloys and corrosion: the properties of transition metals compared with Group 1, the structure and uses of alloys, the conditions needed for rusting, and methods of preventing corrosion.9 min answer →
- How do we calculate percentage yield, atom economy and gas volumes?Yield and gas calculations: percentage yield and why yields are below 100 percent, atom economy and sustainability, and calculating gas volumes using the molar volume of a gas.10 min answer →
Topic 9: Separate chemistry 2
Module overview →- What are the alcohols and carboxylic acids, and how do they react?Alcohols and carboxylic acids: the alcohol and carboxylic acid homologous series, their functional groups, the reactions of alcohols including combustion and oxidation, and the reactions of carboxylic acids.9 min answer →
- How are polymers made, and how do we compare materials and their life cycles?Polymers and materials: addition polymerisation of alkenes, condensation polymerisation, the properties and uses of polymers, comparing materials, and life cycle assessment.9 min answer →
- How do we identify the ions in an unknown compound by chemical tests?Qualitative analysis tests for ions: flame tests for metal cations, tests for cations using sodium hydroxide, tests for anions (carbonate, sulfate, halide), and identifying ions in an unknown salt.9 min answer →
Topic 2: States of matter and mixtures
Module overview →- How does paper chromatography separate a mixture, and what does an Rf value tell us?Paper chromatography and Rf values: how chromatography separates a mixture, the core practical investigating inks, calculating Rf values, and identifying substances from a chromatogram.9 min answer →
- How do we tell pure substances from mixtures and separate the components?Mixtures and separation: pure substances and mixtures, the separation techniques (filtration, crystallisation, simple and fractional distillation), and producing potable water.9 min answer →
- How does the particle model explain the three states of matter and the changes between them?States of matter: the particle model of solids, liquids and gases, the changes of state and their names, state symbols, and the limitations of the simple particle model.9 min answer →