Edexcel A-Level Chemistry Active Recall Guide (9CH0)
Edexcel · A-Level
Edexcel A-Level Chemistry Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification 9CH0 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 1,534 questions across 19 topics and 104 subtopics, covering all three papers with no optional content left out.
- Edexcel
- A-Level
- Specification 9CH0
- 1,534 questions
Guide overview All 19 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
Edexcel A-Level Chemistry is three written papers. Paper 1, Advanced Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, and Paper 2, Advanced Organic and Physical Chemistry, are 1 hour 45 minutes and 90 marks each, 30 per cent apiece. Paper 3, General and Practical Principles, is 2 hours 30 minutes, 120 marks and 40 per cent, and can draw on any topic.
Chemistry at this level is a large number of precise things that cannot be worked out in the hall: a reagent, a set of conditions, a mechanism, a definition, a calculation route. Recall is the limiting factor on almost every mark.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paper 1 Advanced Inorganic and Physical Chemistry |
Topics 1 to 5, 8 and 10 to 15: atomic structure, bonding, redox, inorganic chemistry, amounts of substance, energetics, equilibria, acid-base chemistry and the transition metals Multiple-choice, short open, calculation and extended writing questions Includes questions on the core practicals and on mathematics at Level 2 or above |
1 hour 45 minutes | 90 marks | 30% |
|
Paper 2 Advanced Organic and Physical Chemistry |
Topics 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 16 to 19: organic chemistry, the analytical techniques, kinetics, and the bonding and amounts of substance that underpin them Multiple-choice, short open, calculation and extended writing questions Includes questions on the core practicals and on mathematics at Level 2 or above |
1 hour 45 minutes | 90 marks | 30% |
|
Paper 3 General and Practical Principles in Chemistry |
Any topic on the specification, drawn together synoptically Questions on experimental method, on planning and on the analysis of data Short open, open-response, calculation and extended writing questions, including mathematics at Level 2 or above |
2 hours 30 minutes | 120 marks | 40% |
|
9CH0/04 Science Practical Endorsement |
Reported separately from the A-Level grade as a pass or not classified Teacher assessed against the common practical assessment criteria (CPAC) across a minimum of 12 practical activities; the competencies can also be demonstrated in any additional practical activity |
Assessed throughout the course | No marks | Reported separately |
What is in the guide
All 19 topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
-
Protons, neutrons, electrons and isotopes
What is meant by the mass number of an atom?
Show the answer
The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom -
Ionic bonding
How are cations formed?
Show the answer
By an atom losing one or more electrons. -
Oxidation numbers
What is the oxidation number of fluorine in its compounds?
Show the answer
Always -1. -
Flame tests and how they work
What flame colour is produced by lithium compounds?
Show the answer
Crimson/red -
The mole, molar mass and empirical formula
State the formula used to calculate the amount of substance in moles from mass.
Show the answer
n = m/M, where n is the amount in moles, m is the mass in grams, and M is the molar mass in g mol⁻¹. -
Formulae, homologous series and functional groups
What is a general formula?
Show the answer
An algebraic formula that can represent any member of a homologous series. -
Mass spectrometry
In a mass spectrum, a loss of 15 mass units from the molecular ion indicates the loss of which group?
Show the answer
CH₃ (a methyl group). -
Enthalpy changes, standard definitions and calorimetry
Define the standard enthalpy change of reaction.
Show the answer
The enthalpy change when the molar amounts shown in the equation react under standard conditions, with all substances in their standard states.
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table68
- Bonding and Structure69
- Redox I35
- Inorganic Chemistry and the Periodic Table168
- Formulae, Equations and Amounts of Substance134
- Organic Chemistry I202
- Modern Analytical Techniques I45
- Energetics I39
- Kinetics I32
- Equilibrium I24
- Equilibrium II23
- Acid-Base Equilibria73
- and 7 more
- Define ionic bonding.
- How does ionic charge affect the strength of ionic bonding?
- How does ionic radius affect the strength of ionic bonding?
- How are cations formed?
- How are anions formed?
- How is a cation shown in a dot-and-cross diagram?
- How is an anion shown in a dot-and-cross diagram?
- What is an isoelectronic series?
- Why does ionic radius decrease across the isoelectronic series from N³⁻ to Al³⁺?
- Ions of opposite charge pulling strongly on one another.
- Greater ionic charge gives a stronger electrostatic attraction, so stronger ionic bonding.
- A smaller ionic radius gives stronger attraction, because the centres of charge are closer together.
- By an atom losing one or more electrons.
- By an atom gaining one or more electrons.
- In square brackets with its charge, usually with the outer shell empty because the electrons have been lost.
- In square brackets with its charge, with a complete outer shell including the gained electrons.
- A set of ions (or atoms) that all have the same number of electrons and the same electron configuration.
- The number of electrons stays the same but the nuclear charge increases, so the electrons are pulled in more strongly.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
Which topics are on which paper?
Paper 1 examines Topics 1 to 5, 8, and 10 to 15. Paper 2 examines Topics 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 16 to 19. Paper 3 can draw on any topic. The full breakdown is here.
Topics 2, 3 and 5, bonding, redox and amounts of substance, appear on all three papers.
Are the calculations in it?
Yes, and they have their own subtopics rather than being folded into theory. Amount of substance and the mole, titration calculations, percentage yield and atom economy, enthalpy and Hess cycles, bond enthalpies, Kc and Kp, pH and Ka, buffers, Born-Haber cycles, entropy and free energy, rate equations, and electrode potentials.
What about the core practicals?
The sixteen core practicals are assessed two ways. The Practical Endorsement is marked by your teacher and reported separately as a pass, so it is not in the guide.
Practical technique is also examined on all three papers, and that content is in the guide: apparatus, purification and recrystallisation, titration procedure, reflux and distillation, chromatography, testing for ions and functional groups, and the handling of uncertainty.
Is the spectroscopy covered?
Yes. Modern Analytical Techniques I and II carry 96 questions between them: mass spectra, infrared, and both carbon-13 and proton NMR, with the interpretation asked as well as the theory.
Edexcel A-Level Chemistry Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.