OCR A-Level Chemistry B (Salters) Active Recall Guide (H433)
OCR · A-Level
OCR A-Level Chemistry B (Salters) Active Recall Guide
Every storyline of specification H433 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 3,430 questions across 13 topics and 219 subtopics, covering all ten Salters storylines plus the practical and mathematical strands.
- OCR
- A-Level
- Specification H433
- 3,430 questions
Guide overview All 13 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
OCR A-Level Chemistry B (Salters) teaches chemistry through ten storylines rather than by topic, from Elements of Life to Colour by Design. It is assessed by three written papers: Fundamentals of Chemistry at 41 per cent, Scientific Literacy in Chemistry at 37 per cent and Practical Skills in Chemistry at 22 per cent, plus a separately reported practical endorsement.
Salters is synoptic by design. The storylines are the teaching context for all three papers, so no storyline is examined only once and nothing can be dropped after a paper is sat.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Component 01 Fundamentals of Chemistry |
Chemical concepts and practical skills drawn from across the ten storyline modules Multiple-choice, structured and extended-response questions Synoptic throughout, and includes mathematics at Level 2 or above |
2 hours 15 minutes | 110 marks | 41% |
|
Component 02 Scientific Literacy in Chemistry |
Includes a pre-release Advance Notice article, studied before the exam and worth 20 to 25 marks Questions requiring a calculation from the passage or an argument built on it Draws on any storyline module |
2 hours 15 minutes | 100 marks | 37% |
|
Component 03 Practical Skills in Chemistry |
Practical skills developed across the storylines, assessed in written form Questions on experimental method, on planning and on the analysis of data Includes questions on a Practical Insert and on the techniques of the practical activity groups |
1 hour 30 minutes | 60 marks | 22% |
|
Component 04 Practical Endorsement in Chemistry |
Reported separately from the A-Level grade as a pass or not classified Assessed by the teacher across the twelve practical activity groups |
Assessed throughout the course | No marks | Reported separately |
What is in the guide
All 13 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.
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Planning experiments
Why is a gas syringe usually a better choice than collecting a gas over water?
Show the answer
A gas syringe measures the full volume produced even for gases that dissolve in water, such as carbon dioxide or ammonia, whereas collection over water loses some of the gas to solution. -
The mole, relative masses and empirical formulae
Define relative atomic mass.
Show the answer
It is the weighted mean mass of an atom of an element, taking account of the abundance of each isotope, compared with one twelfth of the mass of one atom of carbon-12. -
Molar gas volume and the ideal gas equation
What amount of gas, in moles, is present in 720 cm³ of oxygen at RTP?
Show the answer
720 cm³ is 0.720 dm³, so the amount is 0.720 ÷ 24.0 = 0.0300 mol. -
Atom economy
In the Deacon reaction the only substance formed alongside chlorine is water. Why does this soften the impact of the atom economy being below 100%?
Show the answer
The mass that does not become chlorine leaves as water, which is harmless, so little is genuinely wasted. -
Electronegativity and bond polarity
What does the label δ+ on an atom mean?
Show the answer
It means the atom carries a small partial positive charge because the bonding electrons have been drawn away from it. -
Formulae of oxygen-containing homologous series
Give the molecular formula of ethanoic anhydride.
Show the answer
Ethanoic anhydride is (CH₃CO)₂O, molecular formula C₄H₆O₃. -
Rate equations, order and the rate constant
Can the orders in a rate equation be predicted from the balanced equation?
Show the answer
No, orders can only be found by experiment, because they depend on the mechanism rather than on the overall stoichiometry. -
Amino acids, the peptide link and hydrolysing a protein
Which two functional groups react when a peptide link forms, and what is eliminated?
Show the answer
The COOH of one amino acid reacts with the NH₂ of another, and a molecule of water is eliminated.
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.
- Development of Practical Skills in Chemistry166
- Elements of Life267
- Developing Fuels364
- Elements from the Sea357
- The Ozone Story355
- What's in a Medicine?235
- The Chemical Industry250
- Polymers and Life376
- Oceans282
- Developing Metals304
- Colour by Design312
- Chemical Literacy41
- and 1 more
- What does the atomic number of an element tell you?
- Define the mass number of an atom.
- What are isotopes?
- State the value of the Avogadro constant with its unit, and use it to find the number of atoms in 0.500 mol of iron.
- Two definitions of the mole are accepted in chemistry examinations — what are they?
- Define relative isotopic mass.
- Define relative atomic mass.
- When would you use the term relative formula mass rather than relative molecular mass?
- Calculate the amount, in moles, in 5.00 g of calcium carbonate, CaCO₃ (Aᵣ: Ca 40.1, C 12.0, O 16.0).
- It is the number of protons in the nucleus of each atom of that element, and it is what fixes the element's identity and its place in the periodic table.
- The mass number is the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom.
- Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons, so they have the same atomic number but different mass numbers.
- The Avogadro constant is 6.02 × 10²³ mol⁻¹, so 0.500 mol of iron contains 0.500 × 6.02 × 10²³ = 3.01 × 10²³ atoms.
- The classical definition is the amount of substance containing as many particles as there are atoms in exactly 12 g of carbon-12; the revised definition is the amount of substance containing exactly 6.02214076 × 10²³ specified particles, normally rounded to 6.02 × 10²³.
- It is the mass of one atom of a particular isotope compared with one twelfth of the mass of one atom of carbon-12.
- It is the weighted mean mass of an atom of an element, taking account of the abundance of each isotope, compared with one twelfth of the mass of one atom of carbon-12.
- Relative molecular mass is used for substances made of discrete molecules, whereas relative formula mass is used for giant structures such as ionic compounds, where no separate molecule exists and the formula only gives the ratio of ions.
- M(CaCO₃) = 100.1 g mol⁻¹, so n = 5.00 ÷ 100.1 = 0.0500 mol.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
Is this Salters or the other OCR Chemistry?
This is Chemistry B, Salters, H433, taught through storylines. The other OCR specification is Chemistry A, H432, which is organised by topic in six modules.
They teach the same chemistry in a completely different order and the guides are not interchangeable. If your code is H432 you need the Chemistry A guide.
Which storylines are on which paper?
All of them, on all three. Salters is synoptic by design and the storylines are the teaching context for every paper, so nothing is examined once and finished with. The topic list is here.
What is on Component 03?
Practical Skills in Chemistry, 1 hour 30 minutes and 60 marks, worth 22 per cent. It examines experimental method, technique and the analysis of data. The guide has 166 questions on practical skills for exactly this.
Is the Practical Endorsement in it?
No. Component 04 is the endorsement, marked by your teacher across the twelve practical activity groups and reported as a pass or not classified alongside your grade. It is not examined.
The practical technique that is examined on the written papers is in the guide.
OCR A-Level Chemistry B (Salters) Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.