My school have a chemistry practical exam soon but I scared I'm not prepared enough so is there anything that I should take special note of?Like any tips,frequently made mistakes?
Thanks
follow every single instructions carefully..
don't break the fragile chemistry equipments..
and most importantly, don't blow up the chem lab..
As posted by QX, follow every single instruction carefully.
Chemistry Practical is test your skills on observant and analysis. If you following the instructions clearly, you will be able to observe what the question want you to observe. Then from there, you will be able to analyse the results based on your knowledge that you have on QA.
Take note on the
1) Observation
2) Know the contents of the chapter on QA, ion test, gas test etc well.
frequently make mistake wise...
1) Heating - it may seems easy, but students tend to heat not long enough or too long. The position of the test tube from the flame is not right either. this is technique mistake.
2) Contamination - Many school's chemistry lab test tubes are not washed properly. So you'll have residue substances in the test tube that may affect your test results. If you see unusual substances in the test tubes, ask for a new set. (the only time where lab tec wash the test tube properly are for during GCE exmas)
3) Smells - For a chemistry tutor/teacher, just by smelling, we'll be able to tell which gas is produced. For you students, you need to familiarized the different gases.. and try to remember each of the gases. This one, you may not have many chances.. so grab every chemistry practical lesson to familiarize yourself with the gas smell.
4) Colours of substance - sometimes, the best knowledge comes from experience; and not from the textbook. If you want to do well for you Chemistry practical, you need to develop this set of observation skills... If you see a blue crystal, green solid, white powder, will you be able to at least make a rough guess what is the crystals/powder are?
5) Litmus testing - It may be very troublesome for some students, but with enough practice, you can be an expert with the litmus testing.
6) Time saving tips - Test for CO2.. Usually you'll need the gas delivery tube connected to Ca(OH)2. For the more experience, we simply use droppers... to save time.