VCE Chemistry

There are two Areas of Study in Unit 3: Chemical Pathways. These are Chemical Analysis and Organic Chemical Pathways.

This is a description of the knowledge required to satisfy VCAA Chemistry Outcome 1: Analytical Chemistry

This is an extension of the work you have already covered in Unit 2 of Year 11 Chemistry. The Chemical Analysis Area of Study looks at the mole concept and stoichiometry, gravimetric and volumetric analytical techniques and the full suite of spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques (colorimetry, AAS, IR spectroscopy, UV/visible spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, in addition to paper chromatography, this layer, GC, GLC and HPLC). All spectroscopic techniques have some similarities and key differences that will be explored in class.

Chromatographic techniques encapsulate paper and thin-layer chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas-solid and gas-liquid chromatography.

This is a description of the knowledge required to satisfy VCAA Chemistry Outcome 2: Organic Chemical pathways.

In Organic Chemical Pathways, we will investigate synthetic organic chemistry and some important aspects of biochemistry. Knowledge of the homologous series of the alkanes gained from Unit 1 studies will enable us to branch out into the different functional groups and their chemical properties. The reaction pathways by which one organic molecule can be synthesised from another will be considered in detail. The structure and function of proteins and their use as disease markers is an important aspect of our study of biochemistry, as is the structure and bonding of DNA and its applications in forensic science.

In the following pages there are links to notes, worksheets, practice tests etc for this coursework.