Chem IA topics
Electrochemistry
Factors affecting voltaic cell (temperature) (concentration of electrolyte)
Factors affecting electroplating, time, temp, current, concentration
Rate of gas produced during electrolysis, electroplating, time, temp, current, concentration
Environmental Chemistry:
Factors affecting pH of seawater (temperature)
Water analysis, presence of oxidizable materials, hardness and Cl - concentration
Rate of reaction, must find activation energy or reaction
order
Rate of decomposition, concentration, temperature
ROR between a dye and NaOH, dyes are carcinogenic
ROR of bleach and food colouring
ROR of organic compounds and KMNO4
Energetics
Enthalpy change of solution, anion and cation radius
Enthalpy change of combustion of different ratios of organic compounds
Equilibrium:
Factors affecting Kc, temperature only
Rotation in optical isomers, concentration, path length, temperature. Use a Vernier
polorimetre.
Acids and bases
Factors affecting pKa: temperature
Factors affecting buffer capacity, temperature, ratio of compounds
Factors affecting retardation factor
Filthy frank
IA guide, what to write where.
Applicable for PHY, CHEM, and maybe
BIO.
Framing research question
How does [increasing/decreasing] [independent variable,(list the values you are testing here)]
affect [dependent variable], measured by [change] using [method]
Mention some qualitative characteristics if 2 compounds are being used, is the CaCO 3
powdered or solid cubes.
Example
How does increasing the concentration of Hydrochloric acid (0.5M, 1.0M, 1.5M and 2.0M)
affect the rate of reaction between hydrochloric acid and powdered calcium carbonate,
measuring CO2 formed using water displacement.
Follow this format as strict as you can
Personal engagement
Why did you choose this, or your inspiration, mention personal interest, and make it unique.
Basically, bullshit here. Proceed to talk about the topic significance to the world.
Background information
P1) Chemistry behind research question. The ‘theory’. A balanced chemical equation
P2) What data you will collect, how it is relevant. If you use a gas syringe, the gas
collected reflects the progress of the reaction, or the rate of the reaction. What will the data
allow you to calculate? How will you interpret this data, do not give steps here.
P4) How will you process your data. The graph will be plotted, what you consider,
mention equations used.
Method/Procedure
- Must write in bullet points
- Mention repeats
- List apparatus with absolute uncertainties
- Mention sources of hazard
- Mention how your experiment is different to the conventional method if it is different.
- Mention the strengths and weaknesses of the experiment procedure after the
numbered bullet point instructions
- If you wish, include stoichiometric calculations justifying the concentrations and masses
you choose. Or whatever calculation you can add to justify why you are using it
- Use words like ‘remember to’ and write EXCATLY what you did
Data collection
- First row of the table must be in bold.
- Units and uncertainties must be written next to the name of the column
- Label all tables, graphs, and images
- Do not write units next to collected data, e.g. 25.00cm3 is wrong, simply write 25.00
- Make sure the significant figures are all the same
- Write all data, even the value of control variables. You can include them in the final
table and repeat them or include the in a separate table and mention they are the same
for the whole experiment
- Everything you measure should be mentioned here, include room temperature and
pressure even
Uncertainty processing
- Do all your uncertainty processing here.
- Make sure your graph has uncertainty bars
- If uncertainties bars are not visible, mention it
Qualitative observations
- Mention what you see, not what the compound is- you cannot see the atoms
- DO NOT USE COMPOUND NAMES, HCl is a colourless odorless solid. Do not say HCl
- Say solid disappears, not “Mg ribbon is used up”. You cannot see Mg atoms and do not
know if they are being used up
- Mention everything such as bubbles or possible sources of systematic error, or random
errors. Your evaluation will be restricted by what you write here, the evaluation and
qualitative observations MUST match
Analysis
- Discuss the trend on the graph
- If there are any anomalies, mention them
- Describe the data you collected
Data processing
- If you any steps or make a graph to get the final result, mention them here
- Mention what the intercept means
- Talk about what the data you collected means and how you got the answer you wanted
out of it: eg: you measure the gas collected over time, mention what you did to those
numbers to get the rate.
Conclusion
State the hypothesis again and whether your data matches it. State the systematic error %. The
percentage away from literature value. If there is no literature value, mention it.
Evaluation
Mention type of error: systematic or random. Mention direction of systematic error. State
whether it affects precision or accuracy (random and systematic respectively), also use scientific
terminology. Mention the value of the error at each point you make, e.g: time ±0.01. State the
effect of each error on the final result. State any assumption you made and how they affect
your final reading, try to talk about the assumptions in qualitative observations as well, e.g:
purity, write in qualitative observations “there were some black residue” and mention how this
could reflect impurity of the substance. The errors you mention here must be qualitatively
described in your ‘qualitative observations’. If there are bubbles affecting your final reading,
you MUST talk about them in the qualitative observations if you want to talk about them here.
If your errors do not link to your qualitative observations, you lose marks for ‘generic’ errors.
