biomedicine afternoon at salford university

A number of Year 12 students had an afternoon out at Salford University today, where they discovered more about the type of research conducted at the University, in addition to getting involved in some practical sessions in the labs. Tom had been here before of course, squeezing crabs and such like, and was on first name terms with all the lecturers. He even knew where to find the bin.

The lab activities involved firstly preparing blood samples to spin in a centrifuge in order to separate out red and white blood cells, along with plasma, to assess blood parameters as an indicator of health. A second activity allowed students to gain an understanding of processing tissue samples for microscope analysis, involving dehydrating a biological sample with alcohol and impregnating it with wax. This was to aid the slicing of the sample into cross sections before staining. The poor little fly.

Students then got the opportunity to see some of the spectroscopy equipment in action, with infra-red and nmr machines being demonstrated, followed by a final talk from some past research students discussing available work placements and other opportunities.

Best of all though, there was chocolate. Lots of chocolate.

UK thalidomide survivors get new grant

The government announced today that a new pot of money has been put aside to help Thalidomide survivors in the UK. It is though that this will be used towards meeting their health needs into their old age, after previous grants have been used to adapt homes and fund the primary care of Thalidomide victims.

New £80 million grant for thalidomide survivors

As you may know already, the drug was dispensed as a morning sickness suppressant in the late 1950's and early 1960's before concerns were raised about an unusual spate of birth defects. Thalidomide has strong sedative properties and many women in the early weeks of pregnancy had taken it to ease their morning sickness, utterly unaware that its effect on the unborn child could be teratogenic (it interfered with embryonic development). The drug was withdrawn in 1961, but not before almost 10,000 babies were affected, often born with shortened, missing or mutated limbs, many of whom were too badly damaged to survive for long. Despite this, it took the makers of the drug over 50 years to make a formal apology.

Thalidomide maker issues apology

Research into Thalidomide and its uses continues today, and it has been proven to be effective in the treatment of certain cancers and leprosy, but the fact that it causes birth defects means that for women its use remains risky and controversial.

What happened to the Thalidomide babies?

Thalidomide has just one chiral atom and so exists as two enantiomers (see diagram above). Notice that two of the groups attached to the chiral centre are part of the same ring structure. They are classified as two different groups, since moving around from the chiral centre the order of atoms is different each way. Laboratory tests after the Thalidomide disaster showed that in some animals the 'S' enantiomer was teratogenic but the 'R' isomer was an effective sedative. It is now known that even when a stereo selective sample of Thalidomide (only one of the optical isomers) is created, enzymes in the body will convert it into a racemic mixture. The means that both enantiomers are formed in a roughly equal mix in the blood. At the time Thalidomide was dispensed as a racemic medication, but even if a drug of only the 'R' isomer had been created, the disaster would not have been averted. 

13A class photo

Thanks to Holly for sending the photo in. One are two of the group were unsurprisingly absent for this which is a bit of a shame but not any real surprise (I'm talking to you Moosa and friends), but I guess you get what you deserve in the end. I also pleased to report that three of you pictured here also scored higher than Maria Imran on your CHEM5 paper, and she well needs to get out more as I've told her on numerous occasions. Congratulations.

Thanks for the good company and (mainly) hard work. It's been a pleasure. Best of luck for the future.

redox equilibria

If you need some answers for the predicting redox reactions worksheet you have used in class you can find them here.

predicting redox reactions worksheet

predicting redox reactions answers

Interview Tips

Found this on the website for the Chemistry Department at the University of York, a well respected Chemistry provider which has regularly been placed highly in national press top university polls. Thought it might give prospective undergraduates a bit of an insight into what to expect from the interview process.

The Times Good University Guide 2012

1. Cambridge
2. Oxford
3. Durham
4. York
5. St Andrews


A Typical Interview

Interviewers typically start by asking you specific questions about your personal statement (for example, your interest in a particular area of Chemistry, including practical work) and your reasons for applying to York, before moving on to more open-ended questions about the study of Chemistry.

We are looking primarily for skills and to assess your potential to do well at York. To help you perform at your best, we suggest that you read through your UCAS personal statement, think over what you’ve studied in Chemistry so far and what has particularly interested you.

It might also be useful for you to practice explaining why you are so passionate about Chemistry that you want to study it to degree level, and why you have applied to York. The importance of being enthusiastic cannot be underestimated!

Consider preparing some things that you would like to tell us, and also think about some questions (either course specific and/or more general questions about student life) you would like to ask us.

nitrogen triiodide

Strike day, and a bit of free time to play around with some home made explosives.

Nitrogen triiodide is worryingly easy to make, and extremely unstable. It is a contact explosive when dry, and produces a beautiful plume of iodine vapour mixed with nitrogen gas when detonated.



As you can see and hear from the video, the explosion is fairly impressive given the small quantity used. You can see that the metre ruler suffers for its art, and you may just be able to make out Mr Chivers' exclamation from his nearby office just as it goes off.

Anyone interested in why it's so unstable will need to consider the entropy change for the reaction.

2 NI₃ (s) → N₂ (g) + 3 I₂ (g)

The large increase in the number of moles from left to right, in addition to the production of gases from a solid, leads to an enormous increase in entropy. Also, the reaction is clearly exothermic. These two factors are ideal for giving a negative free energy change for the reaction, indicating a highly likely, spontaneous reaction.

january 2011 past papers

Summer exams are nearly with us, so you'll need to make sure you are up to date with past papers.

You can find anything up to and including June 2010 papers and mark schemes on the AQA website. Just follow the link in the green box on the right.

However, if you want access to Jan 2011 papers you'll have to download them from the links below. I've included CHEM 1 and CHEM 4 papers for anyone resitting.

CHEM1 paper
CHEM1 mark scheme

CHEM2 paper
CHEM2 mark scheme

CHEM4 paper
CHEM4 mark scheme

CHEM5 paper
CHEM5 mark scheme

Don't forget to pop in for some help if you need it while you are on study leave, and the very best of luck.

CHEM 1 exam

By now you will have seen all 4 of the new CHEM 1 papers from the new syllabus. However, you will have tried many older questions as homework throughout the year. If you still feel that you need a bit more practise with CHEM 1 you can find all the past papers from pre 2009 here

old AQA past papers

The tab for '5420 materials' should automatically be selected (this was the exam code for the old syllabus) and then you can look at any of the CHM1 papers for each year by selecting 'past question papers and mark schemes'. You can also download the relevant mark scheme.

You just have to be aware that when trying any papers on the old syllabus some of the content has been moved to module 2 (chemistry of group 2 metals) so will not have been covered yet. It has been replaced by the organic content that you have studied instead.

You can access more up to date papers for the current CHEM 1 module by changing the '5420 materials' tab to 'key materials'.

synthesis explorer

Welcome to a brave new school year. To celebrate I'll share with you something shiny and new I've stumbled across.

It's called Synthesis Explorer and I've put a link to it in the resources side bar of the blog. It's a 'dynamic web tool to study key organic chemistry reactions'.

You can basically choose from a wide variety of starting compounds and react them to reveal details of the reaction conditions and reagents, creating your own synthetic pathways on an 'interactive canvas'. It will help you to develop your understanding of organic reaction pathways and allow you to revise organic chemistry in 'an interactive and dynamic format'.

Well that's what the blurb says anyway. It is actually quite impressive. You can also view a wide range of physical, structural and spectral data for each compound.

13D class photo

Two things struck me when I saw this photo. Firstly, Ben appears to have had too much shandy. Secondly, George looks like he could have done with a bit more. Thanks to Cheryl for sending the picture in.

All the best in the forthcoming exams. It has been a pleasure to share your company over the last two years.

CHEM2 papers

The CHEM2 paper is next Monday and although you have probably had plenty of practise already, you may feel the need for some further fine tuning with past paper questions. Knock yourself out with these.

They are old syllabus questions, which means that the CHM2 papers represent mostly the thermodynamics and inorganic chemistry stuff, and the CHM3 papers are all your organic chemistry work. There may be the odd thing that is now taught as part of CHEM1, like the content on oil or structural isomerism, but most of the following papers will help you prepare fully for next week.

CHM2 written paper June 2008
CHM2 mark scheme June 2008
CHM2 written paper June 2009
CHM2 mark scheme June 2009

CHM3 written paper June 2008
CHM3 mark scheme June 2008
CHM3 written paper June 2009
CHM3 mark scheme June 2009

Any problems with the links, or if you need any more papers, let me know via email.

CHEM5 papers

If you scroll down this post a bit you'll find some papers and mark schemes for your revision, although hopefully you'll have had many of the answers fully explained in class by now. Just remember that there are some synoptic elements to CHEM5, meaning that the board can ask you anything from earlier modules which have a link to the new content studied in module 5.

As far as I can see, the most likely subject areas to crop up again are:

Thermodynamics
· Calorimetry (from CHEM2)
· Equilibria and Le Chatelier (CHEM2)

Redox Equilibria and cells
· Redox behaviour of halogens (CHEM2)

Periodicity
· Physical trends in period 3, melting point, 1st ionization energy etc. (CHEM1)
· Solubility trends of sulphates/hydroxides (CHEM1)
· Extraction of aluminium (CHEM2)

Transition Metals
· Electron configuration (CHEM1)
· Shapes of molecules (CHEM1)
· Extraction of metals, iron, aluminium, titanium (CHEM2)

At any point they could very easily throw in a pV=nRT calculation as well, so make sure you know the standard units.

CHEM5 2010 written paper

CHEM5 2010 mark scheme

Specimen written paper

Specimen mark scheme

Older CHM5 papers can be found further down. Just be careful to ignore any organic chemistry or other module 4 based questions on the old syllabus papers. However, if you are resitting the CHEM4 paper then there will be some useful stuff on here for you to try on equilibria and acid calculations, as well as the essential organic stuff.

If you need any more old CHM5 papers then send me a quick email and I'll let see what I can do.

CHM5 2008 written paper (old syllabus)

CHM5 2008 mark scheme (old syllabus)

CHM5 2009 written paper (old syllabus)

CHM5 2009 mark scheme (old syllabus)

Sorry, I don't have an electronic copy of the written paper, but,
CHM5 2010 mark scheme (old syllabus)

Make sure you come in if you need any help.

electrode potentials answers

We've been working on predicting reactions using electrode potentials in class and here are the answers to the worksheet we started.

predicting redox reactions

does it fizz or does it bang?

Last month, 6th form Chemists were treated to a trip to the Catalyst Discovery Centre in sunny Widnes to watch Professor John Kilcoyne in action with his 'Chemistry with a Bang' show.



Yet another in a long line of Chemists with very little hair, he obviously did himself no favours by showering under liquid nitrogen. That probably explains why he later put his hat on to keep warm. What was your excuse ladies?

year 13 born haber worksheet

You may have been given a worksheet in class with several Born Haber cycle questions for you to have a go at. Here you can download a powerpoint with the correct answers for you to check through as part of your revision.

born haber powerpoint answers


Mr Born and Mr Haber in happier days before the split

calorimetry

Calorimety calculations come up pretty often on your CHEM2 paper, and any Year 13 students might also expect them as synoptic content on CHEM5.

The powerpoint you can download from the link below will remind you of the basics and give you worked examples for a number of calculations.

calorimetry worksheet answers

hello George

Here you go George, as requested. You must be special, you've got your own post. This is the CHEM2 paper you did last summer with the corresponding mark scheme.

CHEM2 June 09 paper

CHEM2 June 09 mark scheme

Good luck with it tomorrow. If you need anything else or any last minute help use the email at the top of the page (reasonable hours though eh?)

module 4 apology

As someone has just pointed out, the links I put into a recent post for module 4 resources for the mark schemes for two papers actually took you to the paper itself, not the answers.

Never mind.

As some of you will have already worked out, if you follow the link further down the post to older module 4 papers you can find all the papers and mark schemes your heart desires, including the ones with the erroneous links.

I've put the link here again if you need it.

old module 4 papers and mark schemes

CHEM1 resources

If you are hoping for some more sample questions for module 1, unfortunately you have seen the only two papers in existance since the syllabus changed 12 months ago. However, there is a specimen paper that you can have a go at which you can download following the links below.

CHEM1 specimen paper

CHEM1 specimen mark scheme

There are also a large number of older papers on the AQA website, but you will need to be careful when trying any papers on the old syllabus as some of the content has been moved to module 2 (chemistry of group 2 metals) and has been replaced by the organic content that you have studied instead.

old module 1 AQA past papers

CHEM4 resources

With CHEM4 just around the corner in January, you may need to download these mark schemes for the past papers you have been given in class in case you have missed any of the feedback. Remember to ignore any reference to Kp calculations (and partial pressures) in equilibria questions as they are no longer on your syllabus. Likewise, if you try any of the older papers you may see some titration curves involving two seperate equivalence points (for either sodium carbonate or ethanedioic acid). Again, ignore them, they are no longer on your syllabus.

Jan 08 mark scheme

Jan 09 mark scheme

If you still feel the need for a bit more practise from the older papers, you can find any other examples you may need on the AQA website.

other old module 4 papers

You should also have received a specimen paper for the new CHEM4 exam, the mark scheme is below.

CHEM4 specimen mark scheme

Finally, these have been posted elsewhere on this blog and some of you may have had them from me directly, but the following are essential resources for revision of organic reactions and mechanisms.

organic mechanisms

organic reaction scheme