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GCSE: Classifying Materials

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What do I need to remember to get an A* in GCSE Chemistry?

There are equations you have to learn for GCSE Chemistry. It's important to know these or you could get a question and not know how to start it.

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313 GCSE Classifying Materials essays

  • Marked by Teachers essays 10
  • Peer Reviewed essays 16
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  1. Marked by a teacher

    Identifying an Ionic Compound. Objectives: To learn and test for metal ions and non-metal ions and then apply them to discover the identity of an unknown ionically bonded substance

    5 star(s)

    This is a very complex GCSE experiment, using aspects of chemistry that would not usually be encountered until AS level. It is very detailed, uses excellent results tables and makes…

    • Essay length: 3128 words
    • Submitted: 23/01/2012
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Brady Smith 08/05/2012
  2. Marked by a teacher

    Chemistry revision notes. Atomic Structure and Bonding, Electrolysis, Acids and Alkalis.

    5 star(s)

    This is a fantastic, well detailed, clearly explained set of notes covering a wide range of topics. They are clearly labelled with useful subheadings and include excellent examples to help…

    • Essay length: 3184 words
    • Submitted: 16/02/2011
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Brady Smith 01/12/2012
  3. Marked by a teacher

    The Periodic Table - Revision Notes The numbers in italics are the page numbers of where more information can be found in the revision guide.

    5 star(s)

    This is a very basic, but well explained, set of notes. It contains good, accurate information, but to a low level. Consider reading this if you are just beginning the…

    • Essay length: 1043 words
    • Submitted: 28/06/2004
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Brady Smith 10/04/2013
  4. Marked by a teacher

    The History of the Periodic Table

    4 star(s)

    Mark: 4/5

    This is a very detailed essay. It describes in depth many of the significant discoveries in relation the the periodic table and gives some further explanation on…

    • Essay length: 741 words
    • Submitted: 17/09/2012
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Kathryn Bradley 05/10/2012
  5. Marked by a teacher

    Chemistry Revision Notes on atomic structure, nuclear power and the periodic table

    4 star(s)

    This is a very comprehensive set of notes that goes into detail about how nuclear reactors work and the problems associated with them. It is written in a concise, but…

    • Essay length: 1962 words
    • Submitted: 05/06/2011
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Brady Smith 01/12/2012
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    GCSE Chemistry Revision

    4 star(s)

    This is a very well explained, but basic set of notes. It contains very simple science and is easy to read. It would be ideal for someone wanting to go…

    • Essay length: 1107 words
    • Submitted: 29/10/2010
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Brady Smith 01/12/2012
  7. Marked by a teacher

    The effect of Hydrocholric acid on the Rate of Reaction

    3 star(s)

    This laboratory report is of a reasonable quality. It is limited by the lack of data collected. Improvements have been suggested throughout.…

    • Essay length: 711 words
    • Submitted: 02/04/2009
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Cornelia Bruce 17/12/1999
  8. Marked by a teacher

    rates of reaction- hydrochloric acid

    3 star(s)

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    This has all of the key elements to be a four or five stars piece. However there are some key elements that are missing the preliminary results should be…

    • Essay length: 1541 words
    • Submitted: 02/03/2009
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Cornelia Bruce 09/04/2013
  9. Marked by a teacher

    The differences between the Alkali metals and the Transition metals.

    3 star(s)

    Three stars.
    A clearly structured report, that outlines some of the of the features and differences between alkali metals and transition metals.
    To improve:
    1)Explain some of…

    • Essay length: 1302 words
    • Submitted: 16/03/2004
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Cornelia Bruce 09/04/2013
  10. Marked by a teacher

    In this CDA I will write about how plastic bags are made, why plastic bags are so controversial, the benefits and drawbacks of using them, and I will include an experiment that I carried out at school to determine the strongest plastic bag (out of various

    A lot of research has clearly gone into this paper. It gives both sides of the argument as to whether plastic bags should be used. The experiment was performed with…

    • Essay length: 3645 words
    • Submitted: 28/05/2011
    • Marked by teacher: (?) Brady Smith 14/02/2012
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How to tell if something is ionic

  1. 1 Ionic compounds have strong electrostatic attractions between their positive and negative ions. These take a lot of energy to break, so will have a very high melting and boiling point.
  2. 2 Ionic compounds can conduct electricity when dissolved in solution as their ions are free to move and carry charge. When they are solids, however, their ions are held in a fixed lattice so they cannot move and conduct electricity.
  3. 3 Ionic compounds are soluble in polar solutions like water. They are insoluble in organic solvents like cyclohexane.
  4. 4 Ionic compounds all form crystal salts. If these are hydrated they will often be brightly coloured. If they are not hydrated they will usually be transparent or white.
  5. 5 Ionic compounds are made from metal cations bonding to non-metal anions in a giant lattice.

How to tell if something is a giant covalent

  1. 1 Giant covalent compounds are held together by incredibly strong covalent bonds. These take a lot of energy to break, so will have an incredibly high melting and boiling point.
  2. 2 Giant covalent compounds do not have anything to carry charge (such as ions or delocalised electrons) so will not conduct electricity. The exception to this rule is graphite, as this has delocalised electrons so can conduct.
  3. 3 Giant covalent compounds are insoluble in both polar and non-polar solvents. This is because their strong covalent bonds are too strong to be broken by the solvent.
  4. 4 The three main forms (allotropes) of carbon that are giant covalent compounds are diamond (a beautifully shiny rock), graphite (which looks like the tiles on our roofs) and fullerines. Fullerines have a “football” shape.
  5. 5 Apart from allotropes of carbon, the most commonly occurring giant covalent compound that crops up in exams is SiO2.

How to tell if something is a simple covalent

  1. 1 Simple covalent compounds are held together by weak van der Waals forces. These take little energy to break, so have a very low melting and boiling point.
  2. 2 Simple covalent compounds do not have anything that can carry charge (like ions or delocalised electrons), so they cannot conduct.
  3. 3 Simple covalent compounds are soluble in non-polar solvents, and insoluble in polar solvents like water.
  4. 4 Due to their low melting and boiling point, most simple covalent compounds are liquids or gases at room temperature. The halogens will give coloured gases- Cl is pale green, Br is orange, I is an almost black solid which sublimes to a purple gas.
  5. 5 Simple covalent compounds are made from a non-metal bonding to a non-metal.

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