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Chemistry Advanced

Upper secondary, Matura and A-level standard.

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15:20

Episode 2

Vapour Pressure & Phase Diagrams – Advanced

What you will learn

  • attraction vs motion – temperature in kelvin, absolute zero
  • heating curve: plateaus at 0 and 100 °C · 1 g of water: 419 J to heat, 334 J to melt, 2257 J to vaporise · sweating cools with ≈ 330 W
  • vapour pressure: 23 hPa at 20 °C, 1013 hPa at 100 °C – boiling means vapour pressure = outside pressure · mountains, Everest, pressure cooker, ethanol
  • humidity and dew point: why a bottle from the fridge mists up
  • phase diagram of water: triple point 0.01 °C / 6.1 hPa, critical point 374 °C / 221 bar · the ice-skating myth, calculated
  • phase diagram of CO₂: triple point 5.2 bar – dry ice sublimes · fire extinguisher · supercritical CO₂ decaffeinates coffee · freeze-drying
  • crystalline or amorphous: glass, wax, chocolate (form V, 34 °C) and purity checks
  • a look at the Advanced project: the electrolyte in a phone battery boils at ≈ 90 °C
  • the four most common exam traps
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14:44

Episode 3

Solubility & Separation Techniques – Advanced

What you will learn

  • solubility in g per 100 g of water: sugar 204, table salt 36, baking soda 9.6 · saturated = sediment
  • solubility curves: potassium nitrate steep, table salt flat · recrystallisation: 78.4 g of crystals = 71 %
  • supersaturated: the hand warmer and rock candy
  • gases: warm cola goes flat, warm lakes hold less oxygen, decompression sickness
  • concentration measures: w, φ, β, ppm · 50 mL + 50 mL ≈ 96 mL · diluting vinegar essence correctly
  • dissolved particles: seawater freezes at −1.9 °C, road salt, the pasta-water myth · osmosis and reverse osmosis
  • distillation in depth: fractional columns, the ≈ 96 % limit (azeotrope)
  • extraction: twice with a little beats once with a lot (89 % instead of 80 %) · chromatography and the Rf value
  • a look at the Advanced project: the electrolyte is a solution – salt water conducts, distilled water hardly
  • the four most common exam traps
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16:03

Episode 4

Electron Configuration – Advanced

What you will learn

  • atomic models in fast-forward: Dalton, Thomson, Rutherford (1 in 8000 particles bounces back), Bohr
  • energy levels and light: E = h · f – the sodium line (589 nm) worked out: 3.37 · 10⁻¹⁹ J ≈ 2.1 eV
  • line spectra, helium in the sun, sodium-vapour lamps and auroras
  • the orbital model: spherical s, dumbbell p, d and f – at most two electrons per orbital
  • the four quantum numbers and the capacity 2n² (2, 8, 18, 32)
  • aufbau principle and Hund's rule in box notation: sulfur [Ne] 3s² 3p⁴, iron [Ar] 3d⁶ 4s²
  • reading configurations straight from the periodic table (s, p, d, f blocks)
  • exceptions Cr and Cu, Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ (4s leaves first) and predicting ionic charges
  • the four most common exam traps
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14:00

Episode 5

Periodic Trends – Advanced

What you will learn

  • effective nuclear charge: sodium roughly +1, with Slater's rules ≈ +2.2 – why every trend follows from it
  • atomic and ionic radii: Na 186 → Na⁺ 102 pm, Cl 99 → Cl⁻ 181 pm, isoelectronic Mg²⁺ < Na⁺ < F⁻ < O²⁻
  • ionisation energy: jumps reveal full shells (Na 5.1 / 47.3 eV), riddle 6.0 / 18.8 / 28.4 / 120 eV → aluminium
  • the dips at boron and oxygen – and why
  • electron affinity: chlorine gains 3.6 eV, fluoride in tooth enamel
  • electronegativity: F 4.0 · O 3.4 · Cl 3.2 … – NaCl ionic, HCl polar, Cl₂ non-polar
  • oxides: Na₂O basic, SO₃ and CO₂ acidic, Al₂O₃ amphoteric
  • predicting reactivity: potassium before sodium, chlorine displaces iodine (video only!), the iodine–starch test
  • cell building block 2: noble and base metals – Al 1.6 · Zn 1.7 · Cu 1.9
  • the four most common exam traps
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14:46

Episode 6

Chemical Bonding – Advanced

What you will learn

  • bonding as a continuum: KF 3.2 ionic · HF 1.8 strongly polar · C–H ≈ 0.35 practically non-polar – partial charges δ+ and δ−
  • ionic lattices: Coulomb force, coordination number 6, MgO (≈ 2850 °C) vs NaCl (801 °C) – why salts are brittle
  • σ and π bonds: C–C 154 pm, C=C 134 pm, C≡C 120 pm – and why atmospheric nitrogen hardly reacts
  • Lewis structures step by step: CO₂, NH₄⁺, CO with formal charges, HCN
  • VSEPR: linear 180°, trigonal planar 120°, tetrahedral 109.5°, NH₃ ≈ 107°, H₂O 104.5°
  • dipole molecules: water yes, CO₂ and CCl₄ no – a water stream and a balloon, the microwave, Teflon
  • metallic bonding, alloys (brass, bronze, steel), covalent network solids and graphite
  • cell building block 3: two kinds of current – electrons in the wire, ions in the electrolyte
  • the four most common exam traps
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13:08

Episode 7

Intermolecular Forces – Advanced

What you will learn

  • inside vs between: boiling leaves the molecules intact – O–H is about 20 times stronger than a hydrogen bond
  • dispersion forces: methane −162 °C to octane 126 °C · n-pentane 36 °C vs neopentane 9.5 °C · butane in a lighter
  • dipole–dipole: propane −42 °C vs dimethyl ether −24 °C
  • hydrogen bonds: H₂S, H₂Se, H₂Te – and why water boils at 100 instead of ≈ −80 °C · ammonia · ethanol 78 °C
  • solubility: methanol to propanol mix, hexanol hardly · surfactants and micelles · iodine in hexane
  • dissolving salts: breaking the lattice vs hydration – warm or cold (cold pack)
  • gecko, DNA, blow-dried hair, glue and antifreeze
  • cell building block 4: the electrolyte – hydrated ions carry the current
  • the four most common exam traps
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12:37

Episode 8

The Mole & Concentration – Advanced

What you will learn

  • counting by weighing: coin rolls, pair, dozen – and the mole: 6.022 · 10²³ particles
  • molar mass: C 12, H₂O 18, CO₂ 44 g/mol · n = m/M · 3.06 · 10²¹ atoms in 1 g of gold
  • the 7 : 4 puzzle: iron and sulfur react 1 : 1 – 56 g to 32 g
  • gases: 22.4 L/mol at 0 °C, ≈ 24 L/mol at 20 °C · the gas from the effervescent tablet
  • concentration: saline 0.9 % = 0.154 mol/L · mineral water in mg/L · ppm
  • preparing in a volumetric flask and diluting: 50 mL at 2 mol/L → 400 mL at 0.25 mol/L
  • blood sugar: 5 mmol/L = 90 mg/dL
  • cell building block 5: an electrolyte at 1 mol/L – 29.2 g of table salt in 500 mL
  • the four most common exam traps
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12:54

Episode 9

Stoichiometry – Advanced

What you will learn

  • coefficients as a recipe: 2 mol : 1 mol : 2 mol – not 2 g : 1 g : 2 g · rocket fuel 1 : 8
  • the calculation scheme with a table: 16 g methane → 36 g water
  • 1 L of petrol → 2.31 kg CO₂ · ≈ 140 g CO₂ per kilometre
  • gases: ≈ 108 g sodium azide for 60 L of airbag gas
  • the limiting reactant: sandwiches and 10 g hydrogen with 64 g oxygen
  • yield: aspirin in the school lab, 79 % · purity of limestone
  • solutions: vinegar and baking soda · baking powder in a cake
  • cell building block 6: electrons in moles – an LED uses ≈ 24 mg of zinc in 10 h
  • the four most common exam traps
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12:47

Episode 10

Energy & Reaction Rates – Advanced

What you will learn

  • ΔH: sign, energy diagram, methane −890 kJ/mol, kJ on food labels
  • calorimetry: the peanut under the drinks can
  • bond enthalpies: methane ≈ −802 kJ/mol from table values
  • Hess’s law: C → CO with −111 kJ/mol without measuring it
  • entropy and ΔG: why a cold pack gets cold by itself · diamond is metastable
  • reaction rate and collision theory
  • 10 K warmer → 2 to 4 times faster · milk in the fridge
  • catalysts, enzymes and flour dust
  • cell building block 7: the same reaction as heat or as electricity
  • the four most common exam traps
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12:09

Episode 11

Chemical Equilibrium – Advanced

What you will learn

  • the soda bottle as an equilibrium
  • forward and back: the two tanks and two cups model
  • dynamic equilibrium: rate forward = rate back
  • equilibrium law: K from measurements (N₂O₄ ⇌ 2 NO₂)
  • esterification with an ICE table: 67 % – with an excess 90 %
  • reaction quotient Q: which way does a mixture go?
  • Le Chatelier: concentration, pressure, temperature – and why a catalyst shifts nothing
  • Haber-Bosch: fertiliser from air as a compromise
  • stalactite caves, carbon monoxide in the blood, CO₂ in the ocean
  • cell building block 8: why a battery goes flat
  • the five most common exam traps
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12:33

Episode 12

Acid-Base Chemistry & pH – Advanced

What you will learn

  • why your blood keeps its pH so precisely
  • Brønsted: acid = proton donor, base = proton acceptor, conjugate pairs
  • autoionisation: Kw = 10⁻¹⁴, pH + pOH = 14
  • strong acids and bases: pH = −log c₀ (HCl, NaOH)
  • weak acids: pKa table and the pH of vinegar (≈ 2.4)
  • titration: how much acetic acid is in vinegar? (≈ 5 %)
  • titration curves: equivalence point, half-equivalence point pH = pKa, phenolphthalein
  • buffers: Henderson-Hasselbalch – 4.76 → 4.67 instead of 7 → 2
  • the blood buffer CO₂/HCO₃⁻ (7.4) and hyperventilation
  • the ocean: pH 8.2 → 8.1 means 26 % more hydronium ions
  • cell building block 9: the lemon battery – and what really happens at the copper
  • the four most common exam traps
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14:37

Episode 13

Redox & Electrochemistry – Advanced

What you will learn

  • 3.7 V, 0.9 V, 1.10 V – predicting voltages
  • oxidation numbers: manganese in permanganate (+VII), chromium in dichromate (+VI)
  • redox equations in four steps: permanganate and iron(II), charge +17 = +17
  • the galvanic cell: anode, cathode, salt bridge
  • standard potentials: ΔE = E(cathode) − E(anode) = 1.10 V · ΔG = −212 kJ/mol
  • Nernst equation: 1.04 V instead of 1.10 V · concentration cell · pH meter
  • electrolysis: water, aluminium (95 % saved by recycling) · Faraday: 0.59 g of copper
  • alkaline, lead-acid, lithium-ion: how much lithium moves in a phone battery?
  • corrosion: local cells and sacrificial anodes
  • cell building block 10: predicting the voltage of our cell
  • the five most common exam traps
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12:38

Episode 14

Organic Chemistry – Advanced

What you will learn

  • methane, methanol, methanoic acid: the ending decides
  • naming: longest chain, lowest numbers – 2-methylbutane, 2,2-dimethylpropane, but-2-ene
  • isomerism: butane and 2-methylpropane, cis/trans, carvone (mint or caraway)
  • functional groups: -ol, -al, -one, acids, esters, amines
  • boiling points: ethane −89 °C to acetic acid 118 °C – and why
  • substitution in light, addition to double bonds, the bromine water test
  • oxidation series: ethanol → ethanal → acetic acid (−I → +I → +III)
  • esters: pineapple, banana, nail polish remover – and soap by saponification
  • polymerisation and polycondensation: polyethene and PET
  • cell building block 11: organic chemistry in a lithium-ion battery
  • the four most common exam traps
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10:49

Episode 15

Build an Electrochemical Cell – Advanced

What you will learn

  • three designs: Daniell (school lab), voltaic pile and aluminium-air cell (at home)
  • prediction: 1.10 V – with Nernst 1.07 V
  • measuring: open-circuit 0.85 V, under load 0.60 V → internal resistance 100 Ω
  • four cells in series: 3.4 V, 4 mA, the LED lights with 7 mW
  • why the measurement is below theory: Nernst, overpotential, internal resistance
  • optimising: area, distance, vinegar, fresh electrodes
  • Faraday: 49 mg of zinc for 10 hours of LED
  • safety: copper sulphate only in the school lab, never open lithium cells
  • looking back: every cell building block of the series
  • the three most common traps when building cells
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