What is the hardest part of A level chemistry?
A level chemistry is notorious for being one of the toughest A levels out there which is why attending a A Level Chemistry Revision Course would be very useful . It often shocks students how much of a step up in difficulty it is compared to GCSE. This makes many students drop out from studying it at college or avoid it altogether. So, what are the hardest parts of A level chemistry? Read on to get a better understanding of this subject.
The complex content
It’s no secret that every A level’s content goes more complex from GCSE to A level. However, chemistry’s content is specifically difficult. It’s hard to understand concepts that you can’t even see. This includes oxidation states and electron configuration – which can be very difficult if you struggle to visualise them. Diagrams can be provided, although they still confuse the majority of students.
The mathematical concepts
It’s often recommended that students should complement their A level chemistry with A level maths. This is because chemistry A level includes a lot more maths than it does at GCSE. Whilst some of the maths can be simple, other formulas are quite complicated. Many students slip up on earning marks on these questions. You’ll certainly need a sharp mathematical brain to receive the best grades in chemistry – particularly at A2.
Working out what the question wants us to
One of the hardest parts of A level chemistry is working out what the examiner wants from you. With some of the questions being incredibly complex, it’s often difficult to know what formula you should be using. This is quite common with equation questions. Students often get stuck on what equation they’re supposed to use to work out the answer to the question. Some of the chemistry questions can be quite wordy too. It’s difficult to know what you’re working with when you are given a lot of information at once. Students tend to spend a lot of time trying to figure out the steps they should be taking.
Heavy workload
As well as becoming more complex, the content also becomes larger in workload. There’s much more to learn at A level than GCSE, and this often throws students off. With much more to memorise, students need to work a lot harder in revision to retain everything. A level chemistry has many tricky little details that need to be remembered, not to mention all the different modules. The course is very varied, with students learning a wide range of topics. This can often be one of the hardest parts, as students have to divide their attention across multiple different things.
Therefore, you can probably see that A level chemistry isn’t to be taken lightly. It’s one of the hardest A levels you can take, although this doesn’t mean that it’s not possible with effort. There are particularly difficult parts in A level chemistry, including the complex content. You certainly need to be up for a challenge to take on this particular A level. It continues to push its students to their limits of academic ability!
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