Measurement
Balance
Weighing by difference, and reading to the balance’s own precision.
Practise this skillSkills
Short drills on single parts of a chemistry practical. Each card says which practicals use it.
30 skills to practise0 of 30 practised
Measurement
Measuring cylinder
Choosing the right size, and what its least count really is.
Practise this skillMeasurement
Burette
Filling, running down, and reading to 0.05 cm³.
Practise this skillMeasurement
Pipette
Filling to the mark with a safety filler, and draining it correctly.
Practise this skillMeasurement
Thermometer
Reading a rising and a falling temperature without parallax.
Practise this skillMeasurement
Meniscus
Bottom for pale liquids, top for dark ones, eye level for both.
Practise this skillObservation
Colour change
Naming the colour before and after, not just "it changed".
Practise this skillObservation
Precipitate
Colour, and whether it dissolves in excess.
Practise this skillObservation
Gas evolution
Bubbles or none, and how vigorously they came off.
Practise this skillObservation
Dissolution
Dissolves, partly dissolves, or stays put, and in what.
Practise this skillObservation
Temperature change
Rises, falls, or stays where it was.
Practise this skillRecording
Observation tables
Test, observation and inference in their own columns.
Practise this skillRecording
Titre tables
Rough and concordant runs, initial and final readings, all to 2 d.p.
Practise this skillRecording
Units
Every heading carries its unit; every answer carries the right one.
Practise this skillRecording
Significant figures
Answering to the precision the readings justify, and no further.
Practise this skillCalculation
Moles
n = m ÷ Mᵣ and n = c × V, and knowing which one the question wants.
Practise this skillCalculation
Concentration
mol dm⁻³ and g dm⁻³, and converting between them.
Practise this skillCalculation
Percentage purity
What reacted against what was weighed out.
Practise this skillCalculation
Yield
Theoretical against actual, and where the difference went.
Practise this skillCalculation
Enthalpy
q = mcΔT, then ΔH = −q ÷ n, and getting the sign the right way round.
Practise this skillGraph
Solubility curves
Plotting solubility against temperature and reading values back off it.
Practise this skillGraph
Rate graphs
Volume or mass against time, and the gradient as a rate.
Practise this skillGraph
Cooling curves
The plateau, and what it says about a change of state.
Practise this skillGraph
Titration curves
pH against volume, and picking the indicator off the steep part.
Practise this skillInference
Observation → Inference → Equation → Conclusion
The four steps the paper marks separately, in the order it marks them.
Practise this skillInference
Writing the equation
Building the reaction from its species, then balancing it: atoms and charge.
Practise this skillEvaluation
Errors
Which readings carry the uncertainty, and how much.
Practise this skillEvaluation
Precautions
The ones specific to this practical, not the coat-and-goggles list.
Practise this skillEvaluation
Improvements
What you would change to get a better result, and why it would help.
Practise this skillEvaluation
Reliability
Repeats, concordance, and when a result is trustworthy.
Practise this skillNext, do a full practical or try WAEC-style practice.