Notes on gas chromatography and GC-MS for the current Edexcel A-level specification. There’s pictures and diagrams, explanation of a calibration curve and links to three top recommended videos in this one-page resource.

Some of the hardest questions for many GCSE chemistry students are the long answer written questions, explaining things like why the rate of reaction increases when you increase the temperature, and how the position of equilibrium shifts. So I’ve written a one-page set of notes for the Edexcel iGCSE chemistry course that covers all these questions, fitting them onto a single page. These notes cover: how temperature and concentration affect rate of reaction melting point of ionic, molecular and giant covalent chemicals equilibrium position conductivity It makes chemistry so much easier for students having everything on a single page. Particularly intended for iGCSE chemistry but I think it’s also pretty helpful for A-level students just starting the course who need to recap what they did last year, many will have forgotten these topics. This set of notes was written consulting current Edexcel iGCSE chemistry papers and mark schemes. Questions consulted included: rate: 1CR June 2019, question 5d bonding: 1CR June 2019 9a and 9b equilibrium: June 2019, 2C 7b and 2CR 7b conductivity: 2CR June 2019 and Paper 1CR June 2019 9c diffusion: 1C Jan 2018, 3c ii) Versions with colour pictures and without pictures for photocopying. I also have a version for the AQA GCSEs and a combined set for a range of courses.

Flow diagram showing the menstrual cycle on one page, suitable for OCR Gateway GCSE biology. Clean modern design, easy to follow. Explains roles of follicle stimulating hormone, luteinising hormone, oestrogen and progesterone, the pituitary gland and ovaries, as well as the hormonal contraception methods. Two versions are included. One includes details of contraception methods, one doesn’t to give you a version with less text. This version of these notes is designed for OCR Gateway GCSE biology. I have an alternative version of this diagram for the AQA and Edexcel courses (amongst others) which contains some extra content, including more details about progesterone.

Notes on the tests for anions for OCR Gateway GCSE chemistry on a single page. There’s both a full and ionic equation for carbonate, sulfate and halide ion reactions to give students good models. To show the differences in formulas between compounds of metals that form +2 and +1 ions, there’s equations for both sodium and calcium carbonate too. A lot of work went to squeezing everything in clearly! There’s versions of the resource for colour and black and white printing.

I’ve found respiration is one of the most important things for students to get right studying biology. The equations are so important, but many GCSE and even some weaker A-level biology students can’t instantly give them. I explain to students that they’re an instant grade boost. Here’s a worksheet and set of notes on one page on the most common respiration questions. There’s the word equations, a guide through the standard question about how your heart and breathing rate change with exercise, and there’s links to some recommended videos. Versions included for colour and black and white printing. Full mark scheme included with the worksheet. Remembering the equations for respiration is one of the last things I always go over with students just before their exams, because it’s such a morale booster to instantly get full marks on one of these questions. I will never forget what one student told me in 2021: “It came up! Exactly what you said, it came up!” Although this worksheet and set of notes works for students taking any exam board and A-level students who need a recap, it was particularly written with an eye to AQA 9-1 GCSE mark schemes. Questions consulted included: 8461/1H 2021, question 7 8461/1F 2020, question 4 8461/2F 2018, questions 7 and 11 BL2HP 2017, question 5 I’ve got a separate set of notes for Edexcel iGCSE which uses the term “lactate” instead of lactic acid.

Notes on one page covering all the tests for cations for OCR Gateway GCSE chemistry, including the precipitation equations. I’ve also included model equations, both complete and ionic, for the precipitation reactions, with examples for a +2 and +3 ion. Versions included both in colour and in black and white for photocopying.

When doing tuition using an online platform like Zoom or Skype, you often need to put formulas into the chat box or onto an online whiteboard that wasn’t designed for scientific use and doesn’t support constructing superscript and subscript characters. Also, you may need to write out formulas very quickly if your student asks something unexpected. So this is a list of a huge number of formulas for the major GCSE and iGCSE chemistry courses using the Unicode superscript and subscript characters, indexed and ready to go for tuition. (For other countries, it should be suitable for tuition of students up to around age 16.) Covering thirteen pages, sections include: common ions organic chemistry: combustion, alkene hydration, alcohol oxidation acid-base: acids with metals, carbonates, oxides, hydroxides, ammonia reactions common reversible reactions: Haber process, syngas, the Contact process inorganic reactions: thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate, electrolysis (water, sodium chloride, copper sulfate with graphite or copper electrodes), displacement, thermite, metals reacting with oxygen and water, halogen displacement, both with overall and ionic and half-equations) the chemical tests: precipitation, hydroxide tests the chemical reactions of biology: respiration and photosynthesis core maths equations that might be needed in science, such as area of a circle, volume of a sphere, volume of a cylinder etc. some prebuilt unit conversions Versions of important equations are included in multiple forms, such as with or without state symbols, so you can select one that matches the level you’re working at with the student and keep the lesson flowing. I’ve used these formulas for a huge number of paid tuition jobs, and couldn’t do anything without them-they’ve really helped me make things clear to students, keep lessons moving and give a professional impression. Many students have asked me how I make equations appear looking good in the chat of a call, or even asked me for this document to use themselves! The document is an editable rtf and docx file with the equations and all the superscripts and subscripts and some common symbols at the start. You can build your own equations if you need them or edit or reorganise the document to suit your way of working.

Notes and worksheet on series and parallel circuits covering voltage, current and resistance for the Edexcel 9-1 GCSE. There’s a version filled in for revision and a blank worksheet for students to fill in themselves. The notes aim to put all on one page all the rules of potential difference, current and resistance for series and parallel circuits, something students have a lot of trouble managing. In particular, it shows the way that the rules of series and parallel circuits for current and PD are opposite to one another, something also stressed in a “how do I remember all this?” guide at the bottom. A power triangle for Ohm’s law is also included to help students know what calculation to do. These notes should be suitable also for teaching OCR Gateway GCSE physics. Please note that this set of notes isn’t needed for Edexcel international GCSE which doesn’t go as far into the topic.

A-level osmosis required practical notes, targeting courses including AQA 3.2.3 and required practicals 3 and 4 and OCR A 2.1.5. The notes include diagrams on how to plot a graph of the data and some exam technique practice on how to answer questions on getting valid data, and links to good videos. The notes are bullet point style and easy to read. This set of notes is particularly targeted towards revising the practical come exam time and doesn’t include a detailed practical methodology. NOTE: my apologies, the original uploaded version had some words missing explaining the effect of evaporation on water potential, this has now been corrected.

Helping students understand chemistry, I’ve realised you have to hold a lot of things in your head to even know what a chemistry textbook is talking about. A lot of students find they just can’t hold together all the things they have to know at once. Back in 2015, I realised what students can benefit from is a concentrated set of notes, like a dictionary or a glossary but in full sentences, that fits as much of chemistry as you can on a single page that you can keep referring back to to decode what’s going on. My students liked it, and I’ve worked to create definitions that are concise and clear to fit as much as possible on one page. It’s helpful for giving students just starting the course to have to refer to every now and then, and for students who need remedial help because the concepts are slipping out of reach. The notes include quick basic definitions of: structure of an atom how to read the periodic table ionic, covalent and metallic bonding properties of ionic chemicals oxidation and reduction properties of ionic chemicals acids, bases and alkalis the idea that in neutralisation the salt name depends on the acid

Revision notes for A-level chemistry on cracking for the AQA A-level specification in comparison table format, and the same table but empty for students to fill in themselves. An example cracking equation is given for students to fill in and suggest names for the products and there is an emphasis on practicing the unit conversions and working out the formulas and names of products. Update for 2023: expanded resource based on student feedback, with a link to a video demonstration and bullet-point list of products.

Notes on one page covering all the tests for cations for Edexcel GCSE chemistry, including the precipitation equations, and links to videos of them being done. I’ve also included model equations, both complete and ionic, for the precipitation reactions, with examples for a +2 and +3 ion, and the equation for the ammonium ion test. Versions included both in colour and in black and white for photocopying. Update: a missing 2 in a formula has been added. My apologies for the mistake.

Notes on the tests for anions for AQA GCSE chemistry courses on a single page. A lot of work went to squeezing everything in! There’s both a full and ionic equation for carbonate, sulfate and halide ion reactions to give students good models. To show the differences in formulas between compounds of metals that form +2 and +1 ions, there’s equations for both sodium and calcium carbonate too. There’s versions of the resource for colour and black and white printing. This set of notes was particular written targeting the AQA GCSE chemistry course, but it’s suitable for most GCSE courses as well as recap for students coming in to A-level.

Revision notes of the negative ions for Edexcel GCSE chemistry on one page, including both complete and ionic equations for the reactions. Versions both in colour and for black and white printing. There’s both a full and ionic equation for carbonate, sulfate and halide ion reactions to give students good models. To show the differences in formulas between compounds of metals that form +2 and +1 ions, there’s equations for both sodium and calcium carbonate too.

Some of the hardest questions for many GCSE chemistry students are the long answer written questions, explaining things like why the rate of reaction increases when you increase the temperature, and how the position of equilibrium shifts. So I’ve written a one-page set of notes for AQA that covers all these questions, fitting them onto a single page. These notes cover: how temperature and concentration affect rate of reaction melting point of ionic, molecular and giant covalent chemicals equilibrium position conductivity It makes chemistry so much easier for students having everything on a single page. A version with colour pictures is included. Particularly intended for GCSE chemistry but I think it’s also pretty helpful for A-level students just starting the course who need to recap what they did last year, many will have forgotten these topics. This set of notes was written against the current AQA GCSE science specifications. Past paper mark schemes consulted include: ionic bonding: 4.3 from 8464/C/2H, 2018, specification reference 5.2.2.3. giant covalent bonding: 5.1 from 8464C1H 2018, specification reference 5.2.3.1 3.4 from 8465/3H 2019, specification 4.8.1.1 simple molecular bonding and intermolecular forces: 4.4 from 8464/C/1H 2019, 5.1.2.6 and 5.2.2.4 7.1 from 84644C2H specimen, 5.2.2.4 concentration and rate: 5.5 from 8464/C/2H 2019, specification reference 5.6.1.3 temperature and rate: 6.4 from 8465/3H 2019, reference 4.7.4.3 metallic conductivity: 2.6 from 84643C1H specimen paper, reference 5.2.1.5/5.2.2.8 equilibrium: 4.3 from 8465/3H 2019, 4.7.4.8 4.7.4.10 7.2 from 84644C2H specimen, 5.6.2.4

One-page resource on electronegativity, covering a bullet point definition of electronegativity, polar bonds, the effect of dipoles cancelling, and which elements are most electronegative. Links to other areas of the course are made by explaining that although electronegativity is what you see in covalent bonded molecules, it correlates with higher first ionisation energy. Suitable for all A-level specifications, but particularly ties into the AQA and OCR content. An extract of a table of electronegativity is included covering all the common non-metals.

The two main types of Hess cycles shown on a poster: cycles with combustion enthalpy data and formation enthalpy data. There’s versions both in colour and black and white. The diagram focuses on teaching them using a vector method which shows which arrow needs to be reversed. The answers of what to do are on the side of the poster.

Colourful revision notes in checklist form of all the bond angles for the AQA course over two pages. It’s very helpful to be able to run quickly down a list of all the bond angles and check you remember them-this is very common in foreign languages where you have to learn lots of vocabulary: you cover the answers and run through them one by one. Lists of both the standard case study chemicals from the textbooks, and also others students may run into e.g. organic chemicals, which the textbook doesn’t link to this topic but exam questions may do. There’s also an explanation of the key points to make in explaining why bond angles exist based on past paper questions. There’s versions both in colour and black and white.

One-page reference of the most common oxidation numbers for A-level with clear layout. Lists the elements which have particularly unpredictable oxidation numbers and gives case studies of them. Also lists the most common oxidation numbers of transition metals, with half-equations for the reduction of manganate(VII) and dichromate(VI) ions. Versions in colour and in black and white for photocopying. Specification references include OCR A 2.1.5 and AQA 3.1.7.

One-page reference giving a case study of how to answer questions on experiment design. Suitable for GCSE and A-level students. The case study is testing catalase-catalysed decomposition of hydrogen peroxide at different temperatures. This set of notes is oriented towards exam technique and how to answer multi-mark questions on this kind of topic: the need to define and set up an independent variable, to measure a dependent variable, define some control variables, and maybe plot the data and mention some safety precautions. I specifically mention that you don’t need to give too many control variables-students often think they can get more marks listing dozens.