Work through the list without notes. If you cannot do a statement, follow its link, then come back. Guide = study guide; Practice = practice questions.
Understanding
- I can explain the difference between soluble, miscible and immiscible. (Guide: “Soluble, insoluble and miscible”; Practice Q1)
- I can describe dissolving as overcoming solute–solute and solvent–solvent attractions and forming solute–solvent attractions. (Guide: “Dissolving at the particle level”)
- I can explain why substances with similar intermolecular interactions tend to mix. (Guide; Practice Q1, Q4)
- I can explain why nonpolar substances dissolve poorly in water without saying that water repels them. (Practice Q7)
Skills
- I can predict whether a substance dissolves better in water or in hexane, naming the interactions in the solute, the solvent and between them. (Guide: Worked example 1; Practice Q2, Q4, Q5)
- I can draw a particulate model of an ionic compound dissolved in water, with the ions separate, in the right ratio, and the water molecules oriented correctly. (Guide: Figure 1; Practice Q3, Q5)
- I can read solubility data and describe the trend for a series of molecules with a growing hydrocarbon chain. (Guide: Figure 2, Worked example 2; Practice Q6)
- I can use the pattern in a data series to estimate a missing value. (Practice Q6)
Reasoning
- I can explain why a longer hydrocarbon chain lowers solubility in water and raises solubility in nonpolar solvents. (Guide: Worked example 2; Practice Q6)
- I can explain why some ionic compounds, such as calcium carbonate, barely dissolve in water, and recall which salts are always soluble. (Guide: “Not every ionic compound dissolves”)
- I can explain the degree to which the like-dissolves-like model describes real solubility, and what it cannot predict. (Guide: Worked example 3; Practice Q7)
All ticked? Move on to Topic 3.11, Spectroscopy and the Electromagnetic Spectrum, or return to the course roadmap.