VCE Chemistry

The development and use of materials for specific purposes is an important human endeavour. In this unit students investigate the chemical structures and properties of a range of materials, including covalent compounds, metals, ionic compounds and polymers. They are introduced to ways that chemical quantities are measured. They consider how manufacturing innovations lead to more sustainable products being produced for society through the use of renewable raw materials and a transition from a linear economy towards a circular economy.

Students conduct practical investigations involving the reactivity series of metals, separation of mixtures by chromatography, use of precipitation reactions to identify ionic compounds, determination of empirical formulas, and synthesis of polymers.

Throughout this unit students use chemistry terminology including symbols, formulas, chemical nomenclature and equations to represent and explain observations and data from their own investigations and to evaluate the chemistry-based claims of others.

In this area of study students focus on the measurement of quantities in chemistry and the structures and properties of organic compounds, including polymers. 

The selection of learning contexts should allow students to develop practical techniques to quantify amounts of substances and to investigate the chemistry of organic compounds. Students develop their skills in the use of scientific equipment and apparatus. They perform calculations based on the generation of primary data, such as determining the empirical formula of an ionic compound or hydrated salt, and consider how the quality of data generated in experiments can be improved. They may construct models to visualise the similarities and differences between families of organic compounds. Students may use common substances in their experiments such as making glue from milk. They may investigate the environmental impact of the production of polymers: for example, the recycling of biodegradable polymers derived from natural resources such as biopolyethene (Bio-PE). Students respond to challenges such as investigating how changing formulations for polymers affects their structure and properties: for example, by creating slime. 

The global demand for energy and materials is increasing with world population growth. In this unit students explore energy options and the chemical production of materials with reference to efficiencies, renewability and the minimisation of their impact on the environment.

Students compare and evaluate different chemical energy resources, including fossil fuels, biofuels, galvanic cells and fuel cells. They investigate the combustion of fuels, including the energy transformations involved, the use of stoichiometry to calculate the amounts of reactants and products involved in the reactions, and calculations of the amounts of energy released and their representations. Students consider the purpose, design and operating principles of galvanic cells, fuel cells and electrolytic cells. In this context they use the electrochemical series to predict and write half and overall redox equations, and apply Faraday’s laws to calculate quantities in electrolytic reactions.

Students analyse manufacturing processes with reference to factors that influence their reaction rates and extent. They investigate and apply the equilibrium law and Le Chatelier’s principle to different reaction systems, including to predict and explain the conditions that will improve the efficiency and percentage yield of chemical processes. They use the language and conventions of chemistry including symbols, units, chemical formulas and equations to represent and explain observations and data collected from experiments, and to discuss chemical phenomena.

The carbon atom has unique characteristics that explain the diversity and number of organic compounds that not only constitute living tissues but are also found in the fuels, foods, medicines and many of the materials we use in everyday life. In this unit students investigate the structural features, bonding, typical reactions and uses of the major families of organic compounds including those found in food.

Students study the ways in which organic structures are represented and named. They process data from instrumental analyses of organic compounds to confirm or deduce organic structures, and perform volumetric analyses to determine the concentrations of organic chemicals in mixtures. Students consider the nature of the reactions involved to predict the products of reaction pathways and to design pathways to produce particular compounds from given starting materials.

Students investigate key food molecules through an exploration of their chemical structures, the hydrolytic reactions in which they are broken down and the condensation reactions in which they are rebuilt to form new molecules. In this context the role of enzymes and coenzymes in facilitating chemical reactions is explored. Students use calorimetry as an investigative tool to determine the energy released in the combustion of foods.