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AQA A-level Chemistry — Required Practicals flashcards

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The twelve AQA A-level Chemistry required practicals (RP 1–6 are also the AS practicals; RP 7–12 are A-level only): method steps, apparatus choices, safety, sources of error and improvements, expected observations and the calculations that go with them.

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Learn deck · part of AQA A-level Chemistry · written against: AQA AS and A-level Chemistry (7404/7405) specification, version 1.2, July 2026 (physical, inorganic and organic). Updated 2026-10-10.

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  1. Required practical 1: what are the key steps in making up a standard solution from a solid?
    • Weigh the solid accurately
    • Dissolve it in distilled water in a beaker
    • Transfer it with all washings to a volumetric flask
    • Make up to the mark and invert to mix

    The bottom of the meniscus must sit on the graduation line, read at eye level.
    Required Practicals › Volumetric Solution and Titration
  2. When making a standard solution, why is the weighing boat reweighed after the solid is tipped out?
    Weighing by difference gives the mass actually transferred, allowing for any solid left in the boat.

    Alternatively, rinse the boat into the beaker so that every grain reaches the solution.
    Required Practicals › Volumetric Solution and Titration
  3. Why is a burette rinsed with the solution it will hold, but the conical flask rinsed only with distilled water?
    Water left in the burette would dilute the titrant; water in the flask does not change the moles of the pipetted solution.

    The pipette, like the burette, is rinsed with its own solution for the same reason.
    Required Practicals › Volumetric Solution and Titration
  4. Which titres should be used to calculate the mean in an acid–base titration?
    Only concordant titres, those within 0.10 cm³ of each other.

    The rough titre and any outliers are left out of the mean.
    Required Practicals › Volumetric Solution and Titration
  5. A burette is read to ±0.05 cm³. What is the percentage uncertainty in a titre of 25.00 cm³?
    0.4 %

    Two readings are taken, so the titre's uncertainty is ±0.10 cm³; 0.10 ÷ 25.00 × 100 = 0.4 %.
    Required Practicals › Volumetric Solution and Titration
  6. How can the percentage uncertainty in a titre be reduced?
    Use a larger titre, for example by using a more dilute titrant or a larger volume in the flask.

    The ±0.10 cm³ reading uncertainty stays the same, so it becomes a smaller share of a bigger value.
    Required Practicals › Volumetric Solution and Titration
  7. Why is the titrant added drop by drop near the end point, with the flask swirled over a white tile?
    To avoid overshooting the end point, which is seen as the first permanent colour change.

    The white tile makes the colour change easier to see; a rough titration first shows roughly where it will come.
    Required Practicals › Volumetric Solution and Titration
  8. Required practical 2: why is the temperature of a reaction in a polystyrene cup recorded for several minutes and the graph extrapolated?
    Extrapolating the cooling line back to the time of mixing corrects for heat lost while the temperature was still rising.

    Readings taken before mixing give a steady starting temperature to measure ΔT from.
    Required Practicals › Measuring an Enthalpy Change
  9. Why is an expanded polystyrene cup with a lid used for enthalpy change experiments in solution?
    Polystyrene is a good insulator and has a low heat capacity, so little heat is lost or absorbed by the cup.

    The lid cuts heat loss by evaporation and convection from the surface.
    Required Practicals › Measuring an Enthalpy Change
  10. Excess zinc is added to 25.0 cm³ of 0.500 mol dm⁻³ CuSO₄ and the extrapolated temperature rise is 25.4 K. What is ΔH for the reaction? (c = 4.18 J g⁻¹ K⁻¹)
    −212 kJ mol⁻¹

    q = 25.0 × 4.18 × 25.4 = 2654 J; n(CuSO₄) = 0.0125 mol, so ΔH = −2.654 ÷ 0.0125 = −212 kJ mol⁻¹.
    Required Practicals › Measuring an Enthalpy Change

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More AQA A-level Chemistry decks

Physical Chemistry 1Physical Chemistry 2Inorganic ChemistryOrganic Chemistry 1Organic Chemistry 2Practice Questions

← All AQA A-level Chemistry decks, with the study guide and topic outline.

About these cards

Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.

Checked against:

  • Topic outline follows the AQA AS and A-level Chemistry (7404/7405) specification, version 1.2 (July 2026) (outline only; no specification text reproduced).
  • OpenStax Chemistry 2e and OpenStax Organic Chemistry: A Tenth Edition, consulted as references; no text copied.
  • Also checked against the AQA AS and A-level Chemistry practical handbook, version 2.2 (February 2025), PubChem compound records and CIAAW atomic weights (reference only; no text copied).

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