Getting the best from the book Welcome to Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry. This textbook has been designed to help you understand all of the requirements needed to succeed in the Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry course. Just as there are five sections in the Edexcel specification, so there are five sections in the textbook: Principles of chemistry, Chemistry of the elements, Organic chemistry, Physical chemistry and Chemistry in society. Each section is split into topics. Each topic in the textbook covers the essential knowledge and skills you need. The textbook also has some very useful features which have been designed to really help you understand all the aspects of Chemistry which you will need to know for this specification. SAFETY IN THE SCIENCE LESSON This book is a textbook, not a laboratory or practical manual. As such, you should not interpret any information in this book that related to practical work as including comprehensive safety instructions. Your teachers will provide full guidance for practical work and cover rules that are specific to your school. A brief introduction to the section to give context to the science covered in the section.
Starting points will help you to revise previous learning and see what you already know about the ideas to be covered in the section.
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Organic chemistry is one of the ‘branches’ of chemistry and is seen as distinct from other branches, such as inorganic and physical chemistry. It can be described as the chemistry of living processes (often referred to as biochemistry) but extends beyond that. It focuses almost entirely on the chemistry of covalently bonded carbon molecules and, as well as life processes, it includes the chemistry of other types of compounds, including plastics, petrochemicals, drugs and paint.
Organic chemistry
The early chemists didn’t think they would ever be able to make the sort of chemicals involved in living processes but they were wrong. For example, today very complex chemicals used in the manufacture of drugs can be made and then their structures modified to achieve improvements in their effectiveness. An understanding of organic chemistry can be developed from a knowledge of the structure of a carbon atom and how it can combine with other carbon atoms by forming covalent bonds. In this section you will be introduced to a few of the ‘families’ or series of organic compounds. This knowledge will provide a sound basis for further work in chemistry or biology.
STARTING POINTS 1. Where is carbon in the Periodic Table of elements? What can you work out about carbon from its position? 2. What is the atomic structure of carbon? How are its electrons arranged? 3. How does carbon form covalent bonds? Show the bonding in methane (CH4), the simplest of organic molecules? 4. You will be learning about series of organic compounds which are hydrocarbons. What do you think a hydrocarbon is? 5. You will be learning about methane. Where can methane be found and what it is used for? 6. You will also be learning about ethanol, which belongs to a particular series of organic compounds. Do you know where you could find ethanol in everyday products?
SECTION CONTENTS a) Alkanes b) Alkenes c) Ethanol d) Exam-style questions
∆ Many paints contain hydrocarbons, which are organic chemicals.
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CHEMISTRY
The section contents shows the separate topics to be studied matching the specification order.
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