AQA A Level Chemistry Required Practicals
Use this landing page to move between the AQA A Level Chemistry required practical revision pages for the first year of the course. Each page gives the method with the reason for every step, the apparatus, the data processing, the uncertainty and the evaluation points that the written papers reward, together with the practical techniques that are examined without being a numbered required practical.
Choose a Practical Page
Practical questions test more than a memorised method. Students need to understand apparatus choices, measurement quality, data processing, uncertainty, risk management and how each practical links to the underlying chemistry.
Key idea: The strongest practical answers connect observations and data to chemical reasoning, while using precise apparatus vocabulary and clear evaluation of errors or limitations.
Required practicals and techniques for the first year
Practical skills linked to the physical, inorganic and organic chemistry of Papers 1 and 2.
Measuring the Molar Volume of a Gas
Measuring the molar volume of a gas: collecting CO₂ over water, the graph of volume against mass, the calculation to 24 dm³ mol⁻¹, percentage uncertainty and the errors examiners ask about.
Start revisingRequired Practical 2: Measurement of an Enthalpy Change
Required Practical 2: enthalpy change via Hess’s law from K₂CO₃ and KHCO₃ with HCl, with q = mcΔT, the Hess cycle, percentage uncertainty and error analysis.
Start revisingRequired Practical 1: Acid–Base Titration
Required Practical 1: finding the concentration of hydrochloric acid by titration with standardised sodium hydroxide, with method reasons, concordant titres, the worked calculation, error directions and percentage uncertainty.
Start revisingRequired Practical 1: Making a Volumetric Solution
Required Practical 1: preparing a standard solution of sulfamic acid and using it to find the concentration of sodium hydroxide by titration, with method, sample data, calculation, uncertainty and common errors.
Start revisingComparing the Rates of Hydrolysis of Halogenoalkanes
Practical Skills: Rates of Hydrolysis: comparing the rates of hydrolysis of halogenoalkanes with aqueous silver nitrate in ethanol at 50 °C, the role of each reagent, silver halide colours, 1/t, bond enthalpies and carbocation stability, with errors, improvements and exam points.
Start revisingPreparing an Organic Liquid: Chlorination of 2-methylpropan-2-ol
The chlorination of 2-methylpropan-2-ol (Practical Skills: Organic Preparation): Sₙ1 mechanism via the tertiary carbocation, separating funnel technique, hydrogencarbonate wash, drying, simple distillation at 50–52 °C, silver nitrate test with nitric acid, worked percentage yield and evaluation.
Start revisingRequired Practical 5: Distillation of a Product (Oxidation of Ethanol)
Required Practical 5: oxidation of ethanol to ethanal by distillation and to ethanoic acid by reflux, with apparatus, boiling points, equations, product tests and exam points.
Start revisingRequired Practicals 4 and 6: Identifying Ions and Functional Groups
Required Practicals 4 and 6: identifying unknown organic liquids and inorganic solids by test-tube reactions, with the method, safety, ionic equations with state symbols, the evidence trail, exam data practice and interactive checks.
Start revisingRequired Practical 3: Effect of Temperature on the Rate of Reaction
Measuring rates of reaction: sodium thiosulfate and acid, rate ∝ 1/t, the effect of temperature and concentration, gas syringe and mass loss methods, tangents and errors.
Start revisingGravimetric Analysis: Water of Crystallisation and Thermal Decomposition
Gravimetric analysis: water of crystallisation by heating to constant mass, crucible technique, thermal decomposition of carbonates, composition calculations and errors.
Start revisingHow to Use These Practical Pages
Start with the practical that matches the topic you are studying, then return to this page before revising practical skills. For each practical, make sure you can state the purpose, describe the method accurately, process the data and explain how errors, uncertainty and safety affect the quality of the result.
Exam focus: Practise explaining method improvements, identifying sources of error, choosing suitable apparatus and linking observations to valid conclusions.
Copyright notice: This OLS revision content, including the explanations, layout, diagrams, tables and embedded learning structure, is authored for Online Learning System by Dr. Mohammed Al-Fatah. It may not be copied, reproduced, redistributed or adapted without written permission.
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