God
H2O isn't involved in the reaction converting haloalkanes to alcohols cuz it's uncharged and therefore a weak nucleophile. Unless you have a suitable catalyst, this reaction won't happen at a significant rate, that's why VCAA expects NaOH or KOH or OH-. You need OH- since converting a primary haloalkane into a primary alcohol is what we call an SN2 reaction, which requires a strong (charged) nucleophile. You may think OH- is the catalyst cuz it deprotonates water, but this isn't actually the case. You use up 1 particle of OH- to deprotonate 1 molecule H2O (making 1 particle of OH-) which then reacts with a haloalkane molecule (so you end up using 2 particles of OH- while only producing 1, for a net use of 1 OH- particle). Since catalysts by definition aren't consumed, OH- in this case is a reactant, not a catalyst

    Billzene So do you think we need to include states for the reactant and catalyst in hydration of alkenes. The 2020 report just says H20 / H+, but I usually see H2O(g) and H3PO4(aq). If the alkene and water are both gases, what is the acid aqueous in? Can things dissolve in steam? Thanks heaps Bilzene!

        Also, in H-NMR, if the adjacent H on adjacent carbon atoms are in the same chemical environment (say a cycloalkane for example), is there any splitting pattern. If not, what about when the chemical environment is only slightly different, like for 2 adjacent CH2 groups in an octane molecule. Would it then be a splitting pattern with a tiny chemical shift either side?

        And more importantly, does VCAA care? Thanks again.

          Jesus
          That's precisely the reason VCAA doesn't ask you the states of the H3PO4 catalyst since people can debate forever about whether it's (g) or (aq). You should always write H2O (g) though

          Jesus
          Hs in the same environment don't split each other, so for cyclohexane, you'll just see a singlet that integrates to 12

          Slightly different chemical environments do produce splits. The width of the split doesn't matter since you only deal with 3J coupling in VCE chem

                Does VCAA care if we do not specify something implied during naming of a compound?
                Eg. Propanone is obviously propan-2-one

                  Will I'm pretty sure if you write something unnecessary like ethan-1-ol it will be marked wrong. But we will have to see what Bilzene says

                      Will
                      Great Question Will! I'm not sure, but would like to know was well 🙂

                      I wonder if it applies for the prefix as well (eg. "methyl ethanol"); Or would you need to write '1-methyl ethanol'....

                      Jesus Surely not... That'd be really mean of VCAA.....

                          Will I'm sure Billzene will be able to give you a better answer since I'm a bit out of touch with VCE chemistry, but I am pretty sure that the numbers are not necessary for compounds that are implied. For example, no need to write propan-2-one, propanone will suffice (but you actually don't need to know how to name aldehydes and ketones for VCE chemistry anyway)

                          Jesus
                          You wouldn't lose marks for writing this.

                              Will
                              It's super inconsistent. I got a mark taken off on a SAC for writing propan-2-one due to the redundant number, but when I omitted it on my exam, I got a mark taken off there. This might be bad luck since the students I tutor never lost a mark on their exams for including or excluding a redundant position number.

                                Hey Billzene,
                                Do you know if we need to know which amino acids are essential?

                                  Will
                                  You absolutely don't. They'll tell you in the question if an amino acid is essential or non-essential

                                    13 days later

                                    hey
                                    for this questions write an equation that shows hso4- acting as base in water. Would it be. Thank you

                                    h2so4 + h20 = hso4- + h30+

                                      chemistry1111
                                      You’re showing H2SO4 acting as an acid, not HSO4- acting as a base. Remember that bases grab H+ i.e. they neutralise (remove) H3O+ instead of making more H3O+

                                        hamna_fa
                                        Hi!

                                        Edit: I'm completely wrong... Mybad! See Will

                                        Presuming the standard solution is used to make the titrant/aliquot; here's my understanding!

                                        - This would mean that the concentration would have been artificially decreased (as the titrant would be diluted).
                                        - This would mean there would be an overestimation of aliquot added.

                                        • Meaning the concentration measurement would be greater than the real value.

                                        Hope this helps!

                                            Is the volumetric flask not supposed to be rinsed with only deionsied water?
                                            It says the "accuracy of the standard solution", so I'm assuming the volumetric flask is used to make the standard solution. If so, it should be washed with water regardless, as water is added to make these, and it is filled up to a certain point in the beaker.

                                            The only thing that is washed with the solution which will go in it is the burette and the pipette, right?

                                              Will
                                              This is correct. You're filling the volumetric flask with water anyways so it doesn't matter if there's some residual water left. The other glassware you wash with distilled water is the conical flask

                                                hamna_fa
                                                It's OK since you're going to add more water to the Na2CO3 in the volumetric flask anyways

                                                  Christ It disrupts the H bonding in 2˚ and 3˚ structures of proteins with its hydroxyl group