ICO Part B (ORI) study guide
ICO Part B (ORI) · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The ICO Part B practical examination, often labelled ORI (Orientation), is the laboratory paper of the International Chemistry Olympiad. Each host country designs its own practical task, so the chemistry changes year to year, but the demands do not: you receive a bench, a set of reagents, an instruction sheet and a fixed amount of bench time, and you must produce both a clean experimental result and a written report that defends it. The ICO Part B (ORI) study guide has 7 sections and about 2,353 words.
01Laboratory Safety and Experimental Technique
This domain tests whether you can plan bench work at the scale you propose, identify the controlling hazard, and choose containment and emergency controls. Questions often combine a practical scenario with a calculation.
379 words, about 2 min02Synthesis and Characterization of Inorganic and Coordination Compounds
This domain examines whether you can make a coordination compound reproducibly and prove what you have made. Expect air-sensitive technique, ligand-field reasoning, and interpretation of several independent characterisation methods.
337 words, about 2 min03Organic Synthesis, Separation, and Identification
This domain tests route planning, safe execution of organometallic and protecting-group chemistry, and the practical separation and identification of products. Work backwards: identify the target, disconnect at C–C or C–heteroatom bonds, and check each synthon is a real reagent.
334 words, about 2 min04Quantitative Analysis: Titrimetry, Gravimetry, and Spectrophotometry
This domain tests whether a number you report is traceable to a primary standard, statistically defensible, and free of matrix bias. Standardise against a primary standard: KHP for NaOH, anhydrous Na2CO3 for HCl, K2Cr2O7 for thiosulfate, EDTA for metal ions, sodium oxalate for KMnO4.
321 words, about 2 min05Physical Chemistry Measurements: Kinetics, Thermodynamics, and Electrochemistry
This domain asks you to design a measurement that isolates the variable you claim to be measuring, and to recognise instrumental artefacts. Kinetics: use the isolation method and pseudo-first-order conditions; measure initial rates or an integrated property (absorbance, conductance, pressure).
311 words, about 2 min06Data Treatment, Error Analysis, and Graphical Methods
This domain tests whether your reported uncertainty is derived, not guessed, and whether your graph supports the model you claim. Carry extra digits through the calculation and round only the final result.
326 words, about 2 min07Structure Elucidation from Spectroscopic and Analytical Data
This domain tests whether you can assemble a structure from independent evidence rather than pattern-matching one spectrum. Start with molecular formula and degrees of unsaturation: (2C + 2 + N − H − X)/2.
345 words, about 2 min