MATSEC AM Chemistry case studies

MATSEC AM Chemistry · Put your knowledge to work in context.

MATSEC Advanced Matriculation (AM) Chemistry is a subject syllabus offered at the Advanced Matriculation level by the MATSEC Examinations Board of the University of Malta. MATSEC lists syllabi for four levels - SEC (Secondary Education Certificate), SEAC (Secondary Education Applied Certificate), IM (Intermediate Matriculation) and AM (Advanced Matriculation) - and publishes a separate syllabus document for each subject and year. The MATSEC AM Chemistry case studies are 5 cases and about 3,925 words.

Back titration of an antacid tablet: is the label claim really failed?

A pharmacist supplies a student with a batch of antacid tablets, each labelled as containing 500 mg of calcium carbonate. The student is asked to check the label by back titration.

741 words, about 4 min 2

Iodine-clock kinetics: orders, activation energy and a proposed mechanism

The rate of iodination of propanone, CH₃COCH₃ + I₂ → CH₃COCH₂I + HI, is followed by the iodine-clock method. A student mixes fixed volumes of aqueous propanone, dilute sulfuric acid and iodine solution in a thermostat bath at 25.0 °C and records the time for the brown colour of iodine to disappear.

826 words, about 4 min 3

Choosing an oxidant for iron(II) in chloride-containing solution

A technician must oxidise all of the iron(II) in 2.0 dm³ of a solution that is 0.050 mol dm⁻³ in Fe²⁺, so that iron(III) hydroxide can be precipitated and sold as a pigment. The solution was made from iron(II) chloride and is therefore also 0.10 mol dm⁻³ in chloride ion; it is 1.0 mol dm⁻³ in sulfuric acid.

810 words, about 4 min 4

Preparing 1-bromobutane: yield, washing steps and a change of alcohol

A student prepares 1-bromobutane by refluxing 7.40 g of butan-1-ol with 12.0 g of sodium bromide and 15 cm³ of concentrated sulfuric acid, then distilling. The crude distillate is orange-brown.

796 words, about 4 min 5

Esterification: equilibrium yield, catalysis and the limits of pushing a reaction

Ethyl ethanoate is prepared by refluxing 0.500 mol of ethanoic acid with 0.500 mol of ethanol and a few drops of concentrated sulfuric acid. After one hour the mixture is distilled and 32.0 g of ester (0.363 mol) is collected.

752 words, about 4 min