Chemistry
Organic, inorganic, physical chemistry and mathematical foundations.
Building Blocks for Chemistry
Chemistry, like mathematics, has fundamental building blocks that unlock vast problem-solving ability. Master these core concepts and you can derive almost anything:
Orbital Theory: Understand orbital shapes (s, p, d), their energies, and how they combine. This explains bonding, molecular geometry, and reactivity.
Thermodynamics: tells you whether reactions happen. Understand enthalpy, entropy, and free energy.
Kinetics: How fast do reactions occur? Activation energy, rate laws, and catalysis.
Acids and Bases: Proton donors and acceptors. Understand values and you understand reactivity.
Electrophiles and Nucleophiles: The fundamental dance of organic chemistry. Electron-rich attacks electron-poor.
With these five pillars, you can reason your way through almost any chemistry problem you'll encounter in an interview.
Inorganic Chemistry
Transition metals, coordination chemistry, and periodic trends.
Organic Chemistry
Mechanisms, synthesis, and functional group chemistry.
Physical Chemistry
Thermodynamics, kinetics, and quantum chemistry.
Mathematical Foundations
The mathematical tools essential for chemistry.
Chemistry FAQs
You should be very comfortable with A-Level mechanisms, but you don't need to memorise university-level content. What's more important is understanding why mechanisms work the way they do. If you understand nucleophiles attack electrophiles, and can reason about what makes something nucleophilic or electrophilic, you can work out mechanisms you've never seen.
That said, being familiar with resonance, curly arrows, and being able to draw mechanisms confidently is essential.
Possibly, but they won't be complex calculations. You might be asked to:
- Estimate orders of magnitude
- Use simple rate equations
- Apply
- Do basic stoichiometry
The focus is on understanding, not arithmetic. If a calculation is needed, it will be simple enough to do without a calculator.
You should understand the core concepts from A-Level thermodynamics and kinetics:
- What , , and mean physically
- Why reactions have activation energies
- What equilibrium means and how it relates to
- Basic rate laws
You might be pushed beyond this in the interview, but the interviewer will guide you. The key is having solid foundations to build from.
Yes! Some accessible recommendations:
- 'Why Chemical Reactions Happen' by James Keeler and Peter Wothers — excellent for understanding reactivity
- 'The Periodic Table' by Primo Levi — beautiful essays connecting chemistry to life
- 'Napoleon's Buttons' by Penny Le Couteur — chemistry's role in history
Also, watching university chemistry lectures on YouTube can be helpful. The key is developing genuine curiosity about why things work the way they do.
This is expected! Interviewers deliberately push beyond your syllabus. When this happens:
1. Don't panic — this is supposed to happen
2. Think about what relevant knowledge you DO have
3. Make a reasoned hypothesis using fundamental principles
4. The interviewer will guide you from there
For example, if asked about a reaction you've never seen, think about what type of compound is involved, what functional groups are present, and what kinds of reactions those typically undergo.