Cracking 2012 Chemistry Board Examination

Piles of notes, loads of books around, last minute revision and late night studies! Yes, Boards have reached your doorsteps. The last few days before the examination call for ‘smart and quick study’.

Reactions, reagents, laws and postulates are the lifeline of chemistry. If you are well prepared with these stuffs, then you should have no reason to worry about your performance.

Remember that,

As combination of elements make compounds,
similarly combination of efforts make success.

With the board examinations having just arrived at your doorsteps, here are few last minute preparation tips to help you excel in the subject.

How to Revise:–

• Don’t take stress.
• Realize your grey-areas in the subject.
• Do not study anything new before examination.
• Divide your time in accordance with the weightage of chapters.
• Start revising your notes and keep a glossary of important words.
• Be well-versed with the format of paper and marks allotted to each chapter.
• Practice CBSE sample papers and previous years’ board papers.
• Take at least one mock test on your own by randomly selecting a sample test paper. Stick to the exact duration of the test. Do not take break in between. Try to simulate the exam conditions as far as possible.
• Go through the NCERT solutions thoroughly. For this you can also refer to the NCERT solution section on meritnation.com.
• Physical chemistry: Revise the laws, postulates, formulae and graphs
• Inorganic chemistry: Revise the structures, oxidation states, chemical reactions and periodic trends.
• Organic chemistry: Revise name reactions, distinction tests and IUPAC nomenclature.
• Clear your doubts related to any topic immediately. You can always post your doubts on ‘Ask and Answer’ on meritnation.com and get expert help. Remember “Expert help is just a click away’.

During the Examination:–

• Read the question paper thoroughly in the initial 15 minutes.
• Mark the questions you are confident in answering.
• Write the correct question numbers for the answers.
• Do not leave sheets blank in between your answers.
• In the answer-sheet write the answers of all questions of one section at one place. Also, all the parts of a question need to be answered in sequence.
• Avoid leaving any answer blank. Try to write the closest answer you remember.
• Draw lines for rough work on the right hand side of the answer sheet. This would minimize the chances of errors in noting down the answer (especially the numeric values) from rough calculations done on some other page of the answer sheet.
• In the answer sheet, use black or blue coloured ink only.
• Underline the keywords in the answer.
• All equations must be balanced. A reaction, which is not balanced, is not an equation.

• Reasoning questions carry one mark each and demand to-the point and precise answer.

• Attempting numericals:

Start the answer by writing the skeleton formula in standard notation followed by substitution of values with units.
Numericals carry step-wise marking. At times it happens that due to lack of time these questions remain unattempted. In that case, even if you write the general formula and substitute the values, you manage to score half of the total marks alloted to the question.

Ques: A solution prepared by dissolving 1.25 g of oil of winter green (methyl salicylate) in 99.0 g of benzene has a boiling point of 80.31 °C. Determine the molar mass of this compound. (B.P. of pure benzene = 80.10 °C and Kb for benzene = 2.53 °C kg mol−1)    (CBSE 2010 Set 3, Q 21)

• Conversion of units should be taken care of. The final answer must be written with units.
• Always support your answers with structures, examples, equations and graphs even if the question does not ask for it.
• Memory-based questions are usually asked from the chapters like polymers, chemistry in everyday life, biomolecules and surface chemistry.

A little hard work with a little smartness will make you come out with flying colours in the upcoming chemistry examination. So focus on time management, topic-wise revision, self-assessment and then Chemistry will be a pleasant and successful experience for you!!!

All the Best

Shukla Paladhi
Team Meritnation

11 comments March 1st, 2012