"HSC chemistry data sheet" is searched for two reasons: to check whether a constant will be given (Avogadro's number, Kw, the gas constant: yes) and to find the standard potentials and the NMR and IR tables for a practice question. Both needs are met by one NESA document, four pages, bound into every HSC Chemistry paper since 2019: a formulae sheet with the constants and the solubility constants, a page of spectroscopy data, a page of standard potentials, and the periodic table. This page lists all of it in words, then the list of everything not on the sheet that must be memorised, and a printable annotated version to work with from Term 1.
Download the annotated HSC chemistry data sheet (PDF) (every formula and constant in words, the data tables summarised, the memorise list by module and the exam-day habits; two pages, free)
Page 1: the formulae sheet and the solubility constants
The nine formulas
| Formula | What it is for |
|---|---|
| n equals m over MM | moles from mass and molar mass |
| c equals n over V | concentration in mol per litre |
| PV equals nRT | the ideal gas equation (P in kPa with V in litres, or Pa with cubic metres, with R in J per mol per K) |
| q equals mc delta T | heat from mass, specific heat and temperature change (calorimetry) |
| delta G equals delta H minus T delta S | Gibbs free energy; spontaneity when negative |
| pH equals minus log of the hydrogen ion concentration | acidity |
| pKa equals minus log Ka | acid strength |
| A equals epsilon l c equals log of I zero over I | the Beer-Lambert law for colorimetry and UV-visible analysis |
The six constants
Avogadro's constant 6.022 times 10 to the 23 per mol; the volume of one mole of an ideal gas at 100 kPa: 22.71 L at 0 degrees (273.15 K) and 24.79 L at 25 degrees (298.15 K); the gas constant 8.314 J per mol per K; the ionisation constant of water at 25 degrees, Kw, 1.0 times 10 to the minus 14; and the specific heat capacity of water 4.18 times 10 to the 3 J per kg per K (note the kilograms: convert grams, or use 4.18 J per g per K).
The solubility constants at 25 degrees
Ksp for 32 compounds: barium carbonate, hydroxide, phosphate and sulfate; calcium carbonate, hydroxide, phosphate and sulfate; copper(II) carbonate, hydroxide and phosphate; iron(II) carbonate and hydroxide; iron(III) hydroxide and phosphate; lead(II) bromide, chloride, iodide, carbonate, hydroxide, phosphate and sulfate; magnesium carbonate, hydroxide and phosphate; and silver bromide, chloride, carbonate, hydroxide, iodide, phosphate and sulfate. The values run from barium hydroxide (2.55 times 10 to the minus 4, the most soluble on the list) to lead(II) phosphate (8.0 times 10 to the minus 43). The expression for each (for example Ksp equals the lead ion concentration times the chloride concentration squared for lead chloride) is not given.
Page 2: the spectroscopy data
- Infrared absorption: nine bonds with wavenumber ranges: N-H in amines (3300 to 3500), O-H in alcohols (3230 to 3550, broad), C-H (2850 to 3300), O-H in acids (2500 to 3000, very broad), the nitrile C triple bond N (2220 to 2260), C double bond O (1680 to 1750), C double bond C (1620 to 1680), C-O (1000 to 1300) and C-C (750 to 1100).
- Carbon-13 NMR chemical shifts: ten carbon environments from a plain alkane carbon (5 to 40 ppm), through carbons bonded to chlorine or bromine (10 to 70), next to a carbonyl (20 to 50), to nitrogen (25 to 60), to oxygen in alcohols, ethers and esters (50 to 90), alkene carbons (90 to 150), nitrile (110 to 125), aromatic (110 to 160), ester or acid carbonyl (160 to 185) and aldehyde or ketone carbonyl (190 to 220).
- UV absorption: approximate lambda max for seven chromophores (C-H 122 nm, C-C 135, C double bond C 162, the alkyne 173 to 222, C-Cl 173, C-Br 208), marked on the sheet as "not a definitive list and approximate".
Proton NMR data is not on the sheet; when a question uses it, the splitting and shift information is given in the question.
Page 3: the standard potentials
Thirty-one half-reactions written as reductions, from potassium (minus 2.94 V), barium, calcium, sodium (minus 2.71), magnesium, aluminium (minus 1.68), manganese, water to hydrogen and hydroxide (minus 0.83), zinc (minus 0.76), iron(II) (minus 0.44), nickel, tin, lead (minus 0.13), hydrogen (0.00 by definition), sulfate to sulfur dioxide (0.16), copper(II) (0.34), oxygen in base (0.40), copper(I), iodine solid and aqueous (0.54, 0.62), iron(III) to iron(II) (0.77), silver (0.80), bromine liquid and aqueous (1.08, 1.10), oxygen in acid (1.23), chlorine gas (1.36), dichromate (1.36), chlorine aqueous (1.40), permanganate (1.51) to fluorine (2.89). The sheet's footnote says the data come from Aylward and Findlay's SI Chemical Data and may have been modified for the exam. The rule for combining them, E cell equals the reduction potential of the cathode minus that of the anode, is not written on the sheet; nor is the identification of the stronger oxidant (the more positive) and the stronger reductant (the more negative).
Page 4: the periodic table
Atomic number, symbol, name and standard atomic weight (four significant figures) for every element to oganesson, with the lanthanoids and actinoids below; elements with no stable nuclides have no weight. Use the sheet's values (chlorine 35.45, copper 63.55, sulfur 32.07, calcium 40.08) because the marking guidelines do.
What is not on the sheet: the memorise list, by module
| Module | Memorise or know |
|---|---|
| Equilibrium and acid reactions | the Keq expression and the reaction quotient Q; what a large or small K means; Le Chatelier's reasoning for concentration, pressure, volume and temperature; the Ksp expression for each salt type and the ion-product test for precipitation; the common-ion effect |
| Acid and base reactions | Arrhenius and Bronsted-Lowry definitions; strong and weak acids and bases by name; the Ka and Kb expressions and Ka times Kb equals Kw; pH plus pOH equals 14 at 25 degrees; the titration calculation and the choice of indicator by equivalence pH; buffers; the dilution relation c1 V1 equals c2 V2; the enthalpy of neutralisation idea |
| Energy (from Year 11, assumed) | molar enthalpy delta H equals minus q over n; Hess's law and the enthalpies of formation; bond energy reasoning; the sign of delta H and delta S by reaction type |
| Organic chemistry | IUPAC naming to C8 with the functional groups; the homologous series; the reactions and conditions (addition with H2 and Ni, HX, H2O and acid; substitution; esterification with concentrated sulfuric acid and reflux; oxidation of alcohols with acidified dichromate or permanganate; fermentation; saponification); the physical-property trends; polymers (addition and condensation) and their monomers |
| Applying chemical ideas | the tests for ions (flame colours for Na, K, Ca, Ba, Cu; precipitate tests with chloride, sulfate, carbonate, hydroxide; the sequence that separates them); the tests for organic groups (bromine water, acidified permanganate, sodium carbonate for acids); how AAS, colorimetry, IR, NMR and mass spectrometry are read (the data is given, the interpretation is not); the mass-spectrum fragment logic |
| Everywhere | percentage yield and atom economy; percentage composition and the empirical formula procedure; the gas calculations at non-standard conditions with PV equals nRT; significant figures and units |
How to use the sheet in the exam
- Know what is given, so you do not re-derive it under pressure: Kw, the molar volumes, R and Avogadro's number are there; the expression forms are not, so write them in your head before the exam.
- Use the sheet's units. The specific heat of water is in joules per kilogram per kelvin: a calorimetry question with grams needs the conversion or 4.18 J per g per K.
- Read the potentials as reductions and reverse the anode's half-equation yourself; the sheet's sign convention is the standard one, and the more negative potential is the anode in a galvanic cell.
- Check the IR and NMR tables against the question's spectrum rather than from memory; the ranges overlap and the question's peaks are chosen to fit the sheet.
- Practise with the real sheet from Term 1 so that in the exam you know where the gas constant sits and that pOH is not written down.
Where to get help
For a Year 11 or 12 student in Sydney, Melbourne or anywhere in Australia, a 1-on-1 online class in HSC chemistry and the other sciences, taught in the school's module order, with past HSC questions marked to NESA's marking guidelines from the first term and the calculations drilled until the units are automatic; Australian after-school hours, every class recorded, A$14 to A$19 an hour. The free 30-minute first class is a real lesson on the topic the student is on.
Download the annotated chemistry sheet (PDF)
Questions parents ask
1What is on the HSC chemistry formula sheet?
2What is on the HSC chemistry data sheet?
3What is not on the HSC chemistry data sheet?
4Is there a periodic table in the HSC chemistry exam?
5Can I download the official HSC chemistry data sheet?
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