Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => High School Chemistry Forum => Chemistry Olympiad and other competitions => Topic started by: Rutherford on December 18, 2012, 07:42:22 AM
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I want to prepare for my National Olympiad but I ran out of sources. I solved old IChO problems, US National Olympiad problems and I also went through all ''problems of the week'', so don't post them. Ukranian and Poland tests are too different from my nation's so I don't need them either. I would like organic chemistry problems, too. If someone knows a good link to some tough problems I can practice on, please post it here, I would be very very thankful.
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Ukranian and Poland tests are too different from my nation's so I don't need them either. I would like organic chemistry problems, too.
What's "your nation"?
Tried this:
http://www.amazon.com/Solved-Problems-Chemistry-Schaums-Outline/dp/0071755004
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You can look for other countries' selection tests (I'm sure you have already), but here are some more:
Britain: http://www.rsc.org/Education/events-and-competitions/Olympiad/olympiad-questions-answers.asp
Australia: http://www.chemteam.info/AChO/AChO-Menu.html
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You can look for other countries' selection tests (I'm sure you have already), but here are some more:
Britain: http://www.rsc.org/Education/events-and-competitions/Olympiad/olympiad-questions-answers.asp
Australia: http://www.chemteam.info/AChO/AChO-Menu.html
The UK Olympiad reminds me to new IChOs (because they are long, they have a) b) c) d) etc. which aren't related so much) and it is different from my nation's problems. The Australian is mainly based on quick questions which don't work either. I was looking for problems that are similar to the ''problem of the week'' here and old IChOs. These aren't too long problems.
Ukranian and Poland tests are too different from my nation's so I don't need them either. I would like organic chemistry problems, too.
What's "your nation"?
Tried this:
http://www.amazon.com/Solved-Problems-Chemistry-Schaums-Outline/dp/0071755004
I am sorry, I can't share private info :(. I am looking for free problems, I can't buy books.
Found just the Belarusian. It is really good. It has a) b) c) d) in problems, but they are only guidelines to help determine the final result like in the US national Olympiads.
Anyway, thanks for the links you two gave me, but I am still hungry for more ;D. If someone finds something interesting, please post it.
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Here you will find practice organic problem sets, tests, and notes, just browse around:
Organic I:
http://facultyweb.berry.edu/gbreton/OrganicChemistry221/CHM_221_HOME.html
Organic II: http://facultyweb.berry.edu/gbreton/OrganicChemistry222/CHM_222_HOME_1.html
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Wow, that is good. Thanks very much :).
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Woah that's a lot of stuff! When is your Olympiad? I'm also trying to prepare for the national Olympiad which will happen in a roughly a year's time... Obviously I'm not as motivated...
Have you tried the IChO Preparatory problems? There are quite a lot.
you can try here:
http://chemistryolympiad.weebly.com/preparatory-problems.html
For organic my seniors actually recommend doing all the problems in the Clayden organic chemistry book. but if book is not an option then...
Hehe good luck!
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It is in half a year from now. I solved the old IChO problems, but the new don't fit to the type of problems I am looking for. I will search for Clayden in .pdf format on the net. I wish you luck, too.
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Raderford, did you do the 2012 iChO predatory problems? I am having a bit of trouble on them.
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No, I was solving only the older IChO problems, mainly before the 30th, but I also solved few after it. It's because of the ''Topics of advanced difficulty''. I don't have enough time to learn them for every Olympiad and I don't have to, because we don't have those in my country's Nat.Ol.
If you don't have the answers to the 2012 IChO preparatory problems, I can send you. Do you have them?
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Yeah, I have the answers; I just wish they would elaborate more in the solutions.
I've noticed that some years are much better at explaining than other years.
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I know there might be several topics with the same subject. But starting a new topics works better!
So I'm currently studying for the olympiad . There are three levels here in our country in which we should take part. The 1st and 2nd ones contain nothing but general chemistry. The 3rd level , which is of course the toughest one , requires us to go over organic , physical , analytical and inorganic chemistry subjects. Here are the books I've already read :
Organic : Mc Murry , Solomons , Vollhardt and Morrison"s
Analytical : Skoog , Harris and another one called : Problem solving in anlaytical chemistry
I was wondering whether there are any other useful sources I still need to read. What books do you use to prepare yourself for the national exam in your country? (I'm mainly asking for organic and analytical ones)
Thanks in advance
& sorry for my bad English!
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I use Wade and Klein organic chemistry. I also have Atkins' physical chemistry.
Guys, if any of you have a Facebook please join the chem Olympiad group:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/398415836912990/
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No, I was solving only the older IChO problems, mainly before the 30th, but I also solved few after it. It's because of the ''Topics of advanced difficulty''. I don't have enough time to learn them for every Olympiad and I don't have to, because we don't have those in my country's Nat.Ol.
If you don't have the answers to the 2012 IChO preparatory problems, I can send you. Do you have them?
If you are taking your country's National Olympiad then surely your final aim must be the IChO this year? In which case you will have to adapt to the modern style of IChO questions!
I find that a lot of what the past IChOs present as "topics of advanced difficulty" are actually not beyond the high-school level. I have usually covered all the physical or organic material without revising. And often the same topics crop up, e.g. kinetics, Gibbs' free energy, etc. So if you just mug up on these topics from a few semi-undergraduate sources (readily available online) you can still practice IChO questions from "topics of advanced difficulty". :)
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I saw the modern type of problems. They contain a lot of questions. Some are really dumb, but some are very hard. I actually learned some topics that I didn't need to for the National Olympiad, and I will probably check the advanced topics and preparatory problems of this years IChO, but where are they?
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I saw the modern type of problems. They contain a lot of questions. Some are really dumb, but some are very hard. I actually learned some topics that I didn't need to for the National Olympiad, and I will probably check the advanced topics and preparatory problems of this years IChO, but where are they?
The hardest questions at the IChO I find usually are simply random (e.g. check out the practical questions from 2007 - one of them was literally unsolvable using logic!).
If anyone does have the list of advanced topics for this year's IChO it would be great if they could post them here. If not then that isn't a problem because most of them aren't really "advanced" anyway. (Organic and physical are usually fairly standard, taken from undergraduate syllabuses; inorganic is often something maverick which I haven't studied at all)
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I use Wade and Klein organic chemistry. I also have Atkins' physical chemistry.
Where are the solutions of the problems in Klein's book?
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Solutions manual
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Solutions manual
Both of these books go well above the level of the Olympiads in my experience, at least in terms of knowledge. In terms of intellectual stretch the Olympiad is much further of course.
I'm not too sure where to find nice difficult problems to stretch beyond the Olympiad in that sense. However if you want more advanced knowledge the Oxford Chemistry Primers are quite advanced, extending from bare minimum (post-16 science) to around 2nd or 3rd year undergraduate study on each topic they cover.
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Solutions manual
Okay, thanks.
Solutions manual
Both of these books go well above the level of the Olympiads in my experience, at least in terms of knowledge. In terms of intellectual stretch the Olympiad is much further of course.
I'm not too sure where to find nice difficult problems to stretch beyond the Olympiad in that sense. However if you want more advanced knowledge the Oxford Chemistry Primers are quite advanced, extending from bare minimum (post-16 science) to around 2nd or 3rd year undergraduate study on each topic they cover.
I checked the Oxford, you need to pay for every field. I think the problems from mine olympiad are difficult and much logic is needed to solve them, but I went few times through all of them, so I have to find other problems. Will see how the challenge problems in Klein work for me.
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Solutions manual
Okay, thanks.
Solutions manual
Both of these books go well above the level of the Olympiads in my experience, at least in terms of knowledge. In terms of intellectual stretch the Olympiad is much further of course.
I'm not too sure where to find nice difficult problems to stretch beyond the Olympiad in that sense. However if you want more advanced knowledge the Oxford Chemistry Primers are quite advanced, extending from bare minimum (post-16 science) to around 2nd or 3rd year undergraduate study on each topic they cover.
I checked the Oxford, you need to pay for every field. I think the problems from mine olympiad are difficult and much logic is needed to solve them, but I went few times through all of them, so I have to find other problems. Will see how the challenge problems in Klein work for me.
If you have covered the material in Klein's book you should find the problems easy. None of them are long or intellectually manipulative like the ones from your Olympiad that you posted here. But some of the material in the book is above the level of knowledge required for the IChO.
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Well, the no matter how much you study for the olympiad, it's still tricky and difficult... they have a board of evil geniuses or something writing their problems. Textbooks are more geared toward learning the content rather than solving evil problems written by evil geniuses ;D
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Big-Daddy, I checked today the problems from Klein's book and you are right, won't help me too much. Some good logical problems I need. I will check the preparatory problems now 8).
Textbooks are more geared toward learning the content rather than solving evil problems written by evil geniuses ;D
This would be the conclusion :D.
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As far as I know , there are two separate books written by David Klein. One is organic chemistry as a second language and the other one is just named organic chemistry (with white front cover). Which one do you use?
Raderford , if you're looking for nice logical problems , why don't you go for Clayden? Klein's problems are too easy.
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Well, the no matter how much you study for the olympiad, it's still tricky and difficult... they have a board of evil geniuses or something writing their problems. Textbooks are more geared toward learning the content rather than solving evil problems written by evil geniuses ;D
You will encounter more and more of these types of problems at higher level. ;D
Big-Daddy, I checked today the problems from Klein's book and you are right, won't help me too much. Some good logical problems I need. I will check the preparatory problems now 8).
Textbooks are more geared toward learning the content rather than solving evil problems written by evil geniuses ;D
This would be the conclusion :D.
Are the 2013 preparatory problems available yet? Please link if so.
I have some books which provide high-level logical questions but a) the knowledge required is well over IChO-level and b) so is the difficulty for some problems. Ask if you want the names.
Edit: I have found them. http://icho2013.chem.msu.ru/index.php/en/problems-solutions/preparatory-problems It looks like the topics will be great this year. I am on Q3 of the Problems so far, great fun.
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Raderford , if you're looking for nice logical problems , why don't you go for Clayden? Klein's problems are too easy.
Good call, though still not at the IChO level intellectually.
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As far as I know , there are two separate books written by David Klein. One is organic chemistry as a second language and the other one is just named organic chemistry (with white front cover). Which one do you use?
Raderford , if you're looking for nice logical problems , why don't you go for Clayden? Klein's problems are too easy.
It is only "Organic Chemistry''. I will check Clayden, thanks for the suggestion.
Well, the no matter how much you study for the olympiad, it's still tricky and difficult... they have a board of evil geniuses or something writing their problems. Textbooks are more geared toward learning the content rather than solving evil problems written by evil geniuses ;D
You will encounter more and more of these types of problems at higher level. ;D
Big-Daddy, I checked today the problems from Klein's book and you are right, won't help me too much. Some good logical problems I need. I will check the preparatory problems now 8).
Textbooks are more geared toward learning the content rather than solving evil problems written by evil geniuses ;D
This would be the conclusion :D.
Are the 2013 preparatory problems available yet? Please link if so.
I have some books which provide high-level logical questions but a) the knowledge required is well over IChO-level and b) so is the difficulty for some problems. Ask if you want the names.
Edit: I have found them. http://icho2013.chem.msu.ru/index.php/en/problems-solutions/preparatory-problems It looks like the topics will be great this year. I am on Q3 of the Problems so far, great fun.
Advanced topic 1.,2.,3. and 6. don't seem very tough, but 4.( ???) and 5. I have to start from zero :-\. Generally, the problems seem very interesting and I will probably attempt them.
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Advanced topic 1.,2.,3. and 6. don't seem very tough, but 4.( ???) and 5. I have to start from zero :-\. Generally, the problems seem very interesting and I will probably attempt them.
As predicted the "topics of advanced difficulty" physical ones are fine ... there is no pure inorganic (good for me) ... the biochemistry seems like great fun. As for the heterocycles that probably means they have some harder than usual organic problems planned. :)
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Attempted the first one and got:
1. Pros:
-bigger distance between the layers, so they can be easier separated;
-the carbon atoms attached to oxygens are more reactive that the regular atoms in graphite and they can easier undergo reactions during the synthesis of graphene.
Cons:
-you have to remove oxygen.
2. x=0.375, xmax=0.5;
3. -OH, -COOH, -C=C-, -C-O-C-
4. should I count from the picture or what ?
5. CH0.22O0.46*0.67H2O
What do you think, is anything correct? Anyone has an idea about 4?
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Attempted the first one and got:
1. Pros:
-bigger distance between the layers, so they can be easier separated;
-the carbon atoms attached to oxygens are more reactive that the regular atoms in graphite and they can easier undergo reactions during the synthesis of graphene.
Cons:
-you have to remove oxygen.
2. x=0.375, xmax=0.5;
3. -OH, -COOH, -C=C-, -C-O-C-
4. should I count from the picture or what ?
5. CH0.22O0.46*0.67H2O
What do you think, is anything correct? Anyone has an idea about 4?
I skipped problems 1 and 2 so can't comment, sorry. :p They seemed less interesting than 4, 7, 9, etc. so I left them out for the moment.
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Topic #4 is too bio-y for me... I despise biology.
Does anyone know when solutions are generally released?
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Topic #4 is too bio-y for me... I despise biology.
Does anyone know when solutions are generally released?
I have little knowledge of biochemistry too. But it sounds nice and fun. Heterocycles on the other hand ... could be difficult.
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Same thing with me.
Topic #4 is too bio-y for me... I despise biology.
Does anyone know when solutions are generally released?
As I remember from looking at the last olympiad, the solutions arrived very late, that's why I started to post my attempts here, so we can together discuss the answers. Maybe it is off topic, so I will create another topic where I will post my attempts and anyone who wants may post his, too.
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Anyone knows where I could find the Belarus Chemistry Olympiad problems of the years 2011, 2012 and older than 2000?