Chemistry

Each course has a different amount of content on chemistry, however, if your university of choice requires A level chemistry I can assure you there will be a fair amount.

If your uni does not ask for chemistry at A level then the knowledge needed will be superficial and to a level not much higher than A level. For example you will be taught stereochemistry, nomenclature (naming) of chemistry and recognise functional groups. The rules for naming are relatively simple and easy to remember. Whereas the functional groups and their properties are not. However, there are many books and YouTube channels which can help with this.

The recognition of functional groups is something which is very important to learn and memorise as they become even more important further down the line. One of the reasons I enjoyed learning about these different groups are the characteristics and functions that each group has. By the end you should be able to identify different functional groups and make assumptions on the properties of the molecule due to these groups.

For example, the image below contains two different functional groups, on the left there is an amine group and on the right is an carboxylic acid group. When these 2 groups interact they form peptide bonds which makes the molecule below a good amino acid. The molecule below is PH 6.0 which is due to the basic amine group and the acidic carboxylic acid group. The PH is slightly acidic because carboxylic acid is slightly more acidic than the amine group is basic.