Students who have chosen the science stream are faced with advanced concepts in Class 11. Students might find it a little difficult to suddenly adjust to the advanced curriculum as they will get introduced to many topics for the first time. However, the concepts covered in the Class 11 curriculum play a very important role in building the base of the subject and for understanding many topics in Class 12 also. Therefore, students should take the preparation of this subject seriously not only from the exam point of view but to build a strong foundation for higher classes and other competitive exams. 

Don’t Forget These Tips While Preparing For Chemistry Class 11 Exam

Up to class 10, students study science subjects as a whole but from Class 11, more specialization comes in. Within chemistry also some subdivisions come into the scene. The curriculum is divided into Physical, Inorganic, and Organic chemistry. Physical chemistry deals with the use of physics to study chemical systems. Inorganic chemistry studies all the compounds that are not organic. Organic chemistry deals with compounds having carbon atoms that are bonded covalently. All together these sub-divisions of chemistry are included in the Chemistry Class 11 curriculum and form a base for Class 12 where the concepts will build on these fundamentals.

Students may find that learning these new concepts can be a bit tricky. However, in this article, you will find useful tips for preparing for the Class 11 chemistry syllabus. The tips included here will help you gain a strong grasp of the subject and bring confidence in the subject matter.

The first thing that students should do is skim through the syllabus. This will help them in recognizing the amount of syllabus to be covered within the time available and plan their studies accordingly.

The Class 11 NCERT Chemistry syllabus covers 14 chapters in total which are divided into Parts 1 and 2 containing 7 chapters each. 

Here are the chapters included in Part 1-

Chapter 1- Some basic concepts of chemistry

This chapter is very important as it will help students understand the basics and act as a guide to learn concepts in many upcoming chapters. 

Chapter 2- Structure of Atom

This will introduce students to atoms and their constituents- electrons, protons, and neutrons. Also, students will come across the various models proposed to explain the structure of atoms. Students will learn about the nature of electromagnetic radiation and Planck’s quantum theory.

Chapter 3- Classification of elements and periodicity in properties

This chapter introduces students to the periodic table and how different elements are classified. They will also learn the nomenclature of the elements and the trends seen among the elements in the periodic table.

Chapter 4- Chemical bonding and molecular structure

This chapter will teach students about the different types of bonds that are found in chemical species. Students will also be introduced to the octet rule and Lewis structures of molecules.

Chapter 5- States of Matter

This chapter will help students understand why different substances occur in different states with their intermolecular forces and their thermal energies. They will also study the properties of gases and liquids.

Chapter 6- Thermodynamics

This is an important chapter and students should give extra attention to preparing this as its fundamentals will be used across the chapters and in higher classes. Students will learn the laws of thermodynamics and some important concepts like Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, entropy, etc.

Chapter 7- Equilibrium

Students will learn the laws of equilibrium and the equilibrium constants. They will also learn the concepts of acids and bases and the pH scale.

These are the chapters in Part 2 of the book-

Chapter 8- Redox reactions

Students will learn the concepts of oxidation and reduction and redox reactions. Students will also learn how to balance chemical equations.

Chapter 9- Hydrogen

This chapter describes the importance of the element hydrogen and its different properties. It also describes its various isotopes and the compounds that form on reacting with hydrogen.

 Chapter 10 and 11- The s and p block elements

These chapters belong to the inorganic chemistry portion and should be paid attention to. These chapters describe the trends seen in the elements of these groups and their important physical and chemical properties.

Chapter 12 and 13- Organic chemistry and Hydrocarbons

These two chapters belong to the organic chemistry group and are very important to strengthen the foundation of organic chemistry. The chapters describe the concepts of organic reaction mechanisms and their IUPAC nomenclature.

Chapter 14- Environmental chemistry

This chapter is mostly theory-based but should be read properly. It describes the various chemical reactions that take place in our environments such as the ozone layer and the different types of pollution caused by different chemicals.

Chapters 1 to 8 cover the physical chemistry portion.

Students must pay more attention to the numerical parts of these chapters as they are important to understand the concepts but should also learn thoroughly the theory part.

Chapters 9-11 cover the inorganic portion and should be learned thoroughly as these concepts extend to the Class 12 syllabus too. It will be helpful if students take a printout of the periodic table and paste it somewhere they can see frequently to familiarise themselves with the different elements and their positions. Also, students should make a list of the important reactions and revise them frequently as it is easy to forget these.

Chapters 12 and 13 cover the organic chemistry portion and are very crucial to make the basics of organic chemistry clear. Often students find it difficult to memorize the reactions in organic chemistry but if they understand the structures of the molecules they will not need to memorize it and can understand and solve any reaction easily. The last chapter, 14, is mostly theoretical but students should pay particular attention to the ozone formation reactions, and the reactions involved in the formation of photochemical smog. Also, they should remember the names of greenhouse gases.

Each chapter has intext questions and exercise questions at the end of each chapter to test the concepts learned. Students should make it a point to practice these problems thoroughly and repeatedly. This will strengthen their fundamentals and help them become capable of solving different questions confidently.