Chemistry – Oxford Interview Questions
Subject Interview Guide – Chemistry
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The Chemistry guide discusses Oxford Interview Questions in depth with answers and approaches – along with possible points of discussion to further demonstrate your knowledge. It has been specially edited for applicants for each subject by a team of Oxford and Cambridge graduates.
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The Oxford Interview Guide – Chemistry
The Chemistry Interview Guide discusses the following questions in detail:
- Why are explosions a risk in flour mills? What stops bags of flour exploding in the kitchen?
- Why do we blow on soup to cool it down?
- How many molecules are there in a glass of water?
- How does a glow-stick work?
- Why don’t fish freeze?
- What issues might there be if you wanted to create a metallic oxide that has good conductive properties but is also transparent?
- What is the concentration of water?
- Why does iron rust and how can rusting be stopped?
- How does blood maintain its pH?
- Discuss the bonding in benzene.
The Oxford Interview Guide – Chemistry
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“How can I prepare when the interviewer could ask me absolutely anything about Chemistry?”
By understanding how the interview works and, crucially, what it is that the interviewer is looking for. The interviewer is not looking to catch you out, but rather for you to demonstrate your curiosity, knowledge and passion for Chemistry.
“How am I able to do that?”
Demonstrate your enthusiasm and personality
Show that you enjoy studying Chemistry independently
The easiest way to demonstrate your enthusiasm for Chemistry is to show that you are self-motivated and have studied the subject in your free-time for enjoyment – for example through online lectures and independent reading. If you don’t know where to start, review our suggested reading list below.
Demonstrate your subject knowledge about and passion for Chemistry
The key to answering these questions is to always demonstrate your thought process aloud. The interviewer does not expect you to be able to answer every question immediately, but rather wants to determine that you are able to think about and work on unknown topics with confidence, intelligence and clarity – and they won’t be able to do that if you sit in silence! Use the list of questions below to prepare. Perhaps you can have a friend or relative ask you these questions so that you can develop your skills of thinking under time pressure and speaking out loud.
Chemistry Suggested Reading
Chemistry Practice Questions
Why is there salt in the sea?
What is the concentration of water?
Why is life X enantiomer-based rather than Y?
Why does the boiling point of water rise as salt is dissolved in it?
How many atoms are there in a brussel sprout?
What makes some chemicals explosive?
How would you measure pH if I told you how many hydrogen ions there were?
How does a glow-stick work?
Tell me about these eggs?
Tell me about your life, from the beginning to what made you sit in that chair
Derive a Henderson equation.
What is ‘turning you on’ in chemistry at the moment?
How many molecules there were in the glass of water on the table?
How would you measure pH of a solution if I told you how many hydrogen ions there were in it?
Why do you think chemistry will change your life and the life of those around you?
An alkane has 750 carbon atoms. Given the length of a carbon.’carbon bond and a carbon”hydrogen bond calculate the total length of the molecule.
Calculate the number of hydrogen atoms that are in the water in a glass.
Can you draw an alkane where every carbon atom is in a different NMR environment?
Can you think of any ways that playing in your school football team would make you better at Chemistry?
Can you change an endothermic reaction into an exothermic one?
Compare and contrast electronegativity and ionisation energy.
Compare and contrast hydrochloric acid to phosphoric acid.
Draw the shape of the molecule B2H6 .
Estimate the mass of oxygen in this building.
Explain the bonding in benzene.
How do glow sticks work?
How do the double bonds in a hydrocarbon affect its solubility?
How do you make aspirin?
How many isomers of XXX can you draw?
How many moles of water are there in this bottle of water?
How would you measure pH of a solution if I told you how many hydrogen ions there were in it?
The nucleus and electrons are oppositely charged. Why do electrons not crash into the nucleus?
What is the density of air in this room? What about outside? What about in Beijing?
What determines whether an acid is strong or weak?
What does pH stand for?
What is entropy?
What is the cause of Le Chatelier’s principle?
What is the difference between diamond and graphite? The similarities?
What is the difference between entropy and enthalpy?
What is the significance of bonding in benzene?
What is wrong with the periodic table?
What is your favourite element? Why?
What makes drugs physiologically active?
Where does Chemistry end and Physics begin?
Why are diamonds so expensive?
Why are the transition metals good catalysts?
Why are the transition metals so colourful?
Why are there so many steps in the cascade of reactions?
Why do we use water to dilute solutions?
Why does food taste better when it~s hot?
Why does the boiling point of water rise as salt is dissolved in it?
Why is glass transparent but the sand that it’s made from not?
Why is life carbon based and not silicon based?
Why is Vanadium so special?
You have 30 seconds to name as many functional groups as possible.
Why does the boiling point of water rise as salt is dissolved in it?
Explain the bonding in benzene.
Write down an organic reaction you have studied at school and explain its mechanism.
Why don’t fish freeze?
A container with liquid nitrogen is left in a laboratory, and its temperature is being recorded over a long period. The recorded temperature shows variations. Why?
How many grains of sand are there in the world?
The Oxford Interview Guide – Chemistry
The Chemistry Interview Guide discusses the following questions in detail:
- Why are explosions a risk in flour mills? What stops bags of flour exploding in the kitchen?
- Why do we blow on soup to cool it down?
- How many molecules are there in a glass of water?
- How does a glow-stick work?
- Why don’t fish freeze?
- What issues might there be if you wanted to create a metallic oxide that has good conductive properties but is also transparent?
- What is the concentration of water?
- Why does iron rust and how can rusting be stopped?
- How does blood maintain its pH?
- Discuss the bonding in benzene.
The Oxford Interview Guide – Chemistry