AQA A-level Chemistry data booklet (7405): what is on it and what is not
A-level Chemistry: Year 1
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Formula sheet
The card below opens today's A-level Chemistry paper with this sheet in the drawer, so you practise the way you will sit the exam. The drawer shows the periodic table and the three data tables in full, and names the structures the booklet draws; below we list what each gives. Check against the AQA Data Booklet insert (June 2023 series) before you rely on anything here.
A-level Chemistry: Year 1
Periodic table and element list
The booklet opens with the periodic table, with relative atomic mass, symbol and atomic number for each element, then a list of element names by atomic number, from hydrogen to oganesson. Our periodic table in the drawer holds the same information.
The data sheet
| Table | What it gives |
|---|---|
| Table A | infrared absorption data for bonds |
| Table B | proton (¹H) NMR chemical shift data |
| Table C | carbon-13 NMR chemical shift data |
| Phosphate and sugars | the structures of phosphate and the sugars found in nucleic acids |
| Bases | the structures of the bases found in nucleic acids |
| Amino acids | the structures of amino acids |
What the AQA booklet leaves out
- No physical constants table. Values such as the Avogadro constant or the gas constant are not in the booklet.
- No standard electrode potentials, so cell questions give the potentials in the paper.
- No equations. The insert is data only: the periodic table, an element list, and the numbered tables.
Reading the AQA tables
The June 2023 insert opens with the periodic table across two pages, then lists elements by name and atomic number, then moves to the data sheet proper: Table A for infrared, Table B for proton NMR and Table C for carbon-13 NMR, followed by phosphate and sugars, bases and amino acids.
Those last tables serve biochemistry questions, where you read a structure off the page rather than recall it.
Work out the relative atomic mass of an element from its isotopes and their abundances.
Press Mark to have your answer marked in the Atomic Structure course.
Worked example: reading a proton NMR peak
A question shows a peak and asks what environment gives it. Find the shift on the scale of Table B, read across to the type of proton, then use the integration and splitting printed in the question to choose between the candidates.
Carbon-13 works the other way round: each peak is one carbon environment, so count the peaks first, then match each shift in Table C. The most frequent error is reading the shift from the wrong end of the scale.
The AQA sheet and the other boards
| Board | Sheet | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| AQA (this guide) | A-level Chemistry Data Booklet (7405), June 2023 series insert | Periodic table, an element list, three data tables (A infrared, B proton NMR, C carbon-13 NMR) and tables for phosphate and sugars, bases and amino acids; no table of constants |
| Edexcel | Data Booklet (9CH0), Issue 2, Summer 2017 | Physical constants, infrared, NMR, Pauling electronegativities, standard electrode potentials and the periodic table |
| OCR A | Data Sheet for Chemistry A (H032, H432), 4 pages | General information including the Arrhenius equation, infrared, NMR charts and the periodic table |
| Eduqas | GCE AS/A level Chemistry Data Booklet (B410U10-1A) | Constants and conversions, infrared, carbon-13 and proton NMR, and the periodic table |
| WJEC | GCE AS/A level Chemistry Data Booklet | The same opening constants as Eduqas, then infrared, NMR and the periodic table |
| CCEA | Chemistry Data Sheet, GCE A/AS examinations (subject code 1110) | General information, infrared and proton NMR tables, and the periodic table |
AQA is the board without a constants table or a worked equation, so its booklet is the thinnest on numbers and the fullest on biochemistry. Edexcel and OCR give constants, and Edexcel adds electrode potentials.
Exam answers
Mark a daily paper and our answers appear, with the working explained. They are not AQA's and no mark scheme from AQA is used.
Practising with the AQA data
Use Chemistry 1 and Chemistry 2, both short papers of 8 questions. The spectroscopy questions are a good test of how fast you reach the right table.
AQA booklet slips
- Looking for a constant that is not printed.
- Mixing up Table B and Table C.
- Reading amino acid structures without checking the side chain.
Common questions
Do you get a data booklet in AQA A-level Chemistry?
What is in the AQA A-level Chemistry data booklet?
Does the AQA chemistry data booklet have constants?
Does the AQA booklet have electrode potentials?
Is the AQA data booklet the same as the other boards'?
Revision cards
Say the answer first, then flip the card to check it.
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UK · A-levelA-level Chemistry data booklet: every board comparedWhat is in the A-level Chemistry data sheet for AQA, Edexcel, OCR, Eduqas, WJEC and CCEA, what is not, and how to use it in the exam.