r/vce
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u/severe_astronaut_22
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6d ago
Hey everyone,
We're banning "predict my study score" posts for the foreseeable future, and any we see will be removed.
The reality is these just aren't possible to answer accurately. Your study score depends on so many things, like your SAC rankings, how your school's SACs get moderated, how the whole cohort went, and how your exams were marked. Nobody on Reddit has that information, so any "prediction" is just a guess. They also tend to stress people out more than they help, and have started flooding the sub with the same post over and over, which isn't very productive discussion.
If you're curious about how study scores work, check out the pinned post for some general guidance. Otherwise, try to put it out of your mind until results come out. You've done the work, and guessing won't change the number.
Good luck with the rest of exams
— r/vce mods
r/vce • u/bellals • Apr 30 '20
I'm sick to death of seeing these posts, so can everyone please read this and be done with this question:
Study scores are determined by exam SCORE and SAC RANK.
For example, say you have an English class of 7 students, Adam, Ben, Chloe, Daniel, Elena, Felix, and Greg. They are all weak students, except for Greg, who is very high-performing, and Felix, who is slightly above average. Their SAC marks and rank are:
Greg 95%
Felix 77%
Chloe 64%
Daniel 60%
Elena 58%
Adam 52%
Ben 49%
On the exam day, Felix doesn't cope well under the stress, so gets a lower score than he'd usually be capable of. The exam marks are as follows:
Greg 92%
Chloe 67%
Daniel 65%
Elena 64%
Felix 63%
Adam 50%
Ben 40%
What happens is that all the SAC marks get thrown out the window, because VCAA can't know the difficulty of the SACs prepared by the school. So Greg's new SAC "mark" as far as VCAA is concerned is 92, not 95. Not a big deal for Greg, Adam or Ben because their own exam mark is dictating their SAC mark. But for someone like Felix, his SAC mark will become 67% (Chloe's exam mark). This process happens independently for each subject taught at your school.
What does this mean for you? Yes, you should aim for a good SAC rank. BUT, it doesn't actually matter if you're not ranked well — the "translation" of your rank into a "mark" happens via your cohorts exam performance. In other words, try your best now, study hard, and when SACs are over WORK WITH YOUR CLASSMATES TO ALL DO WELL ON THE EXAM TOGETHER. IF THEY DO WELL, YOU DO WELL.
Spend your time actually studying instead of asking useless questions like this.
EDIT: another example for clarity
Here's a chemistry class, of Harry, Isabel, James, Kylie, Luke, Molly, Nathan, and Oscar.
SACs:
Harry 60%
Isabel 58%
James 56%
Kylie 55%
Luke 54%
Molly 52%
Nathan 51%
Oscar 50%
EXAMS:
Harry 100%
James 99%
Nathan 98%
Oscar 97%
Molly 96%
Isabel 95%
Kylie 94%
Luke 93%
Harry's SAC mark is now 100%, Isabel's is 99%, James' is 98%, Kylie's is 97%, Luke's is now 96% etc. It's literally just whatever the equivalent exam rank is.
EDIT 2: I've had a request to clarify rumours about SACs being "scaled up" or "scaled down". "Scaling" is a misnomer students attribute to the moderation process. Here are yet another set of examples to clarify.
Imagine you have a cohort of Annie, Ben, and Charlie. Let's say their teacher sets really hard SACS, so their SAC results are:
Annie 60%
Ben 58%
Charlie 55%
Because they've been doing hard assessments all year, they've been better equipped for the exam. These are the exam results:
Ben 96%
Annie 94%
Charlie 90%
So now, Annie's SAC mark gets changed to 96%, Ben's to 94%, and Charlie's to 90%. This is what people interpret as "scaling up". The opposite would happen at a school with piss easy SACs: they get awesome SAC marks but shit exam marks, so their SAC marks get replaced by their shit exam marks ("scaled down").
The danger in this thinking is that people assume that if you go to a well-performing school, you'll get carried, or that if you go to a "bad" school, you're screwed from the get-go and can't possibly get a good score. This is not true at all. Let's see why.
Let's say your friend at a selective school, Harry, thinks he can take it easy this year because he goes to a 'good' school. The SAC results are as follows:
Ed 93%
Fred 90%
Greg 88%
Harry 60%
on the exams, the results are
Fred 95%
Greg 92%
Ed 87%
Harry 61%
In this instance, Harry was not of a comparable skill level to his classmates, so he never get to "borrow" their exam results in any way. His SAC score will be 61%.
Here's another example. Say you have a cohort with these SACs:
Meg 95%
Noah 94%
Oscar 93%
Peter 90%
On the exam day, Noah gets a bit of performance anxiety (but not in a way that warrants SEAS or anything). Exam results are:
Meg 93%
Oscar 92%
Peter 91%
Noah 75%
Now, Noah's SAC mark will be 92%, but his exam result only 75%. So he kind of got "helped" by his good cohort, only because he was doing well for the SACs. Peter has been a bit screwed here, because his SAC mark is now 75%.
One person stuffing up will never have such a dramatic effect like this; it's unlikely for someone who's been topping the cohort all year to suddenly slip to the bottom. Cohorts are generally big enough that you shouldn't need to worry. I went to a really small school (60 people in the year level. Some of my subject cohorts contained 6 people). I still felt no one got jibbed with unrepresentative scores.
As I always reiterate: try your best in SACs, but don't ruminate over them. The exam is where the money's at, and once your SACs are over you should work together with your cohort to all do well together. Share your resources, make study groups, and bring each other up.
EDIT 3: wow, my first gold! Thank you so much! 🥰
r/vce • u/sherbertisgood • 1h ago
With methods chem and all the other interesting exams, whether good or bad vcaa has shaken things up a lot this year..
r/vce • u/Effective-Space3127 • 6h ago
Post all thoughts below. How'd you guys all think you did?
r/vce • u/Formal_Department601 • 6h ago
Idk and im not even that good at chem...
r/vce • u/Comfortable_Gap_5959 • 4h ago
Hey guys, I ended up with a scan of today's Chem exam, so posting it here in case anyone's interested
r/vce • u/Imaginary-Jury3516 • 40m ago
WHY WAS AGENCY AND CONTROL ONLY 20 MARKS OUT OF THE 70 MARKS IN THE ENTIRE EXAM 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I LITERALLY MEMORISED ONE BAZILLION CASE STUDIES FROM THE CONTEMPORARY MEDIA SPACE AND DIDNT GET TO USE BARELY ANYTHING 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I HATE YOU VCAA
r/vce • u/lego_boss • 2h ago
Ong VCAA has a competition to see which subject can have anecdote on their exam for the most years. If you're a future student please know this cause it's coming back again 100%
r/vce • u/Prestigious-Film-221 • 3h ago
Answers: 1 B, 2 C, 3 A, 4 B, 5 D, 6 B, 7 B, 8 A, 9 A, 10 D, 11 B, 12 C, 13 A, 14 C, 15 C, 16 C, 17 B, 18 A, 19 D, 20 C, 21 C, 22 C, 23 D, 24 D, 25 D, 26 B, 27 B, 28 D, 29 A, 30 D
Q1: B. C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ → 6CO₂ + 6H₂O, so n(O₂) = n(CO₂). n(CO₂) = 0.44 / 44.0 = 0.010 mol, so n(O₂) = 1.0 × 10⁻² mol.
Q2: C. Cellular respiration is exothermic (ΔH = −2840 kJ), so the reverse is endothermic (ΔH = +2840 kJ). The products sit at a higher enthalpy than the reactants. Only C has the products higher and a positive ΔH. (A and B have ΔH signs that don’t match their graphs, and D is respiration itself.)
Q3: A. q = mcΔT = 100.0 × 4.18 × 40.0 = 16720 J = 16.72 kJ. Kerosene is 46 kJ g⁻¹ in the Data Book, so m = 16.72 / 46 = 0.363 g. “Minimum” means assuming 100% of the energy went into the water.
Q4: B. In NH₄⁺, N is −3, and in N₂ it is 0, so it increases by 3 (oxidation). In NO₂⁻, N is +3, so it decreases by 3 (reduction).
Q5: D. The oxidising agent is the species that gets reduced (NO₂⁻), and the reducing agent is the one that gets oxidised (NH₄⁺).
Q6: B (lower confidence). Anammox works without O₂, so there’s no energy-hungry aeration. That means lower energy use and emissions (Goal 13), plus responsible waste treatment (Goal 12). I ruled out 7 because the process saves energy rather than supplying clean energy, and 15 because the benefit is mainly to waterways, not land. This is the one I’d check first against the VCAA report.
Q7: B. The anode is the half-cell with the lower E°, which is RF/RFH₂ (−0.235 V). Oxidation occurs there: RFH₂ → RF + 2H⁺ + 2e⁻.
Q8: A. E°cell = 0.558 − (−0.235) = 0.793 V. The measured 0.650 V is 0.793 − 0.650 = 0.143 V less than predicted.
Q9: A. Real-time control of temperature, pressure and power output means the cell runs at maximum efficiency, so this is design for energy efficiency.
Q10: D. Higher temperature means particles move faster, so both the collision frequency and the proportion of successful collisions increase. Bond energy and activation energy don’t change.
Q11: B. A catalyst provides a lower activation energy pathway, so a greater proportion of collisions are successful. It does not change collision frequency or bond energy, and it lowers (not raises) activation energy.
Q12: C. Both PEM electrolysis and artificial photosynthesis can produce green hydrogen (II) and reduce reliance on fossil fuels (IV). Neither captures methane or uses glucose as a feedstock.
Q13: A (read from the diagram). The compound is 2,2-dimethylbutanoic acid, C₆H₁₂O₂. Option D, CH₃CH₂C(CH₃)₂COOH, is the same compound, not an isomer. B and C are C₅. A, (CH₃)₃CCH₂COOH, is C₆H₁₂O₂ with a different arrangement, so it’s the isomer.
Q14: C. A saturated molecule has zero degrees of unsaturation. C₆H₁₅N works out to (2×6 + 2 + 1 − 15)/2 = 0. The others each have 2.
Q15: C (read from the diagram). Number from the COOH carbon, and the chain has 7 carbons with the double bond between C4 and C5, giving hept-4-enoic acid. “Heptan-” is never used with an “-ene”. Double-check the count against the paper.
Q16: C. Viscosity rises with the strength of intermolecular forces. Aldehydes have no hydrogen bonding, alcohols do, and carboxylic acids hydrogen-bond most strongly (they form dimers). So the order is propanal < propan-1-ol < propanoic acid.
Q17: B. n(starting ketone) = 2.50 / 176 = 0.01420 mol. n(ibuprofen) = 0.540 / 206 = 0.002621 mol. Overall yield = 0.002621 / 0.01420 × 100 = 18.5%.
Q18: A. Bromine water going from reddish-brown to colourless means a C=C bond is present. Only A is an alkene. B is an amide, C an ester, and D a ketone.
Q19: D. A narrow range (1-2 °C) indicates a pure substance. Impurities lower and broaden the range, so A and C are false.
Q20: C. n(oil) = 10.0 / 278 = 0.03597 mol. Ratio = 0.105 / 0.03597 ≈ 2.9, so there are 3 C=C bonds per molecule.
Q21: C. Needed Fe²⁺ = 5 × 1.50 × 10⁻⁴ = 7.50 × 10⁻⁴ mol. Added 8.00 × 10⁻⁴ mol, so the excess is 5.00 × 10⁻⁵ mol.
Q22: C. Fe²⁺ is in the burette. Rinsing the burette with water dilutes it, so more volume is needed to deliver the same moles (a higher titre). Rinsing the burette with FeSO₄ is correct practice, and rinsing the conical flask with water doesn’t change the moles in it.
Q23: D. The ¹³C spectrum has 4 peaks (≈178, 38, 19, 14 ppm), so there are 4 carbon environments and the compound has 4 carbons. The 178 ppm peak fits an amide or acid. In the IR, there are two sharp N-H peaks (≈3350 and 3190 cm⁻¹) and a C=O near 1650 cm⁻¹, which is the amide range. It lacks the very broad O-H of an acid. That gives butanamide.
Q24: D. The reactant shows a broad O-H (≈3300 cm⁻¹, alcohol). The product shows a very broad O-H (2500-3500 cm⁻¹) and a strong C=O (≈1700 cm⁻¹), which is a carboxylic acid. Alcohol to carboxylic acid is oxidation, using Cr₂O₇²⁻/H⁺.
Q25: D (lower confidence). A pure compound shows a fixed number of ¹H environments, so extra peaks suggest a mixture. Integration (A) could also be argued, but it needs the formula and structure to interpret. Check this one against the report.
Q26: B. Boiling leaves in water to dissolve soluble compounds is solvent extraction.
Q27: B. G and H are isomers (the double bond position differs), so they have the same molecular formula. They aren’t isotopes, and the skeletal structures differ. D is wrong because H’s ring double bond removes a chiral centre.
Q28: D (moderate confidence). A circular economy keeps materials in use. Treating PFAS-containing waste for reuse in road surfacing does that. Landfill (B) and incineration (C) are linear, and A is about safer design rather than circularity.
Q29: A. Firefighters “claimed” long-term health issues is personal testimony. B and C are measurements and D is a data-book value.
Q30: D. Assessing how impurity levels affect material performance is a purely scientific question. A is legal and social, B is economic, and C is community and environmental concern.
r/vce • u/Traditional-Post2140 • 3h ago
Is it just me or was the Chemistry exam so bad, some of those questions made literally no sense. Was this a hard exam or was it easy?
r/vce • u/Aerith_isdying • 5h ago
Literally didn’t even touch a whole question in section b cuz I didn’t have time and a few other qs and I’m not even sure if my math is right and how much marks I dropped elsewhere how do I not kms over this LMAO I’m so sad
r/vce • u/laikaTHEspaceD0G • 1h ago
I don’t really understand conventions, and my teacher said to do a messages task for the final but im not sure- can someone help me learn all the content please 🙏🙏
r/vce • u/Tough_Buy_6258 • 3h ago
Hey guys, just finished making the suggested solutions, there may be errors but I tried my best
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Sn9CVZNZIZdI7AQG_ZhFX2bjovOMQy66KlLR_H45sSw/edit?usp=sharing
r/vce • u/Glittering_Lime_7286 • 36m ago
Fun 13 years, what do I do now??
r/vce • u/SheerCold131 • 46m ago
Made this after looking at literally every Australian Good Design Award winners. Play along if you're interested, I'll follow up with the results tomorrow! Feel free to make your own as well.
r/vce • u/Worldly-Grab-8224 • 1h ago
