Exam prep

Know what's coming

The exam

Practical: CIA 40 + external 60. The external exam usually means doing an experiment, writing it up and a viva, with your record notebook. Confirm the exact format with your department.

Practice

Until we have a past paper, practise with the topic quizzes and the likely questions below. Write each essay answer by hand, then check it against its frame.

Mixed quiz and flashcards

Likely questions

Written by us from your syllabus, not copied from any exam paper. Tap one to open its sheet.

Viva questions

What is the principle of Molisch's test?Unit I Draw the osazone crystals of glucose, maltose and lactose.Unit I How will you distinguish lactose from maltose?Unit I Why is potassium thiocyanate added to Benedict's quantitative reagent?Unit I Name the amino acids detected by Millon's test and by the Sakaguchi test.Unit II What is salting out? Which proteins precipitate at half saturation with ammonium sulphate?Unit II What is the role of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent in Lowry's method?Unit II Why is nitrogen multiplied by 6.25 to get protein?Unit II Why is 1 mL of 0.01 N KMnO₄ taken as equal to 0.2 mg of calcium?Unit III What is molybdenum blue? Name the reducing agent used to form it.Unit III What is meant by the dye factor in vitamin C estimation?Unit III Why is potassium persulphate added in the thiocyanate method for iron?Unit III What is the Carr-Price reagent? What colour does vitamin A give with it?Unit IV Why must glassware be completely dry for the Carr-Price test?Unit IV Why does β-carotene come off the column before the other pigments?Unit IV At what wavelength is β-carotene read, and why?Unit IV What is the water equivalent of a bomb calorimeter?Unit V State the principle of the infrared moisture balance.Unit V Define acid value and iodine value.Unit V Why is the sample dried before Soxhlet extraction?Unit V

Short write-ups

Explain the principle of Barfoed's and Seliwanoff's tests.Unit I Write a note on sucrose hydrolysis and invert sugar.Unit I Give a flow scheme to identify an unknown sugar.Unit I Explain the colour reactions of proteins with the amino acids they detect.Unit II Explain the principles of the precipitation reactions of proteins.Unit II Explain the principle and calculation of the micro-Kjeldahl method.Unit II Describe the qualitative tests for calcium, iron and phosphate in a food ash, with observations.Unit III Explain the principle of the Fiske-Subbarow method and show how phosphorus is calculated per 100 g.Unit III Explain the principle of iron estimation by the thiocyanate method and the role of each reagent.Unit III Describe the qualitative tests for vitamin A with observations and inferences.Unit IV Explain how carotene is extracted from a vegetable and separated by column chromatography.Unit IV Give the formula for carotene content per 100 g and work out an example.Unit IV Why do physiological fuel values differ from bomb calorimeter values? Explain with Atwater factors.Unit V Compare the infrared moisture balance with the hot air oven method for moisture.Unit V Explain the working of a Soxhlet extractor with a neat diagram.Unit V

Full experiment write-up

Identify the given unknown carbohydrate by systematic analysis.Unit I Estimate the amount of reducing sugar in the given solution by Benedict's method.Unit I Perform the osazone test on the given sugars and identify them from their crystal shapes.Unit I Perform the colour reactions on the given protein solution and report the amino acids present.Unit II Estimate the amount of protein in the given solution by Lowry's method.Unit II Estimate the crude protein content of the given food sample by the micro-Kjeldahl method.Unit II Prepare the ash solution of the given food and carry out qualitative tests for minerals.Unit III Estimate the calcium content of the given food sample by the permanganate titration method.Unit III Estimate the vitamin C content of the given fruit by the 2,6-dichlorophenol indophenol method.Unit III Demonstrate the Carr-Price test for vitamin A: aim, principle, procedure, observation, result and precautions.Unit IV Estimate the β-carotene content of the given vegetable by column chromatography and colorimetry.Unit IV Write up the qualitative tests for vitamin A and explain why vitamin A must be protected from light and air.Unit IV Describe the determination of the calorific value of a food with a bomb calorimeter, with a calculation.Unit V Determine the acid value and iodine value of the given oil. Give the principle, procedure and calculations.Unit V Estimate the fat content of the given food by the Soxhlet method, with a diagram and calculation.Unit V

Answer frames

How to lay out a long answer, with a write-up check. 19 frames so far.