Alcohols: Oxidation, Distillation and Reflux — Interactive Lesson (Ages 16–18)

Primary, secondary or tertiary? The answer decides what acidified dichromate turns an alcohol into. This 24-slide interactive lesson on oxidation of alcohols takes pupils from first ideas to exam-style explanations, with 14 self-marking activities and nothing to prepare beforehand.

Teaching Alcohols: Oxidation, Distillation and Reflux in A-level Chemistry

Students classify alcohols as primary, secondary or tertiary and predict the products of oxidation with acidified potassium dichromate(VI), including the orange-to-green colour change. They explain when to distil off an aldehyde and when to heat under reflux to make a carboxylic acid or ketone, use Tollens' and Fehling's reagents to tell aldehydes from ketones, and describe the dehydration of alcohols to alkenes.

What Pupils Will Learn

• Classify alcohols as primary, secondary or tertiary.
• Describe the oxidation of alcohols by acidified potassium dichromate(VI), including the colour change.
• Explain when to use distillation and when to use reflux.
• Use Tollens' and Fehling's reagents to distinguish aldehydes from ketones.
• Describe the elimination (dehydration) of alcohols to form alkenes.

What’s Included

• 24-slide interactive lesson
• 14 self-marking activities: multiple-choice questions, true-or-false checks, sorting tasks, drag-and-drop categorising and fill-in-the-gap questions
• Step-by-step teaching cards that reveal one point at a time
• A written explanation task with a model answer for self-assessment

Why Teachers Love It

• No prep — open it on an interactive whiteboard, laptop or tablet
• Instant feedback explains every answer, right or wrong
• Everyday examples make chemistry feel real
• Works for whole-class teaching, independent study or revision

Curriculum Alignment

Supports the organic chemistry content of UK A-level Chemistry (AQA section 3.3, with equivalent OCR and Edexcel content) and prepares Nigerian students for post-SSCE study, JAMB and first-year university chemistry.

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FAQ

What year groups is this for? Year 12 (ages 16–18), and post-SSCE students in Nigeria.

Is it self-marking? Yes — all 14 activities give instant feedback.

Do pupils need to log in? No. The lesson runs in any modern web browser.

Can I use it for revision? Yes. Pupils can replay it as often as they like, and the results screen shows which questions to review before a test.