If you’re preparing to sit for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and would like to make a high score or to pass your chemistry perfectly do ensure to read this article from the beginning to the end.

Through careful, compressive and accurate research made by our team, we have complied chemistry yearly repeated JAMB UTME examination topics and brief summary about them.

Every year, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board conducts an examination that determines if a student will be admitted to higher education.

The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) is a computer-based standardized examination for prospective undergraduates in Nigeria.

The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination is only valid for a year and with grade range between 0-400.

After the conduct of the year's examination, the board sit and deliberate on the cut-off mark for universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, with some institutions requiring higher marks.

Usually, JAMB do release syllabus every year in all the subjects offered in the Nigerian Universities, but the sad and bitter truth still remains that it is not every student will be able to cover the entire syllabus and that is why I will be listing out five (5) topics you should read in Chemistry that JAMB frequently ask questions from:

1. Organic Chemistry

Organic chemistry is the study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-containing compounds. Most organic compounds contain carbon and hydrogen, but they may also include any number of other elements (e.g., nitrogen, oxygen, halogens, phosphorus, silicon, sulfur).

Before the Computer Based Test, JAMB always bring 3-4 questions from Organic Chemistry which is often appears between question 46-50. You are yet to prepare for JAMB CBT if you have not read Organic Chemistry.

Below are the things you need to know in this topic:

a. Differences between hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon.

b. Alkane, Alkene and Alkyne Family: Nature of their covalent bond, bond angle, hybridization, preparation, properties and uses.

c. Alkanols and Benzene: Know the classes of alkanols, which are primary, secondary and tertiary and the types of alkanols which are monohydric, dihydric and trihydric. Also know the August Kekule resonance and hybrid structure of benzene and other benzene derivatives like phenol, toluene.

d. Functional Groups of organic compounds, formation of esters and ethers.

2. Chemical Reaction

A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the chemical transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Classically, chemical reactions encompass changes that only involve the positions of electrons in the forming and breaking of chemical bonds between atoms, with no change to the nuclei (no change to the elements present), and can often be described by a chemical equation.

Nuclear chemistry is a sub-discipline of chemistry that involves the chemical reactions of unstable and radioactive elements where both electronic and nuclear changes can occur.

You are also expected to know the types of chemical reactions which are:

i. Redox reaction ii. Displacement reaction
iii. Decomposition reaction
iv. Double decomposition reaction
V. catalytic reaction
vi. Combination reaction.

In redox reaction, the following aspects should be studied:

a. Defining oxidation and reduction reaction in terms of oxygen, electrons, hydrogen, oxidation number.

b. Identifying oxidizing and reducing agent in a redox reaction.

c. Calculating the oxidation number of an element in a compound.

d. Knowing the oxidation state of oxygen in a peroxide and hydrogen in a hydride.

3. Chemical Bonding

A chemical bond is a lasting attraction between atoms, ions or molecules that enables the formation of chemical compounds. The bond may result from the electrostatic force between oppositely charged ions as in ionic bonds or through the sharing of electrons as in covalent bonds.

The strength of chemical bonds varies considerably; there are "strong bonds" or "primary bonds" such as covalent, ionic and metallic bonds, and "weak bonds" or "secondary bonds" such as dipole–dipole interactions, the London dispersion force and hydrogen bonding.

JAMB candidates are expected to know that various kinds of chemical bonds in a compound, which at: Electrovalent and covalent bonds, metallic bond, hydrogen bond, dipole-dipole interaction and vanderwaals forces.

Similarly candidates expected also know the role of electron negativity in the formation of electro valent and covalent bonds: when the electron negativity difference is large, the elements making up the compound will most likely form an electro valent or ionic bond.

4. Electrode, Electrochemical Cells And Electrolysis

Candidates should know the difference between anode and cathode in an electrochemical and electrolytic cell. The electrodes for the various electrochemical cells (Daniel cell, lead acid accumulator, leclanche cell) should also be studied.

Candidates are also expected to know how to calculate the mass of an element deposited during electrolysis and the volume of gases (oxygen, hydrogen, chlorine) liberated during electrolysis.

These four topics are one of those Joint Admission And Matriculation Board (JAMB) all time frequently ask questions.

We will continue to update this page as we get more JAMB Chemistry topics, questions and answers Free of Charge.