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The United States National Chemistry Olympiad (or USNCO) is a contest held by the American Chemical Society (ACS) used to select the four-student team that represents the United States at the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO).

Each local ACS section selects 10 students (or more for larger ACS sections) to take the USNCO National Exam. To qualify for the national exam, students must first take the local exam. Approximately 10,000 U.S. students sit for the local exam each year. More than 1000 students qualify to take the National Exam annually.^[1]

Exam format

The National Exam consists of three parts.

Multiple choice

The first part contains 60 multiple-choice questions. Each question has four answer choices. The questions are loosely grouped into 10 sets of 6 items; each set corresponds to a different chemistry topic. Typically, the topics are, in order, descriptive chemistry/laboratory techniques, stoichiometry, gases/liquids/solids, thermodynamics, kinetics, equilibrium, electrochemistry, electronic structure/periodic trends, bonding theories, and organic chemistry. There is no penalty for guessing; a student's score is equal to the number of questions answered correctly. One and a half hours (90 minutes) are allotted for this first part.

Free response

The second part contains 8 free response questions. Complete written explanations and calculations are required for full credit on a question, and partial credit is awarded. More thorough knowledge of basic theories is required, and often there are questions on less-emphasized portions of normal high school chemistry curricula, such as organic chemistry and coordination chemistry. One hour and 45 minutes (105 minutes) are allowed for this section. The topics of each question in the recent part II’s of USNCO usually follows the following format:

Q1: Stoichiometry

Q2: Equilibrium

Q3. Assorted (typically either thermodynamics, electrochemistry, or kinetics)

Q4. Assorted (typically either thermodynamics, electrochemistry, or kinetics)

Q5. Prediction of chemical reaction products. Includes acid-base reactions as well as redox reactions. Part F is usually on radioisotope decay.

Q6. Assorted (could be any topic that is not anywhere else)

Q7. Bonding

Q8. Organic Chemistry

Lab practical

Beginning in 1994, the lab practical was added to the National Exam. It contains two tasks to be performed by each student with only the specified materials, and students are expected to describe their procedures and organize their findings. Past tasks have included chromatography, titration and qualitative analysis, and 90 minutes are allotted to complete the two experiments.

USNCO Study Camp and other recognition

The top 20 scorers on the USNCO National Exam are invited to participate in the two-week USNCO Study Camp at the University of Maryland, College Park in College Park, Maryland. At the camp, the students are tested (both free response and lab testing), and the top four students are selected to comprise the U.S. IChO team. Two alternates are also selected, although no alternate has ever actually been called up for duty.

In addition, the top 50 students are recognized as achieving "High Honors" or "t50", and the next 100 students earn the "Honors" or "t150" designation.

Scope of the test as compared to the IChO

The purpose of the USNCO is to stimulate all young people to achieve excellence in chemistry. Therefore, the focus of the exam is not necessarily to select the top twenty students, and instead to present a wide selection of basic questions. Therefore, the scope of the USNCO is different than the scope of what would be expected at the training camp or IChO.

References

^ "Chemistry Olympiad Exams". Chemistry Olympiad. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 23 July 2017.

External links

[:0-1] "Chemistry Olympiad Exams". Chemistry Olympiad. American Chemical Society. Retrieved 23 July 2017.

[1]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Contest held by the American Chemical Society}}
-The '''United States National Chemistry Olympiad''' (or '''USNCO''') is a contest held by the [[American Chemical Society]] (ACS) used to select the four-student team that represents the United States at the [[International Chemistry Olympiad]] (IChO).
+{{More citations needed|date=January 2019}}
+The '''United States National Chemistry Olympiad''' (or '''USNCO''') is a [[Student competition|contest]] held by the [[American Chemical Society]] (ACS) used to select the four-student team that represents the United States at the [[International Chemistry Olympiad]] (IChO).
-Each local ACS section selects, in whatever way it chooses, eight students (or more for larger ACS sections) to take the USNCO National Exam. One way to select these students is with the USNCO Local Exam, which is a significantly easier version of the National Exam consisting of 60 multiple choice questions.  Thus, the first step on the path to the USA IChO team is usually the local exam.
+Each local ACS section selects 10 students (or more for larger ACS sections) to take the USNCO National Exam. To qualify for the national exam, students must first take the local exam. Approximately 10,000 U.S. students sit for the local exam each year. More than 1000 students qualify to take the National Exam annually.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Chemistry Olympiad Exams|url=https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/students/highschool/olympiad/pastexams.html|website=Chemistry Olympiad|publisher=American Chemical Society|accessdate=23 July 2017}}</ref>
 == Exam format ==
@@ Line 9: / Line 12: @@
 === Multiple choice ===
-The first part contains 60 multiple-choice questions. Each question has four answer choices. There is no penalty for guessing; a student's score is equal to the number of questions answered correctly. One and a half hours (90 minutes) are allotted for this first part.
+The first part contains 60 multiple-choice questions. Each question has four answer choices. The questions are loosely grouped into 10 sets of 6 items; each set corresponds to a different chemistry topic. Typically, the topics are, in order, descriptive chemistry/laboratory techniques, stoichiometry, gases/liquids/solids, thermodynamics, kinetics, equilibrium, electrochemistry, electronic structure/periodic trends, bonding theories, and organic chemistry. There is no penalty for guessing; a student's score is equal to the number of questions answered correctly. One and a half hours (90 minutes) are allotted for this first part.
 === Free response ===
-The second part contains 8 free response questions. Complete written explanations and calculations are required for full credit on a question. Partial credit is awarded.
+The second part contains 8 free response questions. Complete written explanations and calculations are required for full credit on a question, and partial credit is awarded. More thorough knowledge of basic theories is required, and often there are questions on less-emphasized portions of normal high school chemistry curricula, such as organic chemistry and coordination chemistry. One hour and 45 minutes (105 minutes) are allowed for this section. The topics of each question in the recent part II’s of USNCO usually follows the following format:
+Q1: Stoichiometry
-=== Lab practical ===
+Q2: Equilibrium
-Beginning in 1994, the lab practical was added to the National Exam. It contains two tasks to be performed by each student with only the specified materials. Past tasks have included [[chromatography]], [[titration]] and [[qualitative analysis]].
+Q3. Assorted (typically either thermodynamics, electrochemistry, or kinetics)
-== Limitations to participation ==
+Q4. Assorted (typically either thermodynamics, electrochemistry, or kinetics)
-=== USA representation limits ===
-As the USNCO is seen as a process in which potential candidates for the USA IChO team, only United States passport-holding residents may proceed to the training camp from the USNCO.  Further, those who are deemed not fit to represent the United States for discipline reasons during the training camp may be barred from selection for the IChO team, although such cases are extremely rare.
+Q5. Prediction of chemical reaction products. Includes acid-base reactions as well as redox reactions. Part F is usually on radioisotope decay.
-=== Special limitations ===
-The purpose of this section is to explain some of the special participation limitations that seem otherwise unjustified.
+Q6. Assorted (could be any topic that is not anywhere else)
-The USNCO and the entire process of the USA IChO team selection is coordinated by the education division of the [[American Chemical Society|ACS]], also known as [[DivChEd]].  As an educational organization, the use of the USNCO and the IChO as an chemistry awareness and education process is paramount.  Doing well at the IChO, although desirable, is not as nearly as important for DivChEd.  Therefore, a maximum of two students from the same educational institution are allowed to participate in the USNCO, even if more students qualify for the USNCO in a local section based on score.  This rule prevents a science-oriented school from sending excessive numbers of people to the training camp, and thus limiting the USNCO's impact on chemistry awareness across the United States.  Also, the efficiacy of the chemistry training camp may be decreased if it is overwhelmed by students from one school, which would result in a worse USA IChO team.
+Q7. Bonding
-One other special limitation is that a person who has earned either a gold or silver medal in the IChO may not participate again in the study camp.  This limitation is put in place purely for the chemistry awareness, as a student who has learned from one year's IChO most likely will do much better in the following year.  The rationale for not limiting a person who has been awarded honorable mention or a bronze medal from competing the following year is likely based on the fact that if the USA team was in a condition that there were bronze medalists or lower, then the chemistry awareness may be sacrificed for the performance of the team.
+Q8. Organic Chemistry
-Note that the only official reason that ACS gives for these limitations is "chemistry awareness", and that more detailed explanations are purely speculative, but they seem much more reasonable than any other possible explainations with the information given.
-== USNCO Study Camp ==
+=== Lab practical ===
+Beginning in 1994, the lab practical was added to the National Exam. It contains two tasks to be performed by each student with only the specified materials, and students are expected to describe their procedures and organize their findings. Past tasks have included [[chromatography]], [[titration]] and [[Qualitative inorganic analysis|qualitative analysis]], and 90 minutes are allotted to complete the two experiments.
-The top 20 scorers on the USNCO National Exam are invited to participate in the two-week USNCO Study Camp at the [[United States Air Force Academy]] in [[Colorado Springs, Colorado]]. At the camp, the students are tested (both free response and lab testing), and the top four students are selected to comprise the U.S. IChO team.  Two alternates are also selected, although no alternate has ever actually been called up for duty.
+== USNCO Study Camp and other recognition ==
+The top 20 scorers on the USNCO National Exam are invited to participate in the two-week USNCO Study Camp at the University of Maryland, College Park in College Park, Maryland. At the camp, the students are tested (both free response and lab testing), and the top four students are selected to comprise the U.S. IChO team.  Two alternates are also selected, although no alternate has ever actually been called up for duty.
+In addition, the top 50 students are recognized as achieving "High Honors" or "t50", and the next 100 students earn the "Honors" or "t150" designation.
 == Scope of the test as compared to the IChO ==
-The purpose of the USNCO is to select those students who have the chemistry skills necessary to compete in IChOs in general as determined by past IChO.  In contrast, the testing administered at the actual training camp aims to select those students who have the skills do to well on the topics that will be covered in the immediate upcoming IChO.  Since the host country each year may design the test to their preference, the scope of the USNCO and the training camp may be widely different.
+The purpose of the USNCO is to stimulate all young people to achieve excellence in chemistry. Therefore, the focus of the exam is not necessarily to select the top twenty students, and instead to present a wide selection of basic questions. Therefore, the scope of the USNCO is different than the scope of what would be expected at the training camp or IChO.
 == See also ==
 * [[International Chemistry Olympiad]]
 * [[International science olympiad|Other International Science Olympiads]]
+==References==
-== External links ==
+{{reflist}}
+== External links ==
 * [http://www.chemistry.org/ The American Chemical Society Website]
-* [http://www.chemistry.org/portal/a/c/s/1/acsdisplay.html?DOC=education%5Cstudent%5Colympiad.html The ACS website for the USNCO]
+* [http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEMAIN&node_id=1013&use_sec=false The ACS website for the USNCO]
-[[Category:Olympiad]]
+[[Category:American Chemical Society]]
+[[Category:Youth science]]
+[[Category:Student quiz competitions]]
+[[Category:Chemistry competitions]]
+[[Category:Science events in the United States]]
+[[Category:Education competitions in the United States]]
+[[Category:Annual events in Colorado]]