Inorganic Chemistry and the Periodic Table | Edexcel A-Level Chemistry (9CH0)
Inorganic Chemistry and the Periodic Table
- 168 questions
- 11 subtopics
- Paper 1: advanced inorganic and physical chemistry
- Paper 1 and Paper 3
Covers the trends and reactions of Group 2, flame colours and thermal decomposition across Groups 1 and 2, the trends and reactions of the halogens and hydrogen halides with predictions for fluorine and astatine, and the tests that identify halide, carbonate, hydrogencarbonate, sulfate and ammonium ions..
It covers flame tests and how they work, thermal decomposition of nitrates and carbonates, carrying out flame tests and testing the gases, group 2 elements and their compounds, trends in Group 7 and predicting fluorine and astatine, halogen displacement reactions, disproportionation and the reactions of chlorine, halides with concentrated sulfuric acid, and the hydrogen halides, testing for halide ions with silver nitrate, testing for carbonate and hydrogencarbonate ions and testing for sulfate and ammonium ions.
Sample questions from Inorganic Chemistry and the Periodic Table
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Flame tests and how they work
What flame colour is produced by lithium compounds?
Show the answer
Crimson/red -
Thermal decomposition of nitrates and carbonates
What gaseous products are released when calcium nitrate decomposes on heating?
Show the answer
Nitrogen dioxide and oxygen -
Carrying out flame tests and testing the gases
Where in the Bunsen flame should the wire be held during a flame test?
Show the answer
At the edge of a non-luminous Bunsen flame -
Group 2 elements and their compounds
How does magnesium react with steam?
Show the answer
It burns with a bright white glow to form magnesium oxide and hydrogen: Mg + H₂O → MgO + H₂. -
Trends in Group 7 and predicting fluorine and astatine
What is the physical state of iodine at room temperature?
Show the answer
Solid. -
Halogen displacement reactions
Why does bromine not displace chloride ions from solution?
Show the answer
Because bromine is less reactive than chlorine. -
Disproportionation and the reactions of chlorine
What is the oxidation state of chlorine in HCl, and what type of change is this from Cl₂?
Show the answer
-1; this is a reduction. -
Halides with concentrated sulfuric acid, and the hydrogen halides
What products are formed when hydrogen bromide reduces sulfuric acid?
Show the answer
Bromine (Br₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and water.
The 11 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Flame tests and how they work | How thermal energy promotes electrons in metal ions that emit light of characteristic wavelengths as they fall back, the flame colours of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium, calcium, strontium and barium compounds, and why magnesium compounds give no distinctive colour. | 13 |
| Thermal decomposition of nitrates and carbonates | The products of heating Group 1 and Group 2 nitrates and carbonates, the lithium nitrate and lithium carbonate exceptions, the increase in thermal stability down each group, and how cation charge density and polarisation of the anion explain why Group 2 compounds decompose more readily. | 17 |
| Carrying out flame tests and testing the gases | Recall questions on the practical method for a flame test and on the tests that identify oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. | 10 |
| Group 2 elements and their compounds | The trends in ionisation energy and reactivity down Group 2, the reactions of the metals with oxygen, chlorine, water and steam, the oxides and hydroxides with water and acids, uses as antacids and to neutralise soil, the solubility trends of the hydroxides and sulfates, the barium meal and the sulfate test. | 22 |
| Trends in Group 7 and predicting fluorine and astatine | How London forces explain the melting and boiling temperatures and physical states of the halogens, the trends in atomic radius, shielding and electronegativity down Group 7, why reactivity decreases down the group, and predictions for fluorine and astatine covering their properties, displacement reactions, hydrogen halides and silver salts. | 23 |
| Halogen displacement reactions | The displacement reactions of chlorine, bromine and iodine with halide ions and the colours seen, why a halogen cannot displace a more reactive one, the halogen colours in an organic solvent, which species is oxidised and which reduced, and the oxidation numbers when halogens react with Group 1 and Group 2 metals. | 18 |
| Disproportionation and the reactions of chlorine | Recall questions on chlorine with cold and with hot alkali, on chlorine in water treatment, and on the oxidation number changes that make each a disproportionation. | 10 |
| Halides with concentrated sulfuric acid, and the hydrogen halides | The products of solid sodium chloride, bromide and iodide with concentrated sulfuric acid and the observations for each, why the reducing power of the hydrogen halides increases from HCl to HI as the H-X bond weakens, and the reactions of hydrogen halides with ammonia and with water. | 19 |
| Testing for halide ions with silver nitrate | The white, cream and yellow silver halide precipitates and the ionic equation for silver bromide, their solubility in dilute and concentrated ammonia and the diamminesilver(I) complex, why the sample is acidified with dilute nitric acid rather than hydrochloric acid, and identifying an unknown halide from the results. | 12 |
| Testing for carbonate and hydrogencarbonate ions | The aqueous acid test for carbonate and hydrogencarbonate ions, the effervescence of carbon dioxide it gives, the ionic equations CO₃²⁻ + 2H⁺ → H₂O + CO₂ and HCO₃⁻ + H⁺ → H₂O + CO₂, and the mole ratio of hydrogen ions each shows. | 10 |
| Testing for sulfate and ammonium ions | The acidified barium chloride test for sulfate ions with its white barium sulfate precipitate and ionic equation, why hydrochloric acid is added first to stop carbonate and sulfite ions giving false positives, and the test for ammonium ions by warming with sodium hydroxide, its ionic equation, and identifying the ammonia with damp red litmus or by smell. | 14 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
Edexcel A-Level Chemistry Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,534 questions with their answers.