Chemical Analysis, Organic Chemistry and Materials | Edexcel GCSE Chemistry, Foundation tier (1CH0)
Chemical Analysis, Organic Chemistry and Materials
- 296 questions
- 20 subtopics
- Paper 2
- Paper 2
Chemical Analysis, Organic Chemistry and Materials is examined in Paper 2, Chemistry 2.
It covers why an ion test must be unique, and flame tests, tests for metal ions and for ammonia, tests for carbonate, sulfate and halide ions, identifying the ions in an unknown salt, instrumental methods and flame photometry, alkanes and why they are saturated, alkenes and why they are unsaturated, reactions of alkenes, and combustion, what a polymer is, and how poly(ethene) forms, other addition polymers, and monomers from polymers, uses of polymers, and natural polymers including DNA, problems with polymers and recycling, alcohols and the -OH functional group, comparing the energy released by alcohol fuels, making ethanol by fermentation and distillation, carboxylic acids and the -COOH functional group, oxidising alcohols to carboxylic acids, and homologous series, the size of nanoparticles, uses and risks of nanoparticles and choosing a material for a use.
Sample questions from Chemical Analysis, Organic Chemistry and Materials
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Why an ion test must be unique, and flame tests
What flame colour is produced by a lithium ion, Li⁺?
Show the answer
Red. -
Tests for carbonate, sulfate and halide ions
What colour precipitate does a solution containing bromide ions give with acidified silver nitrate solution?
Show the answer
A cream precipitate of silver bromide. -
Alkanes and why they are saturated
How many covalent bonds are there in a molecule of ethane, and between which atoms?
Show the answer
Seven: six carbon–hydrogen bonds and one carbon–carbon bond. -
Reactions of alkenes, and combustion
Explain why the complete combustion of an alkane is an oxidation reaction.
Show the answer
The carbon and the hydrogen in the fuel both gain oxygen, forming carbon dioxide and water. -
Uses of polymers, and natural polymers including DNA
Which property of PTFE makes it useful as a non-stick coating on frying pans?
Show the answer
It is very unreactive and other substances do not stick to its surface. -
Alcohols and the -OH functional group
What is removed from an alcohol molecule when it is dehydrated?
Show the answer
A molecule of water is removed. -
Carboxylic acids and the -COOH functional group
Describe the bonds around the carbon atom of the –COOH group in ethanoic acid.
Show the answer
That carbon is joined by a double bond to one oxygen atom, by a single bond to a second oxygen atom, and by a single bond to the neighbouring carbon atom. -
The size of nanoparticles
How many atoms of diameter 0.2 nm would fit in a line across a nanoparticle 20 nm wide?
Show the answer
100 atoms would fit, because 20 ÷ 0.2 = 100.
The 20 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Why an ion test must be unique, and flame tests | Why a test result must be unique to one ion and why known compounds are tested alongside, the flame colours of lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium and copper, and how the test is carried out. | 15 |
| Tests for metal ions and for ammonia | The precipitates formed with sodium hydroxide solution by aluminium, calcium, copper, iron(II) and iron(III) ions, telling aluminium from calcium, the equation for copper(II) sulfate, and the tests for ammonium ions and ammonia gas with damp red litmus. | 17 |
| Tests for carbonate, sulfate and halide ions | The acid and limewater test for carbonate ions, the acidified barium chloride test for sulfate ions, the acidified silver nitrate test for chloride, bromide and iodide ions and their precipitate colours, and why each acid is added first. | 15 |
| Identifying the ions in an unknown salt | The order of tests for an unknown salt, why the wire is cleaned and distilled water used, the sources of error and safety precautions, and naming salts from combined test results. | 14 |
| Instrumental methods and flame photometry | What instrumental methods are and their advantages and disadvantages, using a calibration curve to find a concentration and diluting samples beyond its range, and identifying metal ions with a flame photometer by comparison with reference data. | 13 |
| Alkanes and why they are saturated | The formulae and bonding of methane, ethane, propane and butane, the general formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₂, and why alkanes are saturated hydrocarbons containing only single bonds. | 12 |
| Alkenes and why they are unsaturated | The formulae of ethene, propene and butene, the general formula CₙH₂ₙ, the structures of but-1-ene and but-2-ene, the C=C functional group, and why alkenes are unsaturated. | 12 |
| Reactions of alkenes, and combustion | Addition reactions of ethene, propene and but-1-ene with bromine and their products, using bromine water to tell an alkane from an alkene, and the complete combustion of alkanes and alkenes as oxidation, with balanced equations. | 20 |
| What a polymer is, and how poly(ethene) forms | What polymers, monomers and repeating units are and why a polymer's relative molecular mass is an average, and how ethene's double bond opens in addition polymerisation to form poly(ethene) with the repeating unit –CH₂–CH₂–. | 13 |
| Other addition polymers, and monomers from polymers | Poly(propene), poly(chloroethene) and poly(tetrafluoroethene) and their monomers, why a monomer needs a C=C bond, working out a repeating unit from a monomer and a monomer from a repeating unit, and counting atoms in a chain. | 17 |
| Uses of polymers, and natural polymers including DNA | The properties that suit poly(ethene), poly(propene), PVC and PTFE to their uses, and the monomers of DNA, starch and proteins and why they count as polymers. | 16 |
| Problems with polymers and recycling | Polymers made from finite crude oil, why non-biodegradable polymers fill landfill, the carbon dioxide, hydrogen chloride and carbon monoxide released by burning them, why sorting is needed, and the economic and environmental advantages and disadvantages of recycling polymers. | 19 |
| Alcohols and the -OH functional group | The formulae and bonding of methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol and butan-1-ol, the general formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₁OH, the –OH hydroxyl functional group, and dehydrating alcohols to form alkenes and water. | 17 |
| Comparing the energy released by alcohol fuels | Comparing the temperature rise of water heated by burning ethanol, propanol, butanol and pentanol, the variables and weighing the spirit burner, heat loss and incomplete combustion as errors, the trend with chain length, and calculating the energy gained by the water. | 11 |
| Making ethanol by fermentation and distillation | Fermenting sugars with enzymes from yeast, the word and balanced equations, why the sugar is dissolved and why strong heating stops fermentation, and concentrating the dilute ethanol by fractional distillation using its boiling point of 78 °C. | 14 |
| Carboxylic acids and the -COOH functional group | The formulae and bonding of methanoic, ethanoic, propanoic and butanoic acids, their general formula and the –COOH carboxyl group, their acidic reactions with litmus, metals, carbonates and alkalis, the salts formed, and vinegar. | 18 |
| Oxidising alcohols to carboxylic acids, and homologous series | The acids formed when methanol, ethanol, propan-1-ol and butan-1-ol are oxidised, the –COOH group, why wine turns sour, and predicting the reactions of other members of a homologous series. | 14 |
| The size of nanoparticles | The 1 nm to 100 nm size range, how a nanoparticle compares with an atom, a molecule and a dust particle, and converting nanometres to metres in standard form. | 8 |
| Uses and risks of nanoparticles | How surface area to volume ratio grows as particles shrink, why that suits catalysts and sunscreens, and the health and environmental risks that are not yet understood. | 14 |
| Choosing a material for a use | The properties of glass, clay ceramics, polymers and metals, what composites such as fibreglass and carbon fibre are and why they are useful, and choosing materials for wiring, furnaces, windows, saucepan handles, bridges and ropes from their properties. | 17 |
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 GCSE Chemistry, Foundation tier Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,651 questions with their answers.