Fuels and Earth Science | Edexcel GCSE Chemistry, Foundation tier (1CH0)
Fuels and Earth Science
- 190 questions
- 12 subtopics
- Paper 2
- Paper 2
Fuels and Earth Science is examined in Paper 2, Chemistry 2.
It covers hydrocarbons and crude oil, fractional distillation and the fractions, properties of the fractions and homologous series, complete and incomplete combustion, carbon monoxide and soot, pollutants and acid rain, hydrogen and fossil fuels compared, cracking and why it is necessary, the Earth's early atmosphere, how the oceans formed and how oxygen appeared, the test for oxygen and the greenhouse gases and today's atmosphere and evidence for climate change.
Sample questions from Fuels and Earth Science
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Hydrocarbons and crude oil
A compound has the formula C₃H₇Cl. State whether it is a hydrocarbon and explain your answer.
Show the answer
It is not a hydrocarbon because it contains chlorine in addition to carbon and hydrogen. -
Fractional distillation and the fractions
Name the crude oil fraction used to surface roads and roofs.
Show the answer
Bitumen is used to surface roads and to cover roofs. -
Complete and incomplete combustion
Write the balanced equation for the complete combustion of methane.
Show the answer
CH₄ + 2O₂ → CO₂ + 2H₂O. -
Carbon monoxide and soot
Describe one visible sign that a gas appliance is burning its fuel incompletely.
Show the answer
The flame burns yellow or orange instead of blue, and black sooty marks appear around the appliance. -
Hydrogen and fossil fuels compared
Explain why hydrogen is considered hazardous as a car fuel.
Show the answer
It is extremely flammable and forms explosive mixtures with air if it leaks. -
Cracking and why it is necessary
Explain how cracking increases the money a refinery earns from a barrel of crude oil.
Show the answer
It converts low-value long-chain hydrocarbons into short-chain products that sell for far more. -
How the oceans formed and how oxygen appeared
Explain why the level of carbon dioxide fell as the oceans formed but the level of nitrogen did not.
Show the answer
Carbon dioxide dissolves readily in water, whereas nitrogen is only very slightly soluble. -
The test for oxygen and the greenhouse gases
What name is given to the warming of the Earth caused by gases absorbing radiated heat?
Show the answer
It is called the greenhouse effect.
The 12 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocarbons and crude oil | What a hydrocarbon is and deciding whether compounds such as methane and ethanol are hydrocarbons, crude oil as a finite mixture of hydrocarbons in chains and rings, and its use for fuels and petrochemical feedstock. | 13 |
| Fractional distillation and the fractions | What a fraction is, how crude oil is vaporised and separated in a fractionating column with its temperature gradient, why fractions condense at different heights and are still mixtures, and the order and uses of gases, petrol, kerosene, diesel oil, fuel oil and bitumen. | 17 |
| Properties of the fractions and homologous series | How molecule size changes down the column and affects boiling point, ease of ignition and viscosity, why petrol suits car engines, and homologous series, the CH₂ difference, the alkane general formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₂ and trends along a series. | 17 |
| Complete and incomplete combustion | The products of complete combustion and why it needs plenty of oxygen, the oxidation of carbon and hydrogen, equations for burning methane and propane, and how limited oxygen gives carbon monoxide, soot and water in incomplete combustion. | 15 |
| Carbon monoxide and soot | Why carbon monoxide is toxic and hard to detect, how it binds to haemoglobin, carbon monoxide alarms, and how soot from incomplete combustion blocks appliances, creates fire and health risks, and why appliances are serviced. | 13 |
| Pollutants and acid rain | How sulfur impurities in fuels form sulfur dioxide, how it causes acid rain and the damage to lakes, trees, buildings and metals, ways of reducing it, and how oxides of nitrogen form from air in hot engines and why they are pollutants. | 20 |
| Hydrogen and fossil fuels compared | The advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen as a car fuel compared with petrol, including its combustion product, storage, flammability, refuelling and manufacture, and petrol, kerosene, diesel oil and methane as non-renewable fossil fuels. | 14 |
| Cracking and why it is necessary | What cracking is, saturated alkanes and unsaturated alkenes, the conditions used and a cracking equation, why the supply of and demand for fractions make cracking necessary and profitable, and presenting data in bar charts, histograms and frequency tables. | 20 |
| The Earth's early atmosphere | How volcanic activity produced an early atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide and water vapour with little or no oxygen, the small amounts of nitrogen, methane and ammonia, and why the evidence from Mars and ancient rocks is uncertain. | 13 |
| How the oceans formed and how oxygen appeared | How condensing water vapour formed the oceans, how dissolved carbon dioxide was locked into carbonate sediments, limestone and fossil fuels, and how photosynthesis by primitive plants gradually removed carbon dioxide and added oxygen. | 18 |
| The test for oxygen and the greenhouse gases | The glowing splint test for oxygen and why it works, and how carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour absorb heat radiated from the Earth's surface to cause the greenhouse effect, and why more of them raises temperatures. | 11 |
| Today's atmosphere and evidence for climate change | The correlation between carbon dioxide and temperature and why it is not proof, uncertainties in historical and local evidence, ice cores, the composition of today's atmosphere, human sources of carbon dioxide and methane, the effects of climate change and ways to limit it. | 19 |
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.