Edexcel GCSE Combined Science Chemistry, Higher tier Active Recall Guide (1SC0)
Edexcel · GCSE
Edexcel GCSE Combined Science Chemistry, Higher tier Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification 1SC0 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 1,338 questions across 7 topics and 95 subtopics, at Higher tier, covering Paper 3 and Paper 4.
- Edexcel
- GCSE
- Specification 1SC0
- 1,338 questions
Guide overview All topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
Edexcel GCSE Combined Science (specification 1SC0) is worth two GCSEs and is examined by six papers, two for each science. The chemistry content is sat as Paper 3, Chemistry 1, and Paper 4, Chemistry 2, each 1 hour 10 minutes and 60 marks, together a third of the qualification. This is the Higher tier: it carries everything on the Foundation papers plus the higher-tier content, and grades 9–9 to 4–4 of the 17-grade double award are available, with a grade 4–3 allowed for a mark just below the 4–4 boundary.
Combined Science covers three sciences in the time most schools give to two, which makes it the qualification where forgetting costs the most. Working one subtopic at a time is what keeps the chemistry third from slipping while the other two are being taught.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paper 3 Chemistry 1 |
Key Concepts in Chemistry States of Matter and Mixtures Chemical Changes Extracting Metals and Equilibria |
1 hour 10 minutes | 60 marks | 16.67% |
|
Paper 4 Chemistry 2 |
Key Concepts in Chemistry Groups in the Periodic Table Rates of Reaction and Energy Changes Fuels and Earth Science |
1 hour 10 minutes | 60 marks | 16.67% |
What is in the guide
All topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Formulae, word equations and balanced equations
Give the formulae of calcium carbonate and sodium hydroxide.
Show the answer
They are CaCO₃ and NaOH. -
The three states of matter and changes of state
Put the three states of matter in order of increasing energy of their particles.
Show the answer
Solid particles have the least energy, liquid particles have more, and gas particles have the most. -
Acids, alkalis and the pH scale
Explain why hydrogen chloride only behaves as an acid once it has dissolved in water.
Show the answer
Only in solution does it release hydrogen ions, and these ions are what make a solution acidic. -
Investigating the reactivity of metals
What is seen when magnesium is added to cold water, and what does this show about its reactivity?
Show the answer
Only a few bubbles appear very slowly, showing magnesium is less reactive than sodium or calcium. -
The groups of the periodic table, and the alkali metals
Why do elements in the same group of the periodic table have similar chemical properties?
Show the answer
They have the same number of electrons in the outer shell, and the outer electrons decide how an element reacts. -
Investigating the rate of a reaction
Why is following loss of mass unsuitable when the gas produced is hydrogen?
Show the answer
Hydrogen has such a low mass that the balance shows almost no change. -
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.
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.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Key Concepts in Chemistry403
- States of Matter and Mixtures118
- Chemical Changes271
- Extracting Metals and Equilibria124
- Groups in the Periodic Table106
- Rates of Reaction and Energy Changes126
- Fuels and Earth Science190
- How are the particles arranged in a solid?
- How do the particles in a solid move?
- Describe the arrangement of the particles in a liquid.
- How do the particles in a liquid move?
- Describe the arrangement and movement of the particles in a gas.
- Put the three states of matter in order of increasing energy of their particles.
- Why can a gas be compressed much more easily than a solid?
- Why does a solid keep a fixed shape while a liquid does not?
- Name the change of state when a solid turns into a liquid, and the change when a liquid turns into a solid.
- They are packed closely together in a regular, fixed pattern.
- They vibrate about fixed positions and cannot move from place to place.
- They are still close together but are arranged randomly rather than in a regular pattern.
- They slide past one another randomly, so a liquid can flow and take the shape of its container.
- They are spread far apart in a random arrangement and move quickly in all directions.
- Solid particles have the least energy, liquid particles have more, and gas particles have the most.
- Its particles are far apart with large spaces between them, whereas the particles in a solid are already touching.
- Solid particles are held in fixed positions, whereas liquid particles can move past one another.
- A solid turning into a liquid is melting, and a liquid turning into a solid is freezing.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
I do the separate sciences, not Combined Science.
Then you need a different guide. The separate sciences are examined on their own specifications, Chemistry (1CH0) among them, and they carry more chemistry than Combined Science does.
The one you want is Edexcel GCSE Chemistry, Higher.
Higher or Foundation. Which do I need?
This is the Higher tier guide, offering grades 9-9 to 4-4 of the double award, with an allowed 4-3.
Edexcel sits the same numbered papers at either tier, so Paper 3 and Paper 4 is what you sit whichever tier you are entered for. The tier changes the content and the grades available, not the paper numbers.
Higher carries everything on the Foundation papers plus the higher-tier content, so a student later moved to Foundation has lost nothing.
Which topics are on which paper?
Paper 3, Chemistry 1, covers Key Concepts in Chemistry, States of Matter and Mixtures, Chemical Changes, Extracting Metals and Equilibria. Paper 4, Chemistry 2, covers Key Concepts in Chemistry, Groups in the Periodic Table, Rates of Reaction and Energy Changes, Fuels and Earth Science.
Note that the first topic appears on both papers. The full breakdown is here.
Are the core practicals examined?
Yes, on the written papers. Edexcel does not assess them separately, so questions about method, apparatus, variables and results appear inside the topics: preparing a pure dry salt, investigating neutralisation, electrolysis of copper sulfate solution, temperature change, rates of reaction, chromatography and water purification.
Those questions are in the guide in the topics they belong to.
Edexcel GCSE Combined Science Chemistry, Higher tier Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.