C1.1 Example 4 and 6 Mark Questions
1. Describe the structure of an atom. (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Explain why the group 1 metals (Lithium, Sodium and Potassium) all have similar
properties. Compare this to group 0 elements (the noble gases) and explain their lack of
reactivity. (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Describe everything you know about the following reaction in terms of the names of
substances and number of atoms involved: 2Na + Cl2 --> 2NaCl. (4 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
C1.2 Example 4 and 6 Mark Questions
1. Evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts of quarrying limestone. (6
marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Describe the limestone cycle. You should include the three main chemical reactions in
your answer. (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
C1.3 Example 4 and 6 Mark Questions
1. What is a metal ore, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of extracting metals
from metal ores compared to recycling? (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Aluminium can be extracted from aluminium oxide by electrolysis. Describe the process,
highlighting advantages and disadvantages. (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
C1.4 Example 4 and 6 Mark Questions
1. Burning fossil fuels can produce a lot of electrical energy for use in the national grid.
Describe the negatives (the pollution) that can be caused by burning fossil fuels. You
should include three types of pollution and their cause. (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Fractional distillation is used to obtain useful substances from crude oil. Explain how the
process works. (4 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
C1.5 Example 4 and 6 Mark Questions
1. When plastics have no use anymore, they can be burnt to produce energy, recycled into
other products, or disposed of in landfill sites. Evaluate each method of disposal,
identifying advantages and disadvantages of each option. (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Ethanol can be produced by the continuous process (hydration of ethene) or the batch
process (fermentation of sugar). Evaluate the two methods of ethanol production. (6
marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
C1.6 Example 4 and 6 Mark Questions
1. Explain how vegetable oils can be hardened, and why this has benefits for your health
over saturated fats such as butter. (4 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Describe how a mixture of oil and water can be made into an emulsion. (4 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
C1.7 Example 4 and 6 Mark Questions
1. Some people did not believe Wegener’s theory of continental drift for many years.
Evaluate the arguments for and against believing Wegener’s theory of continental drift.
(6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
2. The Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. Describe and explain how the Earth’s
atmosphere has changed since the Earth was only a few million years old. (6 marks)
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
C1.1 Example 4 and 6 Mark Answers
1. Describe the structure of an atom. (6 marks)
An atom contains a positively charged nucleus, which contains protons and neutrons. A proton is
positively charged and a neutron has no charge. The number of protons + neutrons is the atomic mass.
Orbiting the nucleus are electrons which are negatively charged. There are the same number of
electrons as protons, meaning the overall charge is always neutral. Electrons are arranged in shells, 2
electrons fit in the first shell, 8 in the second, 8 in the third and 2 in the final shell.
2. Explain why the group 1 metals (Lithium, Sodium and Potassium) all have similar
properties. Compare this to group 0 elements (the noble gases) and explain their lack of
reactivity. (6 marks)
The group 1 metals all have one electron in their outermost electron shell. This makes all of the group 1
metals reactive; all of the group 1 metals want to lose an electron to have a full outer shell. The
outermost electron shell is closer in lithium than potassium, so its easier to lose the outermost electron
from the potassium atom and potassium is therefore more reactive. Group 0 elements already have a
full outer shell and so don't need to lose or gain electrons. Because they already have a full outer
electron shell they are unreactive.
3. Describe everything you know about the following reaction in terms of the names of
substances and number of atoms involved: 2Na + Cl2 --> 2NaCl. (4 marks)
The reaction shows two atoms of sodium reacting with a molecule of chlorine to form two molecules of
sodium chloride. The sodium and chlorine are bonded in an ionic bond.
C1.2 Example 4 and 6 Mark Answers
1. Evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts of quarrying limestone. (6
marks)
Social aspects: Quarrying limestone can be a good thing because the hole afterwards could be filled
with water and used for watersports (or any other benefit to community). However, the local roads will
be filled with heavy goods lorries, and the quarry would be an eyesore.
Economic aspects: Selling the limestone would bring money to the area, people would gain jobs and
workers would spend money in the local area. A disadvantage would be that some businesses would
have to close because of the noise or pollution, and property prices would fall as nobody would want to
live by a quarry.
Environmental aspects: If you are producing building materials close to where they are needed, you are
reducing the amount of pollution created in transporting the material. The disadvantages include the
dust production (causing asthma) and the huge energy requirement meaning lots of fossil fuels will be
burnt, which will increase carbon dioxide emissions which would contribute to global warming.
2. Describe the limestone cycle. You should include the three main chemical reactions in
your answer. (6 marks)
You start the limestone cycle with limestone - calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate undergoes
thermal decomposition to form calcium oxide or quicklime CaCO3 --> CaO + CO2. This calcium oxide
reacts with water to form calcium hydroxide or slaked lime CaO + H2O --> Ca(OH)2. If the water is in
excess this forms calcium hydroxide solution, or slaked lime. Bubbling carbon dioxide through the
calcium hydroxide creates a milky precipitate of calcium carbonate - or limestone - and you see the
limewater turn cloudy. Ca(OH)2 + CO2 --> CaCO3.
C1.3 Example 4 and 6 Mark Answers
1. What is a metal ore, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of extracting metals
from metal ores compared to recycling? (6 marks)
A metal ore is a rock with enough of a metal compound in it to make it economically worthwhile to
extract. Extracting metals from their ore needs a lot of electricity (meaning lots of fossil fuels need to be
burnt, resulting in greater carbon dioxide emissions and more global warming), quarrying can create
dust pollution and create an eyesore, and the process is much more expensive than recycling. Recycling
is environmentally cleaner and needs far less energy. Both processes create jobs, although less so for
recycling.
2. Aluminium can be extracted from aluminium oxide by electrolysis. Describe the process,
highlighting advantages and disadvantages. (6 marks)
Aluminium is a reactive metal, so is found as aluminium oxide in the ore Bauxite. Bauxite is powdered
and melted in a large container. A catalyst called cryolyte is added to reduce the melting temperature
of the aluminium oxide. Two electrodes are placed in the melted aluminium oxide. A high current is
passed through, and the aluminium ions (Al3+) are attracted to the negative terminal and form layers of
pure aluminium metal, which can then be scraped off and used. The advantages of the process include
that pure aluminium is formed at the end of the process. The disadvantages include the cost of
electricity needed for the process, and the huge energy requirement means lots of fossil fuels will be
burnt, which will increase carbon dioxide emissions which would contribute to global warming.
C1.4 Example 4 and 6 Mark Answers
1. Burning fossil fuels can produce a lot of electrical energy for use in the national grid.
Describe the negatives (the pollution) that can be caused by burning fossil fuels. You
should include three types of pollution and their cause.
Burning fossil fuels causes global warming, global dimming and acid rain. Combustion of fossil fuels
produces carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide contributes to the global warming effect. As there is a small
amount of sulphur in fossil fuels, burning them produces sulphur dioxide gas. Sulphur dioxide gas
dissolves in rain water to produce sulphuric acid, which falls as acid rain. Acid rain can cause the
destruction of buildings and create acidic soil which plants can't grow in. Finally, the unburnt carbon in
fossil fuels is released into the atmosphere as black soot and causes global dimming as well as asthma.
2. Fractional distillation is used to obtain useful substances from crude oil. Explain how the
process works. (4 marks)
Fractional distillation separates different length hydrocarbon chains. The longer hydrocarbon chains
have higher boiling points that the shorter hydrocarbon chains. The mixture of crude oil is heated to a
vapour which then rises up the fractional distillation column. As the chains rise they cool down and
when they reach their boiling point they will condense. In this way each of the fractions is collected at a
different level, the highest boiling points at the bottom and the lowest boiling points at the top.
C1.5 Example 4 and 6 Mark Answers
1. When plastics have no use anymore, they can be burnt to produce energy, recycled into
other products, or disposed of in landfill sites. Evaluate each method of disposal,
identifying advantages and disadvantages of each option. (6 marks)
Burning plastics can produce a lot of energy, and this can be used to make electricity in a power station.
However, burning plastics produces many toxic gases which are either released into the atmosphere
and can cause health problems such as asthma, or are expensive to remove from the waste gas.
Recycling reduces the amount of energy required to produce new plastic, and therefore reduces CO2
emissions. However, not all plastics can be recycled and even if they are, we are not disposing of them
in favour of biodegradable alternatives, we're simply reusing them. By disposing of plastics in landfill
sites the plastics could cause harm to animals that get tangled in them, they could leach dangerous
chemicals into local water supplies, and they aren't degraded for hundreds of years. However, landfill is
a cheap method of disposing plastics and removes them from circulation in favour of biodegradable
alternatives.
2. Ethanol can be produced by the continuous process (hydration of ethene) or the batch
process (fermentation of sugar). Evaluate the two methods of ethanol production. (6
marks)
The continuous process is very quick, cheap once you've built a production plant, and you don't have to
stop the process at any stage - it can run for 24 hours a day. The disadvantages are that the production
plant is expensive to start up, meaning only some countries can afford it, and the raw material is ethene
which comes from crude oil, a non-renewable raw material. The batch process uses a renewable energy
resource (sugar) and it is very cheap to set-up. However, the process is slow, expensive to run in the
long term, has to be stopped once a batch is completed to remove the alcohol and add fresh yeast, and
the product is not 100% pure as CO2 is also produced.
C1.6 Example 4 and 6 Mark Answers
1. Explain how vegetable oils can be hardened, and why this has benefits for your health
over saturated fats such as butter.
Saturated fats are associated with heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. Unsaturated fats are less
likely to cause such negative health benefits. To turn a liquid oil into a spread such as margarine, the oil
must be 'hardened'. Oils are unsaturated hydrocarbons and as such have C=C double bonds. By adding
hydrogen (H2) over a nickel catalyst the unsaturated hydrocarbon becomes hardened as C-C bonds are
formed, and the oil turns from a liquid into a more of a spreadable solid.
2. Describe how a mixture of oil and water can be made into an emulsion.
Oil and water are immiscible liquids, they do not mix. To allow them to mix you add an emulsifier, such
as mustard, egg yolk or washing liquid. An emulsifier molecule has a water loving (hydrophilic) head
and a water hating (hydrophobic) tail. The hydrophilic head dissolves in the water and the hydrophobic
tail dissolves in the oil, forming droplets. This allows molecules of oil and water to mix, which is called
an emulsion.
C1.7 Example 4 and 6 Mark Answers
1. Some people did not believe Wegener’s theory of continental drift for many years.
Evaluate the arguments for and against believing Wegener’s theory of continental drift.
(6 marks)
Some people didn't believe Wegener because he was just a weather forecaster, it seemed implausible
that the continents could move, and land bridges could explain the existence of similar rocks and fossils
on the opposite side of oceans. However, the continents appeared to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle,
there were similar fossils on opposite sides of oceans and there were rocks with similar minerals on
opposite sides of oceans.
2. The Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old. Describe and explain how the Earth’s
atmosphere has changed since the Earth was only a few million years old. (6 marks)
The early atmosphere had a high content of water vapour, carbon dioxide and ammonia. Over millions
of years, trees and plants evolved to convert the carbon dioxide to oxygen in photosynthesis. So, over
time the carbon dioxide level has decreased and the oxygen level has increased. Nitrifying bacteria and
lightning strikes have fixed the ammonia into elemental nitrogen. So, over time the ammonia level has
decreased and the nitrogen level has increased. Over the past 4.5 billion years the earth has cooled,
and the water vapour has condensed to form seas and lakes.