Measurement 

CIE wants you to demonstrate the ability to name the appropriate apparatus for the
following: Time, temperature, mass, volume:  

1. Time
Digital stop watch 

 Measures up to 0.01s
2. Temperature

1. Mercury-in-glass thermometer
 Measures up to nearest °C
3. Mass 
1. Electric top-pan balance 
 Measures up to 0.01g 
4. Volume 
1. Beaker 
 Used to estimate liquid volume 
2. Measuring cylinder
 Measures up to 0.1cm3 (More accurate than beaker)
3. Pipette 
 Measures fixed volumes of liquids accurately (i.e.
20cm3)
 Measures up to 0.1cm3
4. Burette 
 Used for measuring variable volumes of liquids
accurately 
 Measures up to 0.1cm3

Criteria of purity 
The purity of a substance is defined as the degree to which a substance is undiluted or
unmixed with other material. A pure substance therefore would be made of
a single substance. 

Purity assessment from melting point/boiling points 

The melting point of a substance is the temperature in which the substance melts.
Similarly, the boiling point of a substance is the temperature at which it boils. 
Interestingly, the boiling point and melting point of a substance can give us an
indication of how pure it is. The table below summarizes this quite well (Hodder
IGCSE Chemistry Revision Guide): 

Paper chromatography 

Paper chromatography is a separation technique that is used

to separate and identify the components in a mixture. 

How it works is fairly easy. Lets imagine you have an unknown liquid (Liquid A).
You want to find out whether or not this liquid is impure (i.e. a mixture) and if so,
how many substances are in this mixture and what exactly are they? 

Firstly, you simply get a drop of liquid A and place it onto the chromatography paper.
You then draw a horizontal line marking that drop (you’ll see why this is important
later). 
You then set up the chromatography paper inside a beaker so that the bottom of the
paper is just immersed inside the solvent (propanone or water). An example of this set
up may look like this: 
As time passes, the solvent will travel up the chromatography paper. As the solvent
moves up, the sample spot of liquid A will dissolve in the solvent. If liquid A was a
mixture, the various substances inside the mixture will begin to separate because they
have different solubilities. Some substances will travel up the paper slower than others
and reach a different end point. The end result may look like this: 

In this particular example, it is clear that the ink spot (liquid A) is a mixture. Why?
Because you can see that it has separated out into 3 different components (green,
purple, and yellow. If liquid A was pure then you would only see one component.

*If liquid A was colourless, then the process can be carried out exactly as before but a
locating agent will be required to “locate” all the separated spots later in order to
measure the Rf values

Finally, since we know that liquid A is a mixture, we can actually determine what
each of the substances are exactly. To do so, we need to calculate the Rf value of each
of the separated components on the chromatogram. 

Rf Value = Distance traveled by spot / Distance traveled by solvent  

So lets go back to the example above: 

The Rf value for: 

 Green spot: 5 / 6 = 0.83 

 Purple spot = 3/6 = 0.50 
 Yellow spot = 1/6 = 0.17 

All substances have a unique Rf value, and therefore you will be able to find out what
exactly the substance is if you have a reference table. In an examination, they will
always provide you with this. 

Methods of purification 
Filtration, centrifuging, decanting 

All of these these methods are used to separate an insoluble solid from a liquid. 

 Filtration is carried out by pouring the mixture into a funnel covered by a

filter paper. Whilst the liquid will pass through the filter, solids will get
caught, thereby separating them. 
  Centrifuging is a technique which uses a spinning tube. The spinning
generates a strong centripetal force which causes denser materials (i.e.
solids) to travel towards the bottom of the centrifuge tube at a faster rate
than normal gravity.
 Decanting is the simple process of letting insoluble solids settle in the
liquid before gently pouring it out later.

Evaporation 

This is a simple process of separating the crystals of a solute from a solution. Simply
let the solvent evaporate off and it will leave the solids behind. 

Crystallization 

This technique is used to separate two soluble solids from a solution (given that they
have different solubilities). It works by dissolving the two solids in minimal water,
and then slowly cooling it. The less soluble salt will crystallize first. 

Simple distillation 

This method is used to separate a volatile liquid (easy to evaporate) from a solution

with a non-volatile solid. For example, salt water can be purified using this method.
The equipment set-up is as follows:  
The heat causes the water to vaporize, leaving the salt behind. The water vapor then
turns back into (pure) water as it passes through the condenser (which cools the vapor
down). 

Fractional distillation 

This method is used to separate the different liquids from a liquid mixture. For
example, a mixture of water and ethanol can be separated using this method. 

Fractional distillation works by using the fact that different liquids have different
boiling points. It is a bit more complicated than simple distillation but here is how it
works: 
 

For arguments sake, lets say the round flask contains a mixture of liquid A (boiling
point 50°C) and liquid B (boiling point 100°C).

As you heat the flask with the Bunsen burner, the temperature of the flask and the
fractionating column will begin to rise. It is really important to understand here that
the bottom of the long column is always going to be hotter than the top. This is simply
because we are heating from the bottom and it takes time for the heat to rise up. 

So lets imagine the round flask hits 50°C. What do you think will happen? Well,
liquid A will start to boil in the flask but the vapour won’t get far in the column before
cooling back down into liquid (back into the flask). This is because of the temperature
gradient in the column. 

The very bottom of the column might be 50°C but the top will be cooler than that,
meaning the gas will just condense back to a liquid before reaching the top. Therefore
the main point to take away here is that the gas can only go up as far as the
temperature in the column allows it to. 
Eventually however, the column will heat up sufficiently. When the top of the column
reaches 50°C, the vapour of liquid A will reach all the way to the top and get
condensed into liquid by the condenser. Once all of liquid A has entered the flask, we
simply need to replace it with an empty one. 

The column will then continue to heat up. Eventually, the top of the column will hit
100°C whereby liquid B will reach the top of the column and become liquefied by the
condenser and into our empty flask. 

By utilizing the differing boiling points of liquid A and B, we have successfully

separated it from the original mixture. 

Purification summary 
This is a handy summary from Hodder IGCSE Chemistry revision guide: 
 

Formula of simple compounds 

To figure out the chemical formula of a given compound all you need to know are
the valencies of the atoms that make the compound. 

The valency is the amount of electrons an atom has to gain or lose in order to

achieve a full outer shell. 

You can figure out the valency of an atom via the periodic table.
The group of the element (on the periodic table) tells you how many electrons there
are in the atom’s outer shell. From this information, you can figure out how many
electrons it needs to gain or lose to achieve a full outer shell. Groups 1-3 (metals) will
LOSE electrons. Groups 5-7 (non-metals) will GAIN electrons. Group 4 can do
either. 

Also remember, many atoms will become ions due to the loss or gain of electrons in
ionic bonding. This means the valency of an atom will also tell you the charge of its
respective ion (i.e. Sodium ion = +1 charge. Chloride ion = -1 charge etc.) 

So once you know the valencies of the atoms, all you need to do is swap the numbers
around and cancel them out if they are equal. Take a look at the examples below, you
will understand what I mean:

Examples

1. What is the formula for Magnesium Chloride? 

 Mg (valency 2) + Chlorine (valency 1) 
 Swap the two numbers around 

 Formula is therefore 
2. What is the formula for Aluminium Oxide?
 Al (valency 3) + Oxygen (valency 2) 
 Swap the two numbers around

 Formula is therefore
3. What is the formula for Calcium Oxide?
 Ca (valency 2) + Oxygen (valency 2)
 In this case, because the valencies are equal, you
must cancel them out 
 Formula is therefore just CaO 

Writing equations 
This skill will be briefly introduced here and developed further throughout the course.
All chemical reactions can be represented by equations. You need to know how to
write both word equations and symbol equations. 
Word equation

These are very simple. You simply write the equation in words. For example: 

Magnesium + Oxygen -> Magnesium Oxide  

Symbol equations 

This is the most common type. Atoms and compounds are represented by their
symbols. This is a bit more complex because the equation needs to balance. 

A balanced equation means that there are the same number of each type of atom on
both sides of the chemical equation. For example: 

As we learnt above, we know that the chemical formula for magnesium oxide is MgO
because magnesium and oxygen both have a valency of 2 which cancels out. 

Now if you look closely, the above equation is not balanced. Why? Because the left
hand side has two oxygen atoms, but the right hand side only has one. 

At this point you may ask. Why can’t the oxygen just be written as a single O instead
of O2? Then that would solve the issue. Unfortunately it doesn’t work that way
because some elements will always be found in molecules (i.e. two atoms bonded
together). Oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, and hydrogen are all examples of this. 

Then can we change the formula of magnesium oxide into MgO2 to balance the
equation? No. We can’t do that. We know that the formula is MgO. You
can not change the original chemical formula of a compound.

So how the hell do we balance this thing? Well, we do so by adding numbers in front
of the reactant or products like so: 
Now if you look at it, the equation is balanced! 

 LHS = 2 Mg and 2 O 
 RHS = 2 Mg and 2 O 

State symbols 

State symbols represent the physical state in which the reactions or products are in a
chemical reaction. For example: 

Calculations 
Definitions 
 

Mole equations 

Many of the calculations that you’ll need to do will involve the concept of moles.
There are three important equations that you need to learn: 

You must memorize these three equations off by heart and also have the ability
to rearrange them. A lot of the calculation examples below will make use of these
equations so you must be comfortable with these. 
 

Moles and masses 

Example 1 – Calculate the relative formula mass of the following: (You can use the
periodic table)

Remember, the relative formula mass (Mr) is just a sum of all the different relative
atomic masses (Ar). The Ar is really just a fancier term for “mass number” and this
can easily be found in the periodic table! 

Example 2 – Calculate the mass of one mole of the following:

Remember, one mole is equivalent to 6X10^23 atoms, molecules or ions of the

substance. The mass of one mole of a substance is equal to the relative formula mass
(Mr)! 

Example 3 – Calculate the mass of each of the following:

Now that you know  the mass of one mole of any compound is equal to the relative
formula mass, you can calculate the mass of a given compound as long as you know
how many moles there are!

Example 4 – Calculate the mass of magnesium oxide formed when 3.0g of

magnesium reacts with excess oxygen

* Step 1: Write down a balanced chemical equation 

* Step 2: Calculate the amount of moles of the reactant
* Step 3: Calculate the amount of moles of the product 
* Step 4: Calculate the mass of product 

Firstly, write down a balanced equation: 

 3.0g of Mg = 3/24 = 0.125 moles (of Mg) 

 The mole ratio between Mg and MgO is 2:2 (or 1:1). Therefore, 0.125
moles of Mg will form 0.125 moles of MgO. 

*The mole ratio is the ratio of ‘big numbers’ in front of the reactants and products
inside the equation. In this case, Mg and MgO both have a number 2 at the front.
Therefore the ratio is 2:2 (and thus 1:1). In this scenario, one mole of Mg will form
one mole of MgO. Theoretically, if the ratio was 1:2 that would mean one mole of
Mg would make 2 moles of MgO. 

 Since 0.125 moles of MgO is formed, the mass can be calculated via mole
equation 1
 0.125 X (24+16) = 5.0g of MgO has been produced from 3g of Mg in
excess oxygen. 

 
Moles and volumes

Example 1 – Calculate the amount of moles of oxygen molecules in the following

volumes of oxygen at rtp:

Example 2 – Calculate the amount of volume of oxygen at rtp for each of the
following masses of gas:

Do not be confused. This is simple! First figure out the number of moles of oxygen
(mass/Mr). Now simply apply mole equation 2 and you’re done! 

Example 3 – Calculate the volume of oxygen at rtp required to burn 1.4g of butene:

The balanced chemical equation will most likely be provided: 

*The way you approach this question is very similar to example 4 from ‘reacting
masses’ above. To calculate the volume of oxygen required, all you need to know is
the moles of oxygen that is required. We know that the mole ratio of butene to
oxygen is 1:6 so that means for every mole of butene, 6 moles of oxygen is required.
All we need to know, then, is the amount of moles in 1.4g of butene and that is easy! 

 1.4g of butene = 1.4 / (4X12 + 1X8) = 0.0259 moles 

 0.0259 moles of butene requires (0.025 X 6) moles of Oxygen due to 1:6
mole ratio. This equates to 0.15 moles (of oxygen)
 0.15 X 24 = 3.6  is the volume of oxygen required 

Moles and concentrations 

Example 1 – Calculate the volume of sodium hydroxide, concentration 0.16

mol/dm^3, needed to neutralize 20cm^3 of sulphuric acid, concentration 0.2
mol/dm^3

The balanced chemical equation is as follows: 

*Using the mole equation above, start by calculating the amount of moles in sulphuric
acid. The mole ratio here is 1:2, meaning for every mole of sulphuric acid, double the
amount of sodium hydroxide will be required. Once you’ve figured out the required
amount of moles of sodium hydroxide, the volume can easily be obtained by
rearranging the formula. 

*Also remember, cm^3 needs to be converted into dm^3 by dividing by 1000 

 Moles (sulfuric acid) = 0.2 X (20/1000) = 0.004

 Moles (NaOH) = 0.004 X 2 = 0.008 
 Volume (NaOH) = 0.008/0.16 = 0.05
 

% Yield 

In a chemical reaction, the expected/calculated amount of product is the theoretical

yield. Unfortunately however, the product amount actually produced (actual yield) is
often lower than this theoretical amount. Taking a ratio of these two values gives us
the % yield. 

Example – Excess magnesium carbonate was added to 25cm^3 sulfuric acid,

concentration of 2.0mol/dm^3. The unreacted magnesium carbonate was removed by
filtration. The solution of magnesium sulfate was evaporated to give 6.7g of hydrated
magnesium sulfate crystals. Calculate the percentage yield 

Balanced chemical equation is as follows:

The question tells you that 6.7g of crystals were formed, so therefore this is the actual
yield. 

The theoretical yield can be calculated as follows: 

 Moles (H2SO4) = 25/1000 X 2 = 0.05

 Moles (MgSO4.7H2O) = 0.05 (Because mole ratio is 1:1)
 Relative formula mass (MgSO4.7H2O) = 246
  Mass = 0.05 X 246 = 12.3g (theoretical yield) 
 % yield = 6.7/12.3 = 0.545 (54.5%) 

*The original answer is in decimals. To convert decimals to percentage, multiply by

100

% Purity 

Example – 7.0g of impure calcium carbonate was heated and 2.42g of carbon dioxide
was collected. Calculate the percentage purity of the calcium carbonate

Chemical equation: 

The key thing here is that carbon dioxide can only be made from pure calcium
carbonate. The impurities in the original sample (of 7.0g) will not contribute to the
production of carbon dioxide. 

The percentage purity can therefore be calculated as follows: 

 Moles (CO2) = 2.42 / (12 + 32) = 0.055

 Moles (CaCO3) = 0.055 (Mole ratio 1:1) 
 Relative formula mass (CaCO3) = 100 
 Mass (Pure CaCO3) = 0.055 X 100 = 5.5g 
 Percentage purity = 5.5/7 = 0.786 (78.6%) 

 
Empirical and molecular formula 

Example – A hydrocarbon contains 92.3% carbon and 7.7% hydrogen. It’s relative
molecular mass is 78. Calculate it’s empirical and molecular formulae

The ratio of carbon to hydrogen is therefore 1:1 


 Empirical formula (simplest ratio) is therefore CH
 The molecular formula is a multiple of the empirical formula.
The Mr of the hydrocarbon is 78 and the Mr of our empirical
formula (CH) is 13, giving us a multiple of 6. The molecular
formula is thus:

Electricity and chemistry

ByFree Exam AcademyOctober 5, 2018
Definitions 
 

Electrolysis 
Electrolysis is the breakdown of an ionic compound (molten or aqueous solution) by
the passage of electricity. 

Fundamentals 
Reactions at the cathode or anode 

Electrons flow from the battery to the cathode. Cations (usually metal and hydrogen
ions) in the electrolyte are attracted to the cathode (negative electrode). Cations
accepted electrons from the cathode, and therefore metals and hydrogen are formed at
the cathode. For example: 

Electrons flow from the anode to the battery. Negative ions (non-metals except
hydrogen) are attracted to the anode (positive electrode). 

 If the anode is inert (i.e. carbon or platinum) the negative ions lose electrons to
the anode: 

 If the anode is not inert (i.e. silver, copper, or other reactive metals) the metal
atoms of the anode lose electrons and form positive ions. The anode will
 therefore dissolve and become smaller: 

Ions of an electrolyte 

The electrolyte can either be molten or aqueous.

 A molten substance means that the substance has been melted down. The ions
therefore come only from the substance itself. 

 An aqueous solution means that the substance is dissolved in water. The water
molecules themselves can ionize so you will always find hydrogen and
hydroxide ions in addition to the ions from the solute.

The discharge of ions

As we looked at above, ions are discharged at the anode or cathode. 

In many cases, you will find that there are more than one cations or anions inside the
electrolyte. For example: 

 At the cathode you will find that the H+ will get discharged rather than Na+. 
 At the anode you will find that OH- will get discharged rather than Cl-. 

The electrochemical series tells us which ions discharge easier than others. The lower
ion of each series will be the one to get discharged. 
*Important note: In a concentrated solution, Cl- will be discharged rather than OH-
despite what it says on the electrochemical series. In a dilute solution on the other
hand, OH- will be discharged instead. 

Important examples 

Follow the basic principles for each example. Firstly, figure out the ions inside the
electroyte. Secondly, figure out which ions will be discharged (from the
eletrochemical series). Write down the reactions at the electrodes and also figure out
what remains inside the final electrolyte. 

Molten sodium chloride (inert electrodes)

 Ions present: 

 Reactions in electrodes: 

 Sodium chloride is therefore decomposed 

Concentrated aqueous sodium chloride (inert electrodes)

 Ions present: 

 Reactions in electrodes: 

 Na+ and OH- remain in the electrolyte (which is sodium hydroxide)

*If the solution was dilute, then OH- would get discharged instead of the Cl-. This
means Na+ and Cl- would remain in the electrolyte and the solution will become more
and more concentrated (as water is used up). 

Concentrated hydrochloric acic (inert electrodes)

 Ions present: 

 Reactions in electrodes: 

 Acid therefore gets used up in the electrolyte  

Dilute sulfuric acid (inert electrodes) 

 Ions present: 

 Reactions in electrodes: 

 Acid gets more concentrated as water gets used up 

Aqueous copper (II) sulphate (Inert electrodes) 

 Ions present: 
  Reactions in electrodes: 

 H+ and SO4 ions remain in the solution (which is sulfuric acid)

Aqueous copper (II) sulphate (copper electrodes)

 Ions present: 

 Theonly difference is that the anode is not inert. This means that the metal
anode itself will react by losing electrons to form ions. 

 Copper deposited at the cathode becomes thicker. Copper is removed at the

anode and it gets thinner. The electrolyte remains the same since one
electrode produces copper ions whereas the other removes them. This
process is used to electroplate other metals with copper.

Commercial use of electrolysis

Electroplating 

This is used to plate one metal with another. The general arrangement for
electroplating is shown here: 
The metals commonly used to electroplate are copper, chromium, nickel, and silver.
The two main reasons for electroplating are appearance and protection from
corrosion. 

Refining metals 
Metals can be refined or purified by electrolysis. The impure metal forms the anode,
the cathode is a small piece of pure metal and electrolyte is an aqueous metal salt. In
the refining of copper, the following reactions occur

Cathode: 

 Copper ions from solution lose their charge and copper is deposited 

Anode: 

Anode: 

 Copper atoms lose their valency electrons and go into solution as ions

Overall pure copper is transferred from the anode to the cathode. The impurities from
the copper are left as ‘anode slime’ and the cathode becomes a large piece of pure
copper. 
Aluminium extraction  
Critical information: 

 Main ore of aluminium is called bauxite 

 Itis changed to pure aluminium oxide (alumina) 
 Graphite cathode and anode (therefore made of carbon) 
 Electrolyte is molten mixture of pure aluminium oxide dissolved in cryolite 
 The point in cryolite is to lower the temperature from
approximately 2000 to 900 degrees. 
 Reactions at electrodes: 

 The carbon anodes burn away in oxygen and is replaced periodically 

Industrial use of sodium chloride 

As we looked at above, the use of concentrated sodium chloride can be used in

electrolysis to make hydrogen gas, chlorine gas, and sodium hydroxide. 
  Chlorine can be then used in making solvents, treating drinking water, bleach,
etc. 
 Hydrogen is used in the haber process, making fuels in cells, making margarine
etc. 
 Sodium hydroxide is used in soap manufacture 

Electric cables: Conductors and insulators

Copper and aluminium are commonly used as conductors in electric cables. You need
to know why they are good for this purpose. 

 Copper 
Good conductor of electricity 

 Ductile 
 Easily purified 
 Aluminium  
 Good conductor 
 Resists corrosion 
 Low density, allowing high diameter cables to be used. This
reduces resistance and sagging.  

Plastics and ceramics are often used as insulators in electric cables. 

 Plastics 
 Do not conduct electricity 
 Flexible & easily molded 
 Non-biodegradable 
 Ceramics 
 Do not conduct electricity 
 High melting points allowing use at high temperatures 
 Not affected by water or oxygen 
 Can be molded into complex shapes 

Air 
Composition of air 
The composition of clean, dry air is approximately 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and
the remaining 1% is a mixture of noble gases and carbon dioxide. 

Nitrogen and oxygen can be separated from air by liquefying air first and then
separating the two gases via fractional distillation. 

 Air liquefaction 
 Air is first filtered to remove dust 
 Cooled to -200 degrees to make gas air into liquid 
 Fractional distillation (of liquid air) 
 Liquid air passed into bottom of fractionating column 
 Column warmer at the bottom than the top 
 Liquid nitrogen boils at the bottom of the column 
 Gaseous nitrogen rises to the top where it is piped off at stored 
 Liquid oxygen collects at the bottom of the column 

Pollutants 

Oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide are pollutants produced by motor vehicles.
Catalytic converts can reduce pollution by catalyzing the reactions below: 
Nitrogen and carbon dioxide are fairly harmless, and these gases leave the car
exhaust. 

Rust 

Rusting is the red/orange coating that forms on the surface of iron when exposed to air
and moisture. 

The term rusting is specific to iron or steel. Every other metal will corrode. 

Rusting is essentially a redox reaction whereby iron reacts with the air and water to
form hydrated iron (III) oxide. Therefore both oxygen and water must be present for
rusting to occur. 

Most methods of rust prevention involve coating the iron or steel in order to prevent
contact with water and oxygen: 

 Painting – For example, cars, ships, bridges etc. 

 Using oil or grease – Effective for moving parts of machinery to be used as
a lubricant and a protective coating 
 Coating with plastic – Such as freezers, garden furniture etc. 
 Planting – Cans of food are plated with tin 
 Galvanising  This is coating with zinc and has the great advantage of
sacrificial protection (more info below) 

When the zinc coating of galvanized steel falls apart, the steel will still not rust due to
sacrificial protection. This is because the more reactive metal zinc (as shown in the
reactivity series) will form ions more readily than iron. Under normal circumstances,
the iron would oxidize (i.e. lose electrons) and become iron (III) cations which forms
hydrated iron (III) oxide – which is rust. However if the steel is galvanized, then zinc
will form zinc ions instead of iron therefore preventing the formation of rust. 

 
Nitrogen and fertilizers  
Fertilizers 

Plants need the three elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for healthy
growth. These are removed from the soil when plants are harvested. The essential
plant nutrients are replaced by NPK fertilizers. A typical NPK fertilizer might
containing ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, and potassium chloride.

Displacement of ammonia from its salts

The weak base, ammonia, is displaced from its salt by stronger bases. For example: 

Haber process 

Ammonia is manufactured from nitrogen and hydrogen. Please note that the forward
reaction is exothermic. 

Nitrogen is obtained from the air. Hydrogen is made from methane (natural gas). 

The conditions for the haber process are as follows: 

 450 degrees Celsius 

 200 atmospheres 
 Iron catalyst 
CIE likes to ask about why temperatures above 450 degrees is not used. This is
because the forward reaction is exothermic and higher temperatures will favor the
reverse reaction and therefore reducing yield. Too low temperatures on the other hand,
will also lower reaction rates too. 450 degrees celsius is a good mid point. 

Carbon dioxide and methane

Sources of carbon dioxide & methane 

There are three main methods by which carbon dioxide is formed: 

 By complete combustion of carbon-based fuel 

 In respiration, which occurs in cells and plants of animals and provides
energy for all living processes 
 By reaction of carbonates with acids to form a salt, carbon dioxide and
water
 Reaction between acids and carbonates 
 Thermal decomposition of a carbonate 

The main source of methane is as follows: 

 Decomposition of vegetation and waste gases from digestion in animals 

Global warming

Carbon dioxide and methane are greenhouse gases. This means that these gases trap
heat in the atmosphere in order to keep the earth warm. 

However as emissions of carbon dioxide and methane increases due to human

activity, an excessive amount of heat becomes trapped in the atmosphere. This leads
to excessive increase in the earth’s temperature, resulting global warming. 
 

Carbon cycle 

You are required to know the basic carbon cycle. This diagram below demonstrates
this quite well. 
 

Water  
Chemical tests for water 

Water will turn anhydrous copper (II) Sulfate from white to blue

Water will turn anhydrous cobalt chloride from blue to pink. This test can be carried
out using cobalt chloride paper 
Both tests indicate only the presence or absence of water. It does not provide
information about the purity of water. 

Treatment of water supply 

Here are some brief points discussing how water is treated: 

 Filtration (through sand and gravel filters) to remove undissolved solids 

 Treated with chlorine to kill bacteria 
 Supplied to the consumer – Safe to drink 

Implications of inadequate supply of water 

Poor water supply impacts health by causing acute infectious diarrhea, repeat or

chronic diarrhea episodes, and non-diarrhoeal disease, which can arise from chemical
species such as arsenic and fluoride. It can also affect health by limiting productivity
and the maintenance of personal hygiene.

Also the lack of water supply will affect crops which need to be irrigated with water.
This may in turn reduce the food supply due to reduced crop yields.

Sulfur
ByFree Exam AcademyNovember 27, 2018
Sources of sulfur 
The element of sulfur is found in underground sulfur beds in the USA, Mexico, and
Poland. 

Natural gas and petroleum contain sulfur compounds. These have to be removed and
are an important source of sulfur. 
Metal sulfides occur as ores, for example zinc blende. 

Uses of sulfur dioxide 

The major uses of sulfur dioxide is in the contact process for the manufacture
of sulfuric acid. It is also used in bleach in the manufacture of paper from
wood pulp, and as a preservative for food by killing bacteria. 

Contact process 
The process of making sulfuric acid is called the contact process. 

Sulfur is burnt in air to form sulfur dioxide

This is mixed with oxygen to form sulfur trioxide. 

Note: The forward reaction is exothermic. 

The reaction between sulfur trioxide and water produces sulfuric acid. The reaction
would be written as follows: 

Unfortunately, this reaction is too violet to carry out directly.

Instead of adding sulfur trioxide directly to water, sulfur trioxide is dissolved in

concentrated sulfuric acid first to produce oleum. 
Water is then added to oleum to form sulfuric acid. 

The conditions required for the contact process is as follows: 

 400-450 degrees Celsius 

 1-2 atmospheres 
 Vanadium (V) Oxide catalyst 

Properties and uses of sulfuric acid 

Dilute sulfuric acid 

Properties 

 Typical strong acid 

Uses 

 Making fertilizers 
 Treat metals and remove oxidation before painting 
 Laboratory reagent 
 Acid in car batteries 
 Dye, fiber, and paint manufacture 

Concentrated sulfuric acid 

Properties 

 Strong acid 
  Powerful dehydrating agent 
 Powerful oxidizing agent 

Uses

 Making detergents 
 Catalyst 
 Dehydrating agent