Chemistry Section B and Section C

1.Soluble salt: Magnesium chloride

How to prepare [8 marks] :
-Magnesium chloride can be prepared by reacting Magnesium oxide and hydrochloric acid. Chemical
reaction: MgO + 2HCl ~ MgCl2 + H2O. Pour 250cm3 of hydrochloric acid into a beaker and add excess
magnesium oxide into it. The solution is then filtered to remove excess magnesium oxide. The pure
magnesium chloride solution is then heated until the volume becomes half of its original volume. The hot
and saturated solution is allowed to cool down for crystallization to occur. The magnesium chloride salt
formed is filtered out and rinsed with distilled water. The crystals are then dried between filter papers.

2.Described chemical tests used to verify the presence of all the ions in the beaker that contains
copper(II) sulphate and copper(II) nitrate solution. [10 marks]
-Pour 2cm3 of the solution in the beaker into the test tube. Add a few drops of ammonia solution into the
test tube and shake it. A blue precipitate is formed. Add excess ammonia solution into the test tube. The
blue precipitate dissolves to form a dark blue solution. The dark blue solution formed verifies the presence
of copper(II) ions, Cu2+ in the solution.
-Pour 2 cm3 of the solution in the beaker into a test tube. Add a few drops of hydrochloric acid into the test
tube. Then, barium chloride solution is added into the same test tube and shaken well. A white
precipitation is formed. The white precipitation formed verifies the presence of sulphate ion, SO 42-.
-Pour 2 cm3 of the solution in the beaker into a test tube. Add a few drops of dilute sulphuric acid into the
test tube. Then, iron(II) sulphate solution is added into the same test tube. The mixture is shaken well. A
few drops of concentrated sulphuric acid is added slowly and carefully along the side of the slating test
tube into the mixture without shaking. A brown ring is formed. This verifies the presence of nitrate ions,
NO3-.

3.Name a suitable catalyst used to speed up the reaction between zinc and hydrochloric acid.
Explain by using the collision theory. [4 marks]
- The suitable catalyst to be used is copper(II) sulphate. Copper(II) sulphate acts as a catalyst to allow the
reaction to take place through an alternative path which requires a lower activation energy. More reacting
particles possess sufficient energy to overcome the lower activation energy required for effective collision.
Frequency of effective collision between copper(II), Cu2+ and hydrogen ions, H+ increases. Hence, the rate
of reaction will be increased.