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2021 H2 Chemistry Y6 Prelim Paper 1 Suggested Solutions

Question 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Answer B B D C A A C D C D B A C B D

Question 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Answer C C A D A C C D A B A B D A B

Question 1 (B) Q dissolves in water eliminates silicon dioxide is

Electronic configuration of Cu: insoluble in water due to its giant covalent structure.
1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d10 4s1
(not 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d9 4s2 – see Atomic Sodium oxide is the only option that
Structure notes if you are unsure why) • is non-volatile (due to strong ionic bonds
holding the giant ionic lattice),
Number of electrons in d orbitals with 4 lobes = 8 • does not conduct electricity in its standard state
(dz2 does not have 4 lobes) (no mobile ions as charge carriers in solid
state), and
• dissolves in water (by reacting with water to
form NaOH(aq)).

Question 4 (C)
BeF2 is the simplest compound of beryllium and
fluorine.
F–Be–F

In BeF2, Be is sp hybridised and contain two

unhybridised p-orbitals which, in this molecule, are
empty. Hence Be in BeF2 can accept 2 pairs of
electrons into its two unhybridised p-orbitals.

1 Incorrect.
Question 2 (B) • F donates a lone pair to Be which accepts
In Period 2, there are two irregularities in the first the pair of electrons from F, thus the arrow
ionisation energies of the elements. One irregularity representing the dative bond should point
occurs at Group 13 (i.e. B) and the other occurs at from F to Be.
Group 16 (i.e. O). 2 Correct.
• With 2 empty unhybridised p-orbitals, Be
Two irregularities are also observed in the second can accept 2 pairs of electrons from 2 F
ionisation energies at Group 14 (removing e– from i.e. Be in BeF2 forms 2 dative bonds with
C+) and at Group 17 (removing e– from F+). A quick 2 fluorines from other BeF2, resulting in
way to realise is to check the Data Booklet. the polymeric structure.
3 Correct.
Therefore, K, the element with the lower 2nd IE can
• Similarly, BeF2 can form 2 dative bonds
be either from either Group 14 or Group 17, with two F– to give BeF42–.
corresponding to carbon and fluorine respectively.

Question 3 (D)
Q is non-volatile (does not vapourise easily)
Question 5 (A)
eliminates nitrogen dioxide which has a simple X, Y, and Z are Period 3 elements.
covalent structure with weak instantaneous dipole-
induced dipole interactions and is a gas at rtp.
Oxide of X is amphoteric ⇒
X is Al
Oxide of Y is basic ⇒ Y is Na or Mg
Q does not conduct electricity in its standard state Oxide of Z is acidic ⇒ Z is non-metal (P, S, Cl)
eliminates sodium as metals can conduct
electricity.
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Since Z is a non-metal, it forms anions. Since X and For the reaction between Fe2+ and I2,
Y are metals, they form cations.
Ecell = Ecathode − Eanode = 0.54 – (0.77) = –0.23 V
Since ionic radii of cations are smaller than that of
anions (formed from non-metals) and ionic radii Since Ecell for reaction between I2 is less than zero,
decreases from Na+ to Al3+, ionic radii increases in the reaction is not spontaneous and I2 cannot
this order X < Y < Z.
oxidise Fe2+ to Fe3+.

Question 6 (A)
Highest Ka implies strongest weak acid. A cation Question 9 (C)
with higher charge density has stronger polarising Using algebraic method:
power and distort the electron cloud of water
(1) N2(g) + 5/2 O2(g) → N2O5(g)
molecules to a greater extent and weaken O–H
bonds to a larger extent. Hf = ??? kJ mol−1
(2) 2NO(g) + O2(g) → 2NO2(g)
element ionic radii / nm H = −114.1 kJ mol−1
A Co3+ 0.055 (3) 4NO2(g) + O2(g) → 2N2O5(g)
B Mg+ 0.065 H = −110.2 kJ mol−1
C Mn2+ 0.083
D V3+ 0.064 1/2 × (3) to get (4)

Since Co3+ has the highest charge and smallest (4) 2NO2(g) + 1/2 O2(g) → N2O5(g)
ionic radius, [Co(H2O)6]3+ is the most acidic and has H = −55.1 kJ mol−1
the highest Ka. (5) N2(g) + O2(g) → 2NO(g)
H = +180.5 kJ mol−1
Question 7 (C) Add (2), (4) and (5) to get (1)
At constant T and constant number of moles of gas,
pV = nRT = constant. (1) N2(g) + 5/2 O2(g) → N2O5(g)
Hf = −114.1 + (−55.1) + 180.5
CH3OH and SiH4 have a molar mass of
32 g/mol which is lower than that of 81 g/mol for = +11.3 kJ mol−1
both HBr and H2Se. When equal masses of each
gas is used, there are more number of moles of Question 10 (D)
CH3OH and SiH4 than HBr and H2Se. This question tests students on heterogeneous
Thus, CH3OH and SiH4 will have a higher pV value catalysis (by iron, in the Haber Process), which
(Options C or D). involves the understanding that there are active
sites on the catalyst surface for reactants to adsorb
CH3OH can form strong hydrogen bonds and hence onto for reaction.
deviates more from ideal gas behaviour than SiH4
which can only form weak instantaneous-dipole At low pressures of N2, the active sites on the
induced-dipole attractions. Hence Option C is catalyst surface are not saturated with N2, hence
correct. initial rate depends on the partial pressure of N2.
At moderate or high pressures of N2, most, if not all,
Question 8 (D) of the active sites present on the catalyst surface
You need to check whether the following reaction is are taken up by N2. Consequently, any increase in
spontaneous by checking whether it has a positive the partial pressure of N2 has no effect on the initial
Ecell. rate of reaction.
2Fe2+ + X2 → 2Fe3+ + 2X–

From Data Booklet,

F2 + 2e− ⇌ 2F− E = +2.87 V
Cl2 + 2e− ⇌ 2Cl− E = +1.36 V
Br2 + 2e− ⇌ 2Br − E = +1.07 V
I2 + 2e− ⇌ 2I− E = +0.54 V
Fe3+ + e− ⇌ Fe2+ E = +0.77 V
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Question 11 (B) 4 Correct.
Since concentration of compound P decreases to • Presence of a catalyst lowers the
25% (i.e. ¼)of its initial concentration in 1 hour, activation energy, thus rate constant
increases, resulting in a faster reaction.
t½ t½
C0 ½C0 ¼C0
1h Question 14 (B)
2 half-lives ⇒ 1 h G = H − TS
G = (−S)T + H
1 half-life ⇒ 30 minutes
y = (m)x + c
The correct graph should have a positive y-
Question 12 (A)
intercept since the reaction is endothermic (H >
By considering the slow step, the rate equation for
step 2 is rate = 𝑘2 [O •][O3 ] 0). Options B and C are possible answers.

but O• is an intermediate, thus [O•] cannot be in the At high T, the ratio of [products]/[reactants] at
overall rate equation. equilibrium is lower than 1 means that there are
more reactants than products. Therefore, the
Using the equilibrium constant of step 1, position of equilibrium lies to the left, thus G must
[O •][O2 ] be greater than 0 at high T.
𝐾1 =
O3
𝐾1 [O3 ]
[O •] = Question 15 (D)
[O2 ] H2O(l) ⇌ H+(aq) + OH−(aq) equilibrium 1
Substituting this into the rate equation from step 2,
Option A is incorrect as water is neutral at all
𝐾1 [O3 ] temperature since [H+] is still equals to [OH−]
rate = 𝑘2 [O3 ]
[O2 ] regardless of temperature.
[O3 ]2
rate = 𝑘2 𝐾1 Increasing temperature increases Kw i.e. the
[O2 ]
position of equilibrium 1 to shift to the right,
Thus, statements 1 and 2 are correct.
• favouring the forward reaction that is
Statement 3 is correct because [O2] is the endothermic, thus option B is incorrect.
denominator – when [O2] increases, rate • implying that there is less water molecules
decreases. and more ions, thus option C is incorrect.
Option D is correct as temperature increases from
Question 13 (C) 293 K to 303 K, Kw increases, thus pKw decreases
and pOH = ½ pKw decreases, thus [OH−] increases.
Rate is a measure of how the fast the reaction
proceeds. Yield is about how much product is
formed and is related to position of equilibrium. Question 16 (C)

1 Correct.
• At high temperature, more reactant
particles move faster and have energy
higher than activation energy, resulting in
a faster reaction.
2 Incorrect.
• At high temperature, position of
equilibrium of the reaction shifts to the left
to favour the endothermic backward
reaction to remove excess heat, resulting
in a lower yield. Conjugate base of Q and P are more stable than
that of R as the carboxylate anions are resonance-
3 Incorrect.
stabilised while the alkoxide anion in R’ is not.
• Pressure does not affect rate constant as
rate constant is only affected by activation Conjugate base of Q is the most stable as it has two
energy and temperature. electronegative chlorine atoms nearest to the
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–
–COO which can disperse the negative charge to Question 19 (D)
a greater extent through electron withdrawing
inductive effects.

Question 17 (C)
30
Amount of NaOH added = 1000 × 1 = 0.0300 𝑚𝑜𝑙

Amount of ethanoic acid added 17  bonds • 5 C–H bonds on benzene

• 3 C–H bonds on –CH3
35
= × 1 = 0.0350 𝑚𝑜𝑙 • 6 C–C bonds on benzene
1000
• 1 Cbenzene–Cketone
NaOH + CH3COOH → CH3COONa + H2O • 1 Cketone–Cketone
• 1 C–O
NaOH is the limiting reagent, thus 0.03 mol of 8  electrons • 6 from  e– cloud of benzene
ethanoate is formed and 0.005 mol of ethanoic acid • 2 from C=O  bond
is in excess.
[𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑗𝑢𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒]
Using 𝑝𝐻 = 𝑝𝐾𝑎 + lg ( ), Question 20 (A)
[𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑑]

0.03
𝑝𝐻 = − lg(1.8 × 10−5 ) + lg ( 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙0.005
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
) = 5.52
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

Thus, statement 1 is incorrect.

Statement 2 is correct as the effective buffer range

= pKa ± 1 and 5.52 is within 4.74 ± 1.

Statement 3 is incorrect as there is more conjugate

base (CH3COO–) than weak acid (CH3COOH) so
the buffer can better resist pH changes when a
small amount of acid is added.

Question 18 (A)
Hg2Br2(s) ⇌ Hg22+(aq) + 2Br–(aq)

Let s be the solubility of Hg2Br2

𝐾𝑠𝑝 = 6.4  10−23 = [𝐻𝑔22+ ][𝐵𝑟 − ]2
= (𝑠)(2𝑠)2 = 4𝑠 3
1
𝑠 = (6.4  10−23 ÷ 4)3 = 2.52  10−8 mol dm−3
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Question 21 (C) Question 23 (D)

1 Incorrect.
8 hydrogen atoms will be incorporated since
H2, Pt reduces the ketone, alkene and nitrile.

2 Incorrect.
2 primary amine groups will be formed as
LiAlH4 reduces the ketone, carboxylic acid,
nitrile and amide but not the alkene.

3 Correct.
NaBH4 can only reduce aldehydes (not
present in this molecule) and ketone and
Question 22 (C) only 1 secondary alcohol group is formed.
A Incorrect. Both V and W will not react with
Na2CO3(aq) as there are no carboxylic acid
functional group present.
B Incorrect. Both V and W will decolourise
purple KMnO4 as V undergoes benzene side
chain oxidation while W undergoes oxidative
cleavage of alkene. No CO2 gas is evolved
in the reactions with V and W.
C Correct. Only V will react with neutral Question 24 (A)
FeCl3(aq) to give a violet colouration due to Take note that equal amounts (i.e. equal no. of
presence of phenol. W does not react with moles) of X and Y were used and the y-axis of the
neutral FeCl3(aq). graph is the mass of precipitate formed.
D Incorrect. Both V and W will decolourise
orange Br2(aq). The phenol group in V 1 Correct. Both X and Y are primary alkyl
undergoes electrophilic substitution with halides which react via SN2 mechanism. Y is
Br2(aq) while the alkene group in W more sterically hindered and will react
undergoes electrophilic addition with slower.
Br2(aq).
Since the ppt formed for both X and Y is
AgCl, the mass of ppt formed will be the
same.
2 Correct. X is an acyl chloride while Y is
primary alkyl halide. Acid chlorides undergo
hydrolysis significantly faster than alkyl
halides as the sp2 carbon atom is less
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hindered and more electron deficient as it is B Not possible.
bonded to electronegative atoms (O and Cl).

Since the ppt formed for both X and Y is

AgCl, the mass of ppt formed will be the
same.
3 Incorrect. X will undergo hydrolysis faster
due to weaker C−Br bond as compared to
C−Cl bond in Y.

If 1 mol of X and 1 mol of Y were used, 1 mol

of AgBr and 1 mol of AgCl will be formed
respectively i.e. equal moles of ppt are
formed.

However, since the molar masses of AgBr

and AgCl are different, the mass of ppt
formed will not be the same.
C Possible structure for Z, can be formed from
product in Option A with another reactant.
Question 25 (B)
This is a pattern recognition question, where the
question teaches you about an unseen reaction.
The way to approach such a question is to use the
example given to identify what bonds have been
formed and broken, and that knowledge to apply
it to the question given.

D Possible structure for Z

Bonds broken = C–Br and N–H

Bonds formed = C–N and H–Br

Apply this to the structure given.

A Possible structure for Z, intramolecular

reaction
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Question 26 (A) A Incorrect. This structure has 8 carbons i.e.
S gives an orange ppt with 2,4-DNPH implies that one carbon has been lost as CO2 when X
an aldehyde or ketone is present. was oxidised with K2Cr2O7.
S reacts with aluminium oxide, to give T as the only However, this is not possible as K2Cr2O7
organic compound formed implies that S contains cannot oxidise alkenes, nor benzene side
alcohol functional group which undergoes chain.
elimination of water to form an alkene in T. 1 mol of
T reacts with 1 mol of Br2(aq) implies that there is Therefore, there is no possible structure of X
only 1 C=C. that gives option A when reacted with
acidified K2Cr2O7.
T reacts with hot acidified potassium
B Incorrect. This structure, B, has 9 carbons
manganate(VII) to give no organic product implies
i.e. all carbons in X are still present in this
that all the carbon atoms are lost as carbon dioxide.
structure.
Through a process of guessing a structure and
checking it against the information above, we can We know that X contains an alkene or a
eliminate the possibility of a ketone and tertiary phenol due to X decolourising Br2.
alcohol.
The structure of X that gives B cannot
The following scheme shows S and T which satisfy contain an alkene, since all 9 carbons in X
the information provided. are present in B. Since K2Cr2O7 does not
affect phenols, the absence of phenol in B
would mean that there was no phenol in X.

Hence, there is no possible structure of X

that gives option B when reacted with
acidified K2Cr2O7.
C Incorrect. Same explanation as A.
D Correct. This structure, D, has 9 carbons i.e.
all carbons in X are still present in this
structure.

The phenol in D was inherited from X.

Therefore, X contains a phenol which allows
it to decolourise Br2(aq).

Since D was obtained by oxidising X with

K2Cr2O7, the –COCH3 in D could have been
a –CH(OH)CH3 in X.
Question 27 (B)
Explanation comes after question 30. Therefore, a possible structure of X that
gives D is shown below.

Question 28 (D)
X (C9H12O2)
• C:H ≈ 1:1 and the products formed after X
reacts with acidified K2Cr2O7 contains a
benzene ring.
X gives yellow ppt with alkaline aqueous iodine
• X contains either –COCH3 and/or
–CH(OH)CH3 This structure of X satisfies the molecular
X decolourises Br2 in CCl4 formula, decolourises Br2 and gives a
• X contains either a phenol or alkene positive iodoform test.

Students should make use of the structures in the

options and work “backwards” to find a structure for
X which satisfy the conditions above.
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Question 29 (A)
N2(g) + 4H2O(l) + 4e− ⇌ N2H4(aq) + 4OH−(aq) E = −1.16V equilibirum 1
N2H4(aq) + 2H2O(l) + 2e− ⇌ 2NH3(aq) + 2OH−(aq) E = +0.10 V equilibirum 2
Since +0.10 V > −1.16V, N2H4/NH3 half-cell undergoes reduction and N2/N2H4 half-cell undergoes oxidation.

For N2/N2H4 half-cell: N2H4(aq) + 4OH−(aq) → N2(g) + 4H2O(l) + 4e−

For N2H4/NH3 half-cell: N2H4(aq) + 2H2O(l) + 2e− → 2NH3(aq) + 2OH−(aq)
Overall reaction: 3N2H4(aq) → N2(g) + 4NH3(aq)

Statement 1 is correct. Ecell = Ecathode − Eanode = +0.10 –(−1.16) = +1.26 V > 0, thus overall reaction
(decomposition of N2H4(aq)) is spontaneous.
Statement 2 is correct. Increasing pH increases [OH−(aq)] and by LCP, position of equilibrium 1 will shift to
the left, making the Eanode less positive (or more negative) and thus Ecell > Ecell.
Statement 3 is correct. Addition of water will cause the position of equilibrium 2 to shift to the right (side with
more aqueous species), making the Ecathode more positive and thus Ecell > Ecell. Note
that, addition of water does not increase the [H2O(l)] as [H2O(l)] is a constant.

Question 30 (B)
From Data Booklet,
2H2O + 2e− ⇌ H2 + 2OH− E = −0.83V
2H+ + 2e− ⇌ H2 E = 0.00 V
For H+/ H2 half-cell: 2H+ + 2e− → H2 (cathode, reduction)
For H2O/ H2 half-cell: H2 + 2OH− → 2H2O + 2e− (anode, oxidation)
Overall reaction: 2H+ + 2OH− → 2H2O
Ecell = Ecathode − Eanode = 0.00 –(−0.83) = +0.83 V

G for 2H+ + 2OH− → 2H2O = −nFE = −(2)(96500)(+0.83) = −160.2 kJ mol−1

G of neutralisation i.e. G for H+ + OH− → H2O i.e. = −80.1 kJ mol−1

Question 27 (B)
represents peptide
bond hydrolysis by
enzyme Y

represents peptide
bond hydrolysis by
enzyme Z

represents
unhydrolyzed peptide
bond remaining

Note: 1 dipeptide
consists of 2 amino acid
residues and only 1
amide bond