Top of the Bench 2024

Younger Paper

Name:

School:

School year:

Answer all questions in the spaces provided.

You are provided with a Periodic table.
You may use a scientific calculator.
Write your answers clearly. Show all working.
Section A contains questions about general chemical knowledge.
Section B contains questions about this year’s theme: Water
The total marks allocated to the paper are 40 marks (Section A 10 marks, Section B 30 marks)

The time allocated to the paper is 40 minutes.

Question Mark

Section A

10

11

12

TOTAL
SECTION A General chemistry knowledge

1. Figure 1 shows particle diagrams of different substances labelled A, B, C and D.

Figure 1

Choose the diagram (A, B, C or D) that best represents: [2]

a. a pure element _____________________

b. a mixture of two different compounds _____________________

2. Name the change of state when a solid turns directly into a gas. [1]

________________________________________________________________________

3. Only two elements in the periodic table are liquids at room temperature.
Name any one of them. [1]

___________________________________________________________________________

4. Name the compound formed when iron reacts with fluorine. [1]

___________________________________________________________________________

5. When citric acid and sodium hydrogencarbonate react the temperature of the surroundings
decreases.

Which term describes the reaction?

Choose from: [1]

endothermic exothermic
6. Which element forms an alkaline solution when reacted with water?

Choose from: [1]

sodium

copper

iron

sulfur

7. Balance the equation: [1]

___ AgI + ___ Fe2(CO3)3 → ___ FeI3 + ___ Ag2CO3

8. Name the gas that is found in the Earth’s atmosphere in the highest percentage. [1]

_________________________________________________________________________

9. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year rewarded the discovery and development of quantum
dots. These are nanoparticles so tiny that their size determines their properties.

How big is one nanometre in metres?

Choose from; [1]

1 × 10-3 m

1 × 10-9 m

1 × 10-12 m
SECTION B Questions linked to this year’s theme of Water

10. This question is about neutralisation reactions.

Water is a product of all neutralisation reactions.

a. When an acid and a base react a salt and water is produced.

i. Complete Table 1 by naming the salt produced from the acid and base in each
of the experiments 1-3. [3]

Experiment Acid Base Salt formed

1 hydrochloric lithium oxide __________________________

acid
__________________________

2 nitric acid sodium __________________________

hydroxide
__________________________

3 sulfuric acid calcium __________________________

carbonate
__________________________

Table 1

ii. The pH scale shows how acidic a substance is.

The scale ranges from 0-14.

Draw one line from each pH range to the correct description. [1]

pH range Description

0-6 acidic

7 alkaline

8-14 neutral
b. A student uses a neutralisation reaction to make a sample of the salt sodium chloride.

They react sodium hydroxide with hydrochloric acid.

This is the method used:

Step 1. Measure 15 cm3 of hydrochloric acid into a conical flask.

Step 2. Carefully add sodium hydroxide dropwise until the solution is just neutral.

i. Name a suitable piece of apparatus the student should use to measure 15 cm3 of
hydrochloric acid in step 1. [1]

__________________________________________________________________

ii. The bottle of sodium hydroxide has the hazard symbol shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2

What is the meaning of the hazard symbol?

Tick one option. [1]

Irritant Flammable Corrosive

iii. Describe how the student could find out that the solution is exactly neutral in step 2. [2]

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
iv. The method described produces a solution of sodium chloride.

Describe how the student could produce a pure, dry sample of solid sodium
chloride from the solution produced in step 2.

Include the name of any scientific equipment they should use. [4]

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

[Total: 12 marks]

Questions continue on the next page

11. This question is about sea water.

Sea water is a solution of sodium chloride.

Rain water dissolves minerals in rocks which are
then carried to the sea by rivers.

a. Table 2 gives the mass of sodium chloride per 100 cm3 in different bodies of water.

Name Mass of sodium chloride found in 100 cm 3 of water

Dead sea 33.7
Mediterranean sea 3.8
Black sea 2.30-1.30
Caspian sea 1.25

Table 2

i. A 500 cm3 sample of salt water is found to contain 19.6 g of salt.

Which body of water is the sample most likely to have been collected from?
Use the information in Table 2. [2]

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

ii. Calculate the volume of water from the Caspian sea that contains the same mass
of salt as 250 cm3 of water from the Dead sea. [2]

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________
Pure water can be obtained from salt water using distillation.

b. A student sets up the distillation apparatus in Figure 3

Figure 3

i. Give the name for the piece of equipment labelled Apparatus X. [1]

____________________________________________________________________

ii. Identify two errors in the way the equipment is set up which would mean the distillation
would be unsuccessful.
For each error explain the outcome of the error. [4]

Error Outcome

Error Outcome

c. Which option correctly describes all the changes of state that occur during a distillation? [1]

liquid → gas → liquid

gas → liquid → gas

liquid → gas

[Total: 10 marks]
12. This question is about hard and soft water.

The water in some parts of the country is soft,

while the water in other parts of the country is
hard.
Hard water contains dissolved magnesium ions
(Mg2+) and calcium ions (Ca2+).

a. Magnesium and calcium are both in Group 2 of the periodic table.

Table 3 gives some information about atoms of the elements in Group 2.

Atomic structure
Atomic radius
Element Number of Number of Number of
in nm
protons neutrons electrons
beryllium 0.125 4 5 4
magnesium 0.160 12 12 12
calcium ? 20 20 20
strontium 0.191 38 50 38
barium 0.198 56 81 56

Table 3

i. Predict the atomic radius in nm of calcium. [1]

____________________________________________________________________

ii. Positive ions such as Mg2+ are formed when an atom reacts and loses electrons.

The size of the positive charge on the newly formed ion is determined by the
number of electrons lost.

Give the number of electrons in a Mg2+ ion.

Use the information given in Table 3. [1]

____________________________________________________________________
b. One type of hard water is formed when calcium sulfate rock dissolves in rain water.

What is the formula of calcium sulfate? [1]

CaSO4

Ca2SO4

CaSO3

Ca2SO3

c. Another type of hard water is formed when rain water and carbon dioxide from the air react
with calcium carbonate in chalk and limestone.

A solution of calcium hydrogen carbonate is formed.

Write a word equation for this reaction. [1]

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Soap can be used to test how hard a sample of water is.

Soft water lathers well when mixed with soap, but hard water does not.
In hard water the calcium and magnesium ions react with the soap to form a solid called scum.
Only once the soap has reacted with all of the ions is the rest of the soap able to form a lather.
The more soap needed before a lather forms, the harder the water sample.

Figure 4 shows what is meant by a lather.

Figure 4
d. A student investigates the hardness of five samples of water.
This is the method used:
1. Measure 5 cm3 of the water and place it in a boiling tube.
2. Whilst shaking the boiling tube, add the soap solution one drop at a time.
3. Record the volume of soap needed to make a lather.

The results are shown in Table 4.

Volume of soap needed to form a lather in cm 3

Run 1 Run 2 Run 3 Mean
Sample A 5.2 4.1 4.7 4.7
Sample B 9.1 8.9 9.2 ?
Sample C 15.4 14.6 15.1 15.0
Sample D 1.4 1.7 1.8 1.6
Sample E 12.1 12.4 12.2 12.2

Table 4

i. Calculate the mean volume of soap needed to form a lather with sample B.
Give your answer to 1 decimal place. [2]
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Mean volume = ___________ cm3

ii. Which sample is the hardest?

Explain how the results support this conclusion. [1]
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

iii. The uncertainty in a set of measurements is the amount of error the measurements
might have.
The larger the range the more uncertainty there is in the results.
For which sample is the uncertainty in the results the greatest? [1]

__________________________________________________________________

[Total: 8 marks]