Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry · specification 4CH1 · Paper 2 | Whole paper: All content including bold C statements · Free · no account needed
4(b) Crude oil (4CH1 specification)
A mixture separated by boiling point, the fractions it yields, and the cracking that fixes the mismatch between supply and demand.
Learn it on Incandio
The 3 Incandio pages that teach this — each explained in full, then proved in marked questions, taught back to an AI pupil and defended in a debate. Completely free.
- Naming, Drawing And Classifying — A name that tells you the structure, a method that finds every isomer, and three words that cover every organic reaction here.
- Crude Oil And Its Fractions — One mixture, separated by boiling point into six useful materials — and one causal chain that explains every trend down the column.
- Burning Fuels — Two ways a hydrocarbon can burn, and why one of them fills a room with a gas you cannot smell.
The teaching route this belongs to: Topic 4 · Organic chemistry (Chemistry) — the lessons in order, with every gate.
Specification coverage
Topic 4 Organic chemistry (b) Crude oil — statements 4.5–4.13C (includes bold C statements assessed on Paper 2 only)
Assessment objectives: AO1, AO2. Suggested learning time: 70 minutes.
Required knowledge
- Crude oil as a mixture of hydrocarbons and its separation by fractional distillation
- The names and uses of the main fractions
- The trend in properties down the fractionating column
- Complete and incomplete combustion, and the problems caused by the products
- Cracking: what it produces and why it is necessary
- Bold C statements: cracking conditions and equations in greater depth
Required skills
- Explain fractional distillation in terms of boiling point and intermolecular forces
- Write equations for combustion and for cracking
- Explain the environmental problems of each combustion product
How it is examined
- Multiple-choice and short-answer recall
- Application of the content to an unfamiliar context
- Extended open-response, marked on the quality of a connected explanation
Common mistakes
- Saying fractional distillation separates by 'weight'. It separates by boiling point, which depends on chain length and intermolecular forces.
- Confusing the products of complete and incomplete combustion. Incomplete combustion produces carbon monoxide and carbon.
- Saying cracking produces 'smaller molecules' without naming an alkane and an alkene as products.
This page maps the specification. The pages above teach it, and the Chemistry lessons hold the whole course — completely free.