Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Chemistry · 4CH1 · Free · no account needed
Alcohols — exam questions
12 original Incandio exam-style questions on alcohols, 26 marks, about 26 minutes of writing. Each one carries the command word, the tariff and the specification statement it assesses, exactly as a paper presents them. This is an original Incandio practice question, written to reflect the structure and demands of the qualification. It is not an official Pearson Edexcel past-paper question.
This is the practice set for Alcohols — the lesson that teaches it. Read the lesson first if the idea is new; come here when you want to find out whether you can turn it into marks. Completely free, no account needed to read.
What these questions ask of you
8 command words run through this set, and on Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry each one means something precise. Answering the wrong command is the commonest way a candidate who understands the lesson still loses the mark.
- Which (1 mark)
- one option chosen from the set given
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer — the most common chemistry command
- Name (1 mark)
- the correct chemical name
- Describe (2–5 marks)
- developed, linked statements of what happens or what is observed Misread as: giving one bare observation where the tariff asked for a developed account
- Determine (1–4 marks)
- a value reached by combining given data with a method the learner selects
- Explain (2–4 marks)
- the reason, in terms of particles, bonding, energy or equilibrium Misread as: describing the observation without giving the chemistry that causes it
- Suggest (1–3 marks)
- a plausible answer applying taught chemistry to an unfamiliar substance
- Complete (1–4 marks)
- the missing entries in a table, equation or diagram
Assessed on Paper 1 (4CH1/1C) and Paper 2 (4CH1/2C), against AO1, AO2, AO3.
Where these sit in the specification
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Chemistry (4CH1) — statements 4.29 · 4.30 · 4.31. Incandio is aligned to this specification; it is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's wording.
The 12 questions
Answer them on paper, then open the lesson's exam practice to have them marked. The mark scheme, the accepted and rejected answers and the annotated model answer are in Incandio and are not printed here — an answer beside its question is not practice.
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Table 1 — the first four alcohols Name Molecular formula Structural formula Boiling point / °C methanol CH₄O CH₃OH 65 ethanol C₂H₆O CH₃CH₂OH 78 propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH 97 butan-1-ol C₄H₁₀O to be found 118 (a)
(1)Complete
Complete Table 1 by giving the structural formula of butan-1-ol.
Table 1 — the first four alcohols Name Molecular formula Structural formula Boiling point / °C methanol CH₄O CH₃OH 65 ethanol C₂H₆O CH₃CH₂OH 78 propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH 97 butan-1-ol C₄H₁₀O to be found 118 (b)
(2)Describe
Describe the pattern in the molecular formulae down Table 1.
Table 1 — the first four alcohols Name Molecular formula Structural formula Boiling point / °C methanol CH₄O CH₃OH 65 ethanol C₂H₆O CH₃CH₂OH 78 propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH 97 butan-1-ol C₄H₁₀O to be found 118 (c)
(3)Explain
Explain how Table 1 shows that the four compounds belong to the same homologous series.
Table 1 — the first four alcohols Name Molecular formula Structural formula Boiling point / °C methanol CH₄O CH₃OH 65 ethanol C₂H₆O CH₃CH₂OH 78 propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH 97 butan-1-ol C₄H₁₀O to be found 118 (d)
(3)Suggest
Suggest why a bottle of wine left open turns sour, while a sealed bottle does not.
Table 1 — the first four alcohols Name Molecular formula Structural formula Boiling point / °C methanol CH₄O CH₃OH 65 ethanol C₂H₆O CH₃CH₂OH 78 propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH 97 butan-1-ol C₄H₁₀O to be found 118 (Total for Question 1 = 9 marks)
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(1)Which
Which is the functional group of the alcohols?
Group A C=C B –OH C –COOH D –COO– (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)Give
Give the structural formula of ethanol.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name the product formed when ethanol is oxidised by an oxidising agent.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(3)Describe
Describe the three ways in which ethanol can be oxidised.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(2)Determine
Burning one molecule of ethanol, C₂H₅OH, produces 2CO₂ and 3H₂O. Determine how many molecules of oxygen are needed.
(Total for Question 6 = 2 marks)
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(2)Explain
Explain why an alcohol is not classed as a hydrocarbon.
(Total for Question 7 = 2 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why the alcohols in Table 1 have much higher boiling points than the alkanes with the same number of carbon atoms.
Table 1 — the first four alcohols Name Molecular formula Structural formula Boiling point / °C methanol CH₄O CH₃OH 65 ethanol C₂H₆O CH₃CH₂OH 78 propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH 97 butan-1-ol C₄H₁₀O to be found 118 (Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(4)Describe
Describe the products formed when ethanol burns completely in air, and how each one could be identified.
(Total for Question 9 = 4 marks)
Have them marked, then defend the answer
Practice tells you the mark; teaching it back tells you whether you understand it. On Incandio a topic counts as mastered only once you have taught it and defended it.
- Mark these questions — 12 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain alcohols to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Justus von Liebig over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Alcohols — One –OH group changes everything about a chain of carbons — and there are three quite different ways to take it further.
- All of Incandio Chemistry · Incandio Exam Practice