Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Chemistry · 4CH1 · Free · no account needed
Carboxylic Acids — exam questions
12 original Incandio exam-style questions on Carboxylic Acids, 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 Carboxylic Acids — 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
- Name (1 mark)
- the correct chemical name
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer — the most common chemistry command
- 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 4.34 · 4.37 · 4.36 · 4.35. 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 carboxylic acids Name Structural formula Salt formed with sodium hydroxide methanoic acid HCOOH sodium methanoate ethanoic acid CH₃COOH sodium ethanoate propanoic acid CH₃CH₂COOH sodium propanoate butanoic acid CH₃CH₂CH₂COOH to be found (a)
(1)Complete
Complete Table 1 by giving the name of the salt formed by butanoic acid.
Table 1 — the first four carboxylic acids Name Structural formula Salt formed with sodium hydroxide methanoic acid HCOOH sodium methanoate ethanoic acid CH₃COOH sodium ethanoate propanoic acid CH₃CH₂COOH sodium propanoate butanoic acid CH₃CH₂CH₂COOH to be found (b)
(2)Describe
Describe what stays the same and what changes as you read down the second column of Table 1.
Table 1 — the first four carboxylic acids Name Structural formula Salt formed with sodium hydroxide methanoic acid HCOOH sodium methanoate ethanoic acid CH₃COOH sodium ethanoate propanoic acid CH₃CH₂COOH sodium propanoate butanoic acid CH₃CH₂CH₂COOH to be found (c)
(3)Explain
Explain why every acid in Table 1 would react with calcium carbonate in the same way.
Table 1 — the first four carboxylic acids Name Structural formula Salt formed with sodium hydroxide methanoic acid HCOOH sodium methanoate ethanoic acid CH₃COOH sodium ethanoate propanoic acid CH₃CH₂COOH sodium propanoate butanoic acid CH₃CH₂CH₂COOH to be found (d)
(3)Suggest
Suggest why a student who writes the ethanoic acid group as –COH would lose the mark, even though the letters are nearly the same.
Table 1 — the first four carboxylic acids Name Structural formula Salt formed with sodium hydroxide methanoic acid HCOOH sodium methanoate ethanoic acid CH₃COOH sodium ethanoate propanoic acid CH₃CH₂COOH sodium propanoate butanoic acid CH₃CH₂CH₂COOH to be found (Total for Question 1 = 9 marks)
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(1)Which
Which is the functional group of the carboxylic acids?
Group A –OH B C=C C –COOH D –COO– (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name the carboxylic acid present in vinegar.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(1)Give
Give the gas produced when ethanoic acid reacts with magnesium.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(2)Describe
Describe what is seen when sodium carbonate is added to ethanoic acid.
(Total for Question 5 = 2 marks)
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(2)Determine
A student drops magnesium ribbon into ethanoic acid. Determine the names of the two products.
(Total for Question 6 = 2 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why ethanol and ethanoic acid behave so differently, although both contain an –OH.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why vinegar is effective at removing limescale from a kettle.
Limescale — The hard white deposit inside a kettle is limescale, which is calcium carbonate left behind when hard water boils. It is insoluble in water. Vinegar is a dilute aqueous solution of ethanoic acid.
(Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(4)Describe
A student drops a strip of magnesium ribbon into dilute ethanoic acid. Describe what happens, and name the two products.
(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 Carboxylic Acids to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Carl Wilhelm Scheele over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Carboxylic Acids — The –COOH group, the acid reactions it gives, and the reason a bottle of vinegar is on the specification.
- All of Incandio Chemistry · Incandio Exam Practice