Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Chemistry · 4CH1 · Free · no account needed
Making Ethanol — exam questions
12 original Incandio exam-style questions on Making Ethanol, 27 marks, about 27 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 Making Ethanol — 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
7 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
- 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
- Write (1–3 marks)
- the equation, formula or ionic equation, balanced, with state symbols where asked
- Suggest (1–3 marks)
- a plausible answer applying taught chemistry to an unfamiliar substance
- Compare (2–4 marks)
- explicit comparison with a comparative word — a bare pair of statements is not a comparison
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 4.33 · 4.32. 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 — two routes to ethanol Hydration of ethene Fermentation raw material ethene from crude oil glucose from plants conditions 300 °C, 60–70 atm, phosphoric acid catalyst about 30 °C, yeast, no air rate fast slow operation continuous in batches product pure ethanol dilute aqueous ethanol (a)
(1)Give
Give the raw material used in the hydration route, using Table 1.
Table 1 — two routes to ethanol Hydration of ethene Fermentation raw material ethene from crude oil glucose from plants conditions 300 °C, 60–70 atm, phosphoric acid catalyst about 30 °C, yeast, no air rate fast slow operation continuous in batches product pure ethanol dilute aqueous ethanol (b)
(2)Give
Give two advantages of the hydration route shown in Table 1.
Table 1 — two routes to ethanol Hydration of ethene Fermentation raw material ethene from crude oil glucose from plants conditions 300 °C, 60–70 atm, phosphoric acid catalyst about 30 °C, yeast, no air rate fast slow operation continuous in batches product pure ethanol dilute aqueous ethanol (c)
(3)Explain
Explain why the fermentation product in Table 1 has to be treated further before it can be sold as ethanol.
Table 1 — two routes to ethanol Hydration of ethene Fermentation raw material ethene from crude oil glucose from plants conditions 300 °C, 60–70 atm, phosphoric acid catalyst about 30 °C, yeast, no air rate fast slow operation continuous in batches product pure ethanol dilute aqueous ethanol (d)
(3)Suggest
Suggest why ethanol made by fermentation is sometimes described as carbon neutral, and why that description is not strictly accurate.
Table 1 — two routes to ethanol Hydration of ethene Fermentation raw material ethene from crude oil glucose from plants conditions 300 °C, 60–70 atm, phosphoric acid catalyst about 30 °C, yeast, no air rate fast slow operation continuous in batches product pure ethanol dilute aqueous ethanol (Total for Question 1 = 9 marks)
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(1)Which
Which organism is used in the fermentation of glucose?
Organism A yeast B algae C a virus D a fungus that makes penicillin (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name the catalyst used in the hydration of ethene.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(1)Give
Give the approximate temperature used for fermentation.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(3)Explain
Explain why fermentation is carried out in the absence of air.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why fermentation is carried out at about 30 °C rather than at 10 °C or at 70 °C.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(2)Write
Write the equation for the hydration of ethene to make ethanol.
(Total for Question 7 = 2 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why a country with plenty of sugar cane but no oil reserves would choose fermentation.
Table 1 — two routes to ethanol Hydration of ethene Fermentation raw material ethene from crude oil glucose from plants conditions 300 °C, 60–70 atm, phosphoric acid catalyst about 30 °C, yeast, no air rate fast slow operation continuous in batches product pure ethanol dilute aqueous ethanol (Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(4)Compare
Compare the fermentation route to ethanol with the hydration of ethene, in terms of raw material, conditions and purity of product.
(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 Making Ethanol to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Louis Pasteur over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Making Ethanol — Two industrial routes to the same molecule — one grown in a vat, one built from crude oil, and neither obviously better.
- All of Incandio Chemistry · Incandio Exam Practice