Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Chemistry · 4CH1 · Free · no account needed
What Organic Chemistry Is — exam questions
12 original Incandio exam-style questions on what Organic Chemistry Is, 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 What Organic Chemistry Is — 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
- State what is meant by (1–2 marks)
- the definition
- 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
- 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
- Identify (1–2 marks)
- the correct substance or feature selected from what is given
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 4.1 · 4.3 · 4.2. 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 — four organic compounds Compound Molecular formula Structural formula propane C₃H₈ CH₃CH₂CH₃ propene C₃H₆ CH₃CH=CH₂ propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH butane C₄H₁₀ CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃ (a)
(1)Identify
Identify the compound in Table 1 that is not a hydrocarbon.
Table 1 — four organic compounds Compound Molecular formula Structural formula propane C₃H₈ CH₃CH₂CH₃ propene C₃H₆ CH₃CH=CH₂ propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH butane C₄H₁₀ CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃ (b)
(2)Give
Give the empirical formula of propene and of butane, using Table 1.
Table 1 — four organic compounds Compound Molecular formula Structural formula propane C₃H₈ CH₃CH₂CH₃ propene C₃H₆ CH₃CH=CH₂ propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH butane C₄H₁₀ CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃ (c)
(3)Explain
Explain which two compounds in Table 1 belong to the same homologous series.
Table 1 — four organic compounds Compound Molecular formula Structural formula propane C₃H₈ CH₃CH₂CH₃ propene C₃H₆ CH₃CH=CH₂ propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH butane C₄H₁₀ CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃ (d)
(3)Suggest
A fifth compound has the molecular formula C₃H₈O but is not propan-1-ol. Suggest what this shows, and what its structural formula might be.
Table 1 — four organic compounds Compound Molecular formula Structural formula propane C₃H₈ CH₃CH₂CH₃ propene C₃H₆ CH₃CH=CH₂ propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH butane C₄H₁₀ CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃ (Total for Question 1 = 9 marks)
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(1)Which
Which compound is a hydrocarbon?
Compound A CH₃OH B C₂H₆ C CH₃COOH D CO₂ (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)State what is meant by
State what is meant by a hydrocarbon.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(1)Give
Give the term for the group of atoms that gives a family of organic compounds its characteristic reactions.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(2)Describe
Describe two features shared by all the members of a homologous series.
(Total for Question 5 = 2 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why the empirical formula of a compound is often not the same as its molecular formula.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(2)Explain
Explain what is meant by isomerism.
(Total for Question 7 = 2 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why a displayed formula is more useful than a molecular formula when explaining how a compound reacts.
Table 1 — four organic compounds Compound Molecular formula Structural formula propane C₃H₈ CH₃CH₂CH₃ propene C₃H₆ CH₃CH=CH₂ propan-1-ol C₃H₈O CH₃CH₂CH₂OH butane C₄H₁₀ CH₃CH₂CH₂CH₃ (Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(4)Explain
Explain what is meant by a homologous series, and why the members of one have similar chemical properties but different physical ones.
(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 what Organic Chemistry Is to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Friedrich Wöhler over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- What Organic Chemistry Is — Two facts about carbon generate several million compounds — and three words keep them in order.
- All of Incandio Chemistry · Incandio Exam Practice