Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2023

First exams 2025

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Practice Paper 2 (SL IB Chemistry)

Practice Paper Questions

1a1 mark

Common salt, or sodium chloride, can be used on icy roads in the winter to lower the freezing point of water. However, there is a limitation to using it, as the lowest freezing point that can be reached using sodium chloride is about -21 oC at 23% by mass of sodium chloride.

Other salts such as calcium chloride can also be used for this purpose. Figure 1 below shows a freezing point graph for calcium chloride/water.

Estimate the freezing point of water when the composition is 23% by mass of calcium chloride.

Figure 1

1-1-m-q3-ib-chemistry-sq

1b3 marks

What % mass of calcium chloride would be needed to lower the freezing point of water in a 5-litre bucket to -30 oC and what would be the density of the resulting solution?

1c4 marks

Antifreeze is a chemical largely consisting of ethylene glycol, C2H6O2, which also lowers the freezing point of water and is used in car cooling systems. Figure 2 shows the freezing point graph for a water/antifreeze mixture.

Figure 2

1-1-m-q3c-ib-chemistry-sq

If a car cooling system holds 5 litres of water, what is the minimum number of molecules of ethylene glycol needed to lower the freezing point to -50 oC?

The density of ethylene glycol is 1.11 gcm-3.

1d1 mark

Suggest one reason why is it better to use ethylene glycol in a car's cooling system rather than calcium chloride.

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2a6 marks

This question is about line emission spectra of elements.

i)
Explain the difference between a continuous spectrum and a line spectrum. 
[2]
 
ii)
Draw a labelled diagram that shows electron transitions in a hydrogen atom in the ultraviolet and visible regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Include three  electron transitions for each region. 
[4]
2b2 marks

The visible line emission spectrum of hydrogen is shown below in Figure 1 and the wavelengths of the first four lines are listed in Table 1.

i)
Use the information provided and Sections 1 and 2 of the IB data booklet to determine the frequency of the red line.
[1]

Figure 12-1-ib-chemistry-sq-q4b-medium

The visible line emission spectrum hydrogen

 Table 1

Balmer spectral line

Wavelength in nm

Colour

656

Red

486

Blue(cyan)

434

Blue

410

Violet

 

ii)
Which spectral line carries more energy, Hα or Hδ?
[1]
2c1 mark

Draw the shape of a 1s atomic orbital and 2p atomic orbital.    

2d2 marks

Describe the relationship between colour, energy, frequency, and wavelength in the visible spectrum.

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3a2 marks

A group of students planned how to investigate the effect of changing the concentration of H2SO4 on the initial rate of reaction with magnesium: 

Mg (s) + H2SO(aq) rightwards arrowMgSO4 (aq) + H2 (g) 

They decided to measure how long the reaction took to complete when similar masses of magnesium were added to acid. 

Two methods were suggested:

Method 1 - Use small pieces of magnesium ribbon, an excess of acid and record the time taken for the magnesium ribbon to disappear

Method 2 - Use large strips of magnesium ribbon, an excess of magnesium and record the time taken for bubbles to stop forming 

Deduce, giving a reason, which of method 1 and method 2 would be the least affected if the masses of magnesium ribbon used varied slightly between each experiment.

3b2 marks

Neither method in part a) actually allows the initial rate to be calculated. Outline a method that would allow the calculation of initial rate.

3c1 mark

The reaction is to be conducted across a few weeks.

State a factor that has a significant effect on reaction rate, which could vary between experiments across the weeks and therefore needs to be controlled.

3d
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4 marks

One group collected the following data using 1.50 mol dm-3 acid:

 
 
Trial Time/ s (plus-or-minus 0.01 s)
1 91.56
2 98.33
3 72.08
4 89.41

i)
Comment on the use of uncertainty when calculating the mean.
[2]
ii)
Calculate the mean time for the set of results.
[2]

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4a2 marks

Calcium nitrate contains both covalent and ionic bonds.

State the formula of both ions present and the nature of the force between these ions.

4b1 mark

State the formula of the compound that boron forms with chlorine.

4c1 mark

Draw the Lewis structure for boron chloride.

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5a3 marks

Define the term standard enthalpy of combustion, ΔHϴc.

5b2 marks

Write an equation for the complete combustion of propanol, CH3CH2CH2OH (l).

5c3 marks

Construct a Hess’s Law cycle for the complete combustion of propanol.

Table 1

 

CH3CH2CH2OH (l)

O2 (g)

CO(g)

H2O (l)

ΔHϴf (kJ mol-1)

-303

0

-394

-286

 

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6a1 mark

Malonic acid is a naturally occurring acid found in fruits and vegetables and is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 

q1a-figure-1

The first dissociation of malonic acid is:

C3H4O4 (aq) + H2O (l) C3H3O4- (aq) + H3O+ (aq)

Identify one conjugate acid-base pair from the equation.

6b3 marks

The equilibrium constant for the first dissociation of malonic acid is 1.48 x 10-3.

State, with a reason, the strength of malonic acid.

6c1 mark

The anion C3H3O4- may be classified as amphiprotic. Explain the meaning of amphiprotic and write equations, using C3H3O4-, to illustrate your answer.

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7a2 marks

The formulae of four organic compounds are given in Table 1. Write the names of the compounds in the second column.

Table 1

compound

name

CH3CH2CH2CH(OH)CH3

 

CH3CH2COCH3

 

CH3CH2CH2OH

 

CH3CH2CH2CHO

 

7b2 marks

Which of the compounds in part (a) are structural isomers of each other and what type of isomerism do they show?

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