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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

FIJI YEAR 13 CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION 2014

CHEMISTRY PAPER 2

QUESTIONS

AND

DETAILED SOLUTIONS WITH ADDITIONAL NOTES

© MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, FY13CE 2014: CHEMISTRY.

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Question 1

Additional notes

(i) A large amount of heat is released when strong acids are mixed with water. Adding more
acid releases more heat. If water is added to acid, an extremely concentrated solution of
acid is formed initially and so much heat is released that the solution may boil very
violently, splashing concentrated acid out of the container. On the other hand, if acid is
added to water, the solution that forms is very dilute. Also the small amount of heat
released is not enough to vaporize and spatter it. That is why always acid is added to
water.
(ii) Luminous flame is a very bright flame and is quite visible.
(iii)

Sourcehttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Reading_the_meniscus.png

© MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, FY13CE 2014: CHEMISTRY.

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 The meniscus is the curve seen at the top of a liquid in

response to its container. The meniscus can be either concave or
convex.
 A concave meniscus (A) occurs when the molecules of
the liquid are more strongly attracted to the container than to
each other. An example of such meniscus is water in glass
instruments.
 A convex meniscus (B) is produced when the molecules

Source:https://www.google.com/se
of the liquid are more strongly attracted to each other than to the
arch?q=reading_from_the_meniscus
container. An example of such meniscus is mercury in glass and
mostly seen in mercury thermometers.
 The diagram on the left shows how to correctly read the meniscus at eye level.


Additional notes

 The conical flask is rinsed with distilled water only to remove any impurities in it. It does not
necessarily have to be rinsed with the solution it has to contain (standard solution).
 This is because the concentration of the solution that has to be transferred from the pipette
into the conical flask is already known so the water present after rinsing the conical flask will
not have any effect on the concentration. Only the volume matters, which will be needed to

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find the amount (in moles) of the standard solution that reacted with the solution of unknown
concentration.

Additional notes

Source: http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/structures/molecular.html

 When the temperature of water is reduced and water freezes, the water molecules form a
crystalline structure maintained by hydrogen bonding.
 This is because there is not enough energy to break the hydrogen bonds. This makes ice
less dense than liquid water, a phenomenon not seen in the solidification of other liquids
such as cyclohexane.

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 The lower density of water in its solid form is due to the way hydrogen bonds are
oriented as it freezes.
 The water molecules are pushed farther apart compared to liquid water and this creates
more space.
 With most other liquids like cyclohexane, solidification includes the lowering of kinetic
energy between molecules, allowing them to pack even more tightly than in liquid form
and giving the solid a greater density than the liquid.

Additional notes

 Ethanol contains -OH group which can form hydrogen bond among its molecules but
cyclohexane do not.
 On mixing, cyclohexane will break the hydrogen bond among ethanol molecules.
 Breakage of hydrogen bond consumes energy (since bond breaking is endothermic).
 Also the total volume will be larger than the sum of the individual volumes, due to volume
expansion arising from the decrease in intermolecular forces since the cyclohexane
molecules insert between the ethanol molecules, pushing them apart and breaking the
hydrogen bonds.

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Additional notes

 This experiment requires an efficient gas syringe.

 The plunger must be rotated freely to ensure that the equilibrium volume of oxygen is
measured.
 The advantage of this method of collecting the oxygen over standard water displacement
methods is that corrections for aqueous vapour pressure and solubility of gases need not be
applied.

Additional notes

 The molar mass of a volatile liquid can be measured by vaporizing it in a known volume at
known conditions of temperature and pressure, and then condensing the vapour and finding
its mass.

© MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, FY13CE 2014: CHEMISTRY.

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 In this experiment, a water bath is used, so that liquid of boiling point less than
approximately 80oC would be able to be investigated. Suitable liquids are ethanol, methanol,
acetone, chloroform, benzene and carbon tetrachloride.

Additional notes

 Transition metals and their compounds function as catalysts either because of their ability to
change oxidation state or, in the case of the metals, to adsorb other substances on to their
surface and activate them in the process.
 Transition metals can both lend electrons to and take electrons from other molecules. By
giving and taking electrons so easily, transition metal catalysts speed up reactions.

© MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, FY13CE 2014: CHEMISTRY.

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© MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, FY13CE 2014: CHEMISTRY.

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Question 5

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Question 7

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Additional notes

 Electrons are negatively charged, and so are attracted to the positive end of a battery and
repelled by the negative end. That is why when electrons flows, they flow from negative
electrode (Anode) to positive electrode (Cathode).

© MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, FY13CE 2014: CHEMISTRY.