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AQA GCSE Chemistry 8462
Atomic Structure and the Periodic Table
Topic overviewAtoms, elements and compoundsWord equations, symbols and balanced equationsMixturesFrom the plum pudding model to the nuclear modelBohr, Chadwick and the modern model of the atomRelative electrical charges of subatomic particlesSize and mass of atomsRelative atomic mass and electronic structureThe periodic tableDevelopment of the periodic tableMetals and non-metalsGroup 0Group 1Group 7Transition metals, and how they differ from Group 1
Bonding, Structure, and the Properties of Matter
Topic overviewChemical bonds, including metallic bondingIonic bondingIonic compoundsCovalent bonding and how it is representedThe three states of matter and changes of statePredicting state, state symbols, and the limits of the particle modelProperties of ionic compoundsProperties of small moleculesPolymers and giant covalent structuresProperties of metals and alloys, and why metals conductDiamond and graphiteGraphene and fullerenesSizes of particles and their propertiesUses of nanoparticles
Chemical Analysis
Chemical Changes
Topic overviewThe reactivity seriesMetal oxides, extraction, and redox in terms of electronsAcids reacting with metals, neutralisation and saltsSoluble saltsThe pH scale and neutralisationTitrationsThe process of electrolysis, and molten ionic compoundsUsing electrolysis to extract metalsElectrolysis of aqueous solutions
Chemistry of the Atmosphere
Topic overviewThe Earth's early atmosphereHow oxygen increased and carbon dioxide decreasedThe gases in today's atmosphere, and which are greenhouse gasesHuman activities which contribute to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphereGlobal climate change and carbon footprintsAtmospheric pollutants from fuels, and their effects
Energy Changes
Organic Chemistry
Topic overviewCrude oil, hydrocarbons and alkanesFractional distillation and petrochemicalsProperties of hydrocarbonsCracking, and testing alkenes with bromine waterWhy cracking is useful, and equations for itStructure and formulae of alkenesReactions of alkenesAlcoholsCarboxylic acidsAddition polymerisationAmino acids, DNA and naturally occurring polymers
Quantitative Chemistry
The Rate and Extent of Chemical Change
Using Resources
Topic overviewUsing the Earth's resources and sustainable developmentProducing potable water in the UKDesalination, and analysing water samplesWaste water treatmentLife cycle assessmentWays of reducing the use of resourcesCorrosion and its preventionAlloys as useful materialsGlass, clay ceramics and polymersComposites, and comparing materialsThe Haber processProduction and uses of NPK fertilisers
Chemical Changes
- 9 subtopics
- 27 things to know
- Paper 1
What Chemical Changes covers
Chemical Changes is examined in Chemistry Paper 1. It covers the reactivity series, metal oxides, extraction, and oxidation and reduction in terms of oxygen, acids reacting with metals, neutralisation and salts, soluble salts, the pH scale and neutralisation, titrations, the process of electrolysis, and molten ionic compounds, using electrolysis to extract metals and electrolysis of aqueous solutions.
Where it is assessed
Paper 1
Chemistry Paper 1: 1 hour 45 minutes, 100 marks, 50% of the GCSE.
Check the AQA specification ↗The 9 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The reactivity seriesMetals forming positive ions and reactivity as the tendency to do so, the series from potassium to copper with hydrogen and carbon for comparison, displacement reactions, ordering metals by their reactions with water and dilute acid in a fair test, and why potassium reacts more vigorously than magnesium.Open →
- Metal oxides, extraction, and redox in terms of electronsMetal oxides and oxidation and reduction in terms of oxygen, why gold is found as the metal, extracting metals less reactive than carbon by heating their oxides with carbon as the reducing agent, comparing industrial extraction methods, and predicting which oxides carbon can reduce.Open →
- Acids reacting with metals, neutralisation and saltsMetals reacting with dilute acids to give a salt and hydrogen, word and balanced equations and the test for hydrogen, neutralisation of acids by alkalis, bases and metal carbonates, the difference between a base and an alkali, naming salts from their acids, and deducing salt formulae from their ions.Open →
- Soluble saltsMaking a soluble salt by adding an insoluble metal, oxide, hydroxide or carbonate to an acid in excess, filtering off the unreacted solid, crystallising and drying the salt, the copper sulfate preparation, choosing gentle heating, safety precautions, and why crystals can lose mass.Open →
- The pH scale and neutralisationHydrogen ions in acids and hydroxide ions in alkalis, aqueous solutions, the pH scale from 0 to 14 measured with universal indicator or a pH probe, acidic, neutral and alkaline values, and neutralisation as hydrogen ions reacting with hydroxide ions to form water, with its ionic equation.Open →
- TitrationsWhat a titration measures and why an indicator is needed, the pipette and burette, the three acids used, adding acid drop by drop near the end point, concordant titres, the white tile and rinsing, working out the titre from burette readings, and why the first titration is a rough one.Open →
- The process of electrolysis, and molten ionic compoundsElectrolytes and why molten or dissolved ionic compounds conduct, electrolysis and the cathode and anode, which ions move to each electrode, inert electrodes, and predicting the products of electrolysing molten lead bromide, sodium chloride and zinc bromide.Open →
- Using electrolysis to extract metalsWhen electrolysis is used to extract a metal, why the compound must be molten and why the process is costly, and the extraction of aluminium from aluminium oxide mixed with cryolite using carbon anodes that burn away.Open →
- Electrolysis of aqueous solutionsWhich ions are present in a solution, how relative reactivity decides whether the metal or hydrogen forms at the cathode, when oxygen or a halogen forms at the anode, predicting products, and testing the gases collected.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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State the displacement rule, then use it to explain what happens with magnesium in copper sulfate solution and with copper in zinc sulfate solution.
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What type of compound is formed when a metal reacts with oxygen?
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Name the two products formed when a dilute acid reacts with a suitable metal.
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Name four kinds of insoluble solid that can be added to an acid to make a soluble salt.
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Which ion do all acids produce when they dissolve in water?
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What does a titration measure?
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What is an electrolyte?
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When is electrolysis used to extract a metal from its compound?
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What kind of ion does a metal atom form when it reacts with another substance?
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Write the balanced equation for magnesium burning in oxygen.
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Write a word equation for zinc reacting with dilute hydrochloric acid.
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How is the unreacted solid separated from the salt solution?
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What does it mean to describe a solution as aqueous?
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Name an indicator suitable for a titration between an acid and an alkali.
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Give two ways of turning a solid ionic compound into an electrolyte.
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Why must the compound be molten before its metal can be extracted by electrolysis?
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What decides which ions are discharged when a solution is electrolysed with inert electrodes?
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List potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron and copper in order from most reactive to least reactive.
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Define oxidation in terms of oxygen.
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Describe the test that identifies the gas given off when magnesium is added to dilute acid.
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When a soluble salt is made by adding an excess of insoluble solid to an acid and filtering, what is collected in the beaker below the funnel?
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Which ion is present in every aqueous solution of an alkali?
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Why is one titration on its own not good enough?
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What is electrolysis?
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Suggest why metals obtained by electrolysis tend to be expensive.
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Which ions are present in a solution made by dissolving a single ionic compound in water?
Take Chemical Changes further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Oxidation vs Reduction
Oxidation: loss of electrons, or gain of oxygen, by a substance. Reduction: gain of electrons, or loss of oxygen, by a substance.
Cathode vs Anode
Cathode: the negative electrode, where positive ions gain electrons. Anode: the positive electrode, where negative ions lose electrons.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What kind of ion does a metal atom form when it reacts with another substance?
Model answer
A positively charged ion.
- 2
What is the reactivity of a metal related to?
Model answer
Its tendency to lose electrons and form positive ions.
- 3
List potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron and copper in order from most reactive to least reactive.
Model answer
Potassium, sodium, lithium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper.
- 4
Which two non-metals are often placed in the reactivity series?
Model answer
Hydrogen and carbon.
- 5
Why is carbon included in the reactivity series?
Model answer
So that metals can be compared with it, which shows whether carbon can take the oxygen from a metal oxide.
- 6
Why is hydrogen included in the reactivity series?
Model answer
So that metals can be compared with it, which shows whether a metal will react with a dilute acid to release hydrogen.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Chemical Changes revision questions
- What does Chemical Changes cover in AQA GCSE Chemistry?
- 9 subtopics: the reactivity series, metal oxides, extraction, and redox in terms of electrons, acids reacting with metals, neutralisation and salts, soluble salts, the ph scale and neutralisation, titrations, the process of electrolysis, and molten ionic compounds, using electrolysis to extract metals and electrolysis of aqueous solutions. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Chemical Changes organised?
- By the AQA 8462 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Chemical Changes, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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