Key term
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
Chemistry of the Atmosphere
- 6 subtopics
- 18 things to know
- Paper 2
What Chemistry of the Atmosphere covers
Chemistry of the Atmosphere is examined in Chemistry Paper 2. It covers the Earth's early atmosphere, how oxygen increased and carbon dioxide decreased, the gases in today's atmosphere, and which are greenhouse gases, human activities which contribute to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, global climate change and carbon footprints and atmospheric pollutants from fuels, and their effects.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2
Chemistry Paper 2: 1 hour 45 minutes, 100 marks, 50% of the GCSE.
Check the AQA specification ↗The 6 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The Earth's early atmosphereWhy the evidence is limited and theories keep changing, the volcanic origin of the gases and the oceans, carbon dioxide with little oxygen, the Mars and Venus comparison, and how carbon dioxide dissolved into carbonate sediments.Open →
- How oxygen increased and carbon dioxide decreasedPhotosynthesis by algae and plants as the source of atmospheric oxygen, its word and balanced equations, when oxygen first appeared and why animals evolved later, how carbon dioxide fell through photosynthesis and the formation of sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels, and how limestone, coal, crude oil and natural gas formed.Open →
- The gases in today's atmosphere, and which are greenhouse gasesThe composition of the atmosphere over the last 200 million years, about 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen with small proportions of carbon dioxide, water vapour and noble gases, the greenhouse gases and why they matter for life, and how the greenhouse effect traps long wavelength radiation.Open →
- Human activities which contribute to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphereHuman activities that increase carbon dioxide and methane, including burning fossil fuels, deforestation, cattle farming, rice growing and landfill, the peer-reviewed conclusion that they cause climate change, why peer review matters, uncertainty in simplified climate models, judging and communicating evidence, and why ethical questions about climate action divide people who accept the same evidence.Open →
- Global climate change and carbon footprintsRising average global temperature and how more greenhouse gases cause it, potential effects on sea levels, extreme weather, rainfall and wild species, what a carbon footprint is and how it is reduced, carbon capture and storage, cutting methane emissions, and why action may be limited.Open →
- Atmospheric pollutants from fuels, and their effectsCombustion of fuels as a major source of pollutants, the products of complete combustion, how carbon monoxide, soot, sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen form, the toxicity of carbon monoxide, acid rain and respiratory problems, global dimming and lung damage from particulates, and weighing hazards against benefits and perceived against measured risk.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
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Explain where the pollutants from burning a fuel come from and how carbon monoxide, soot and sulfur dioxide are each produced.
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Explain how deforestation, landfill sites and cattle farming each add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Process
Which process produced the oxygen that is now in the atmosphere?
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Name three kinds of gas that are present in the atmosphere only in small proportions.
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What is a major cause of climate change?
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Why is the evidence about the Earth's early atmosphere so limited?
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State the word equation for photosynthesis.
Numbers
A sample of air has a volume of 500 cm³. Calculate the approximate volume of oxygen it contains.
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What effect have human activities had on the amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere?
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Explain how increasing greenhouse gases leads to climate change.
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What is a major source of atmospheric pollutants?
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Why can scientists not be certain which account of the early atmosphere is correct?
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State the balanced symbol equation for photosynthesis.
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Name three greenhouse gases.
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Which two greenhouse gases are increased by human activity?
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What two things should be weighed up when judging how serious a predicted effect of climate change is?
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Which elements are present in most fuels, including coal?
Take Chemistry of the Atmosphere further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Carbon monoxide vs Carbon dioxide
Carbon monoxide: a toxic gas from incomplete combustion that stops blood carrying oxygen. Carbon dioxide: the greenhouse gas formed when a fuel burns completely.
Sulfur dioxide vs Oxides of nitrogen
Sulfur dioxide: acid rain gas formed from impurities in the fuel as it burns. Oxides of nitrogen: acid rain gases formed when air reacts inside a hot engine.
Greenhouse effect vs Global dimming
Greenhouse effect: surface warming as gases absorb and re-radiate long wavelength radiation. Global dimming: less sunlight reaching the surface because particulates reflect it into space.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Why is the evidence about the Earth's early atmosphere so limited?
Model answer
The Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago, so almost no direct evidence of the conditions then has survived.
- 2
What has happened to scientific ideas about how the early atmosphere formed?
Model answer
They have changed and developed over time as new evidence and new interpretations have appeared.
- 3
Roughly how long ago did the Earth form?
Model answer
About 4.6 billion years ago.
- 4
Why can scientists not be certain which account of the early atmosphere is correct?
Model answer
The evidence is limited and indirect, so more than one theory can fit what is known.
- 5
What is thought to have released the gases that made up the Earth's early atmosphere?
Model answer
Intense volcanic activity during the first billion years of the Earth's existence.
- 6
How are the oceans thought to have formed?
Model answer
Water vapour released by volcanoes cooled and condensed to liquid water.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Chemistry of the Atmosphere revision questions
- What does Chemistry of the Atmosphere cover in AQA GCSE Chemistry?
- 6 subtopics: the earth's early atmosphere, how oxygen increased and carbon dioxide decreased, the gases in today's atmosphere, and which are greenhouse gases, human activities which contribute to an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, global climate change and carbon footprints and atmospheric pollutants from fuels, and their effects. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Chemistry of the Atmosphere organised?
- By the AQA 8462 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Chemistry of the Atmosphere, 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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