C1.2 Limestone and Building Materials Flashcards
Which compound does limestone mainly consist of?
Calcium Carbonate
CaCO3.
What are the word and symbol equations for the thermal decomposition of calcium carbonate?
Calcium Carbonate -> Calcium Oxide + Carbon Dioxide
CaCO3 -> CaO + CO2
What are the products of the reaction between a metal carbonate and an acid?
A metal salt, carbon dioxide and water.
When calcium carbonate reacts with sulfuric acid, which salt is produced?
Calcium Sulfate
CaSO4
Which compound reacts with water to form calcium hydroxide?
Calcium Oxide
Describe how calcium hydroxide can be used to test for carbon dioxide. Include the symbol equation for the reaction involved.
If you make a solution of calcium hydroxide in water (limewater) and bubble gas through it, the solution will turn cloudy if there’s carbon dioxide in the gas. This is because the carbon dioxide reacts with the calcium hydroxide in the solution to form a precipitate of calcium carbonate.
Ca(OH)2 + CO2 -> CaCO3 + H2O
Write a word equation for the thermal decomposition of zinc carbonate.
Zinc Carbonate -> Zinc Oxide + Carbon Dioxide
What salt is produced when magnesium carbonate reacts with hydrochloric acid? Write the symbol equation for this reaction
Magnesium Chloride
MgCO3 + 2HCl -> MgCl2 + CO2 + H2O
What is thermal decomposition?
Breaking down a substance chemically with heat.
Describe how you can make cement.
Heat powdered limestone in a kiln with clay.
Describe how you can make mortar.
Add water and sand to cement.
Describe how you can make concrete.
Add sand, water and aggregate to cement.
What is a rotary lime kiln?
The furnace used to heat lots of calcium carbonate and turn it into calcium oxide.
Limestone can be used as a building material. Give two other uses of limestone.
Limestone is used to make dyes, paints and medicines.
Limestone can be used in power station chimneys to neutralise sulfur dioxide
Give five problems associated with quarrying limestone.
Noise pollution.
Dust from the site can cause health problems for the local people.
Destroy habitats of animals and birds.
Quarries cause increased traffic due to lorries and which causes more air pollution.
Quarrying makes big ugly holes in the landscape.
Describe three ways in which a quarry can benefit the local area.
Increase jobs and bring more money into the local economy.
This can lead to local improvements in transport, roads, recreational facilities and health, which local people can benefit from.
The quarry can be filled in to make a lake, landfill site or shopping centre.
Give two drawbacks of using concrete as a building material.
Concrete is unattractive as a building material. Concrete has low tensile strength and can crack.
By what method is limestone extracted from the ground?
Quarrying.
Give three benefits of using concrete cement and limestone as building materials.
They are cheap building materials. They don’t rot when wet. They are fire resistant, They are corrosion resistant
Name the two reactants involved in the formation of calcium hydroxide. Write the symbol equation for this reaction.
Calcium oxide and water.
CaO + H2O -> Ca(OH)2
Calcium hydroxide can be dissolved in water to form a solution. What is the common name for this solution?
Limewater.
What is the common name for calcium hydroxide?
Slaked lime.
A solution of calcium hydroxide can be used to test for the presence of carbon dioxide. If carbon dioxide was bubbled through the solution, what would you expect to see?
The solution of calcium hydroxide would go cloudy. This is due to a precipitate of calcium carbonate being formed.
Why do building made from limestone suffer from damage by acid rain?
Because calcium carbonate will react with the acid to form calcium sulfate.
