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CHEMISTRY GCSE > Fuels & Earth Science P2 > Flashcards

Fuels & Earth Science P2 Flashcards

1
Q

What are hydrocarbons?

A

Compounds that contain hydrogen and carbon atoms only

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2
Q

What is crude oil?

A
  • A complex mixture of hydrocarbons
  • Contains molecules with rings/chains of carbon atoms
  • An important source of useful substances like fuels for the petrochemical industry
  • A finite resource
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3
Q

Where can crude oil be found?

A

Under the sea and ground

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4
Q

What does it mean when crude oil is described as ‘finite’?

A

It will run out

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5
Q

How can crude oil be separated?

A

Fractional distillation

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6
Q

How does the process of fractional distillation work to separate crude oil?

A
  1. Crude oil is vaporised before entering fractionating column
  2. The fractionating column is hotter at the bottom than top.
  3. Vapours rise up and condense at different fractions depending on boiling point
  4. Hydrocarbons with low boiling points will be tapped off the top of the column and hydrocarbons with high boiling points will be tapped off at the bottom
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7
Q

Why is crude oil separated?

A

Unseparated crude oil isn’t useful but the separated products (e.g petrol) are very useful

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8
Q

Uses or refinery gas?

A

Heating and cooking

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9
Q

Which fraction of crude oil is used as fuel in cars?

A

Petrol (gasoline)
Diesel

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10
Q

What is the use of kerosene (fraction of crude oil)

A

Aircraft fuel

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11
Q

Which fraction of crude oil is used for road surfacing?

A

Bitumen

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12
Q

What is fuel oil used for (fraction of crude oil)?

A

Large ships and power stations

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13
Q

How do the hydrocarbons at each fraction differ?

A
  • Boiling points
  • Ease of ignition
  • Viscosity
  • Number of hydrogen and carbon atoms their molecules have
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14
Q

Where in the fractions g column do hydrocarbons with the highest viscosity condense?

A

Highest viscosity (like bitumen) are collected at the bottom

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15
Q

Properties of hydrocarbons tapped at the top of fractioning column?
(Like petrol and refinery gas)

A
  • low boiling point
  • highly volatile
  • easily ignited
  • shorter carbon chains
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16
Q

What is a homologous series?

A
  • Have the same general formula
  • Have similar chemical properties
  • Differ by CH2 in molecular formula form neighbouring molecules.
  • Slight variation in physical properties
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17
Q

Which homologous series does most products of crude oil belong to?

A

Alkane homologous series

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18
Q

What are the only products when a hydrocarbon fuel undergoes complete combustion?

A

Water and carbon dioxide

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19
Q

What type of reaction is a complete combustion reaction?

A

Exothermic ( energy is given out)

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20
Q

When does incomplete combustion occur?

A
  • Insufficient supply of oxygen
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21
Q

What is needed for a complete combustion of oxygen?

A

Excess oxygen

22
Q

What are the products of incomplete combustion?

A
  • Carbon particulates- soot (C)
  • Carbon monoxide- (CO)
  • Water
23
Q

What are the problems with carbon monoxide?

A

Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas
It is colourless and odourless and if inhales it can cause death by preventing the red blood cells from carrying oxygen

24
Q

What are the problems with incomplete combustion?

A
  • Produces the toxic carbon monoxide
  • Produces carbon particles which causes global dimming and respiratory problems
25
Why is sulfur dioxide sometimes produced when burning hydrocarbon fuels?
Some hydrocarbon fuels contain sulfur impurities. When the fuel is burned, the sulfur reacts with oxygen to form sulfur dioxide
26
How is acid rain produced?
Sulfur dioxide (produced when combusting impure hydrocarbon fuels] evaporates into the air. It reacts with water in the clouds to from sulfuric acid.
27
What problems can acid rain cause?
- Corrodes building and statues made of limestone - Kills/damages the vegetation - Lowers the pH of water killing wildlife
28
How are oxides of nitrogen produced from car engines?
High temp and pressure of a car engine causes nitrogen and oxygen from the air to react together
29
What problems are associated with oxides of nitrogen?
- Pollutants - Produce acid rain with similar effects as SO2 - Cause respiratory problems
30
What are the advantages of using hydrogen as a fuel in cars?
- It releases more energy per kg compared to other fuels - Water is the only product so no pollutants - Renewable source as hydrogen can be extracted from water
31
What are the disadvantages of using hydrogen as a fuel in cars?
-It is expensive to produce and a lot of energy is required for the electrolysis of water to acquire the hydrogen - Fifficult and dangerous to store hydrogen because it is very volatile and easily ignites
32
Name the non-renewable fossil fuel found in natural gas
Methane
33
Are petrol, kerosene and diesel renewable?
No, they are finite resources which are not being readily replaced
34
What is cracking?
Breaking down large hydrocarbons into smaller more useful ones. Saturated alkanes are cracked into shorter chain alkanes and short chain unsaturated alkenes.
35
What does saturated mean?
only contains single bonds
36
What does unsaturated mean?
Contains some C=C double bonds
37
What type of reaction is cracking?
Thermal decomposition
38
Why is cracking necessary?
The demand for shorter chain alkenes and alkanes is much greater than the demand for long chain alkanes
39
What produced the gases that formed Earth’s early atmosphere?
Volcanic activity
40
Describe how Earth’s early atmosphere formed
- Initially, the Earth’s surface was molten with no atmosphere - Cooling caused land masses to solidify - Volcanoes formed on the land and released gases which formed the early atmosphere.
41
What did the Earth’s early atmosphere contain?
- Little or no oxygen - Large amount of carbon dioxide - Water vapour - Small amounts of other gases
42
How did oceans initially form?
Condensation of water vapour
43
How did the amount of carbon dioxide decrease after oceans formed?
Carbon dioxide dissolved into the oceans so the amount of carbon dioxide int the atmosphere decreased.
44
How did the mount of oxygen in the early Earth’s atmosphere increase?
The growth of early plants used carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and released oxygen. This increased the amount of oxygen and decreased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
45
What is the chemical test for oxygen?
Insert a glowing splint into a test tube of gas. If oxygen is present, the splint will ignite.
46
What are the greenhouse gases?
Various gases in the atmosphere (such as carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour) that absorb the heat radiated from the Earth.
47
What is the greenhouse effect?
- Electromagnetic radiation from the sun passes through the Earth’s atmosphere. - The Earth absorbs some radiation and warms up. - Heat is radiated from the Earth as infrared radiation - Some of the infrared radiation is absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which warms the atmosphere.
48
How has human activity increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration?
- Burning fossil fuels for energy releases carbon dioxide. - Deforestation reduces the amount of photosynthesis occurring so less carbon dioxide is converted to oxygen.
49
What is the current composition of the Earth’s atmosphere?
Nitrogen-78% Oxygen-21% Argon-0.93% Carbon-0.04%
50
What are the effects of global warming?
- Melting of polar ice caps - Difficulties acquiring drinking water. - Flooding - Forest fires - Destruction of ecosystems
51
How has human activity increased the amount of methane in the atmosphere?
- Raising livestock such as cows - Decay of organic waste in landfill sites
52
How can the effects of global warming be mitigated?
-Construct flood defences in areas of low lying land. - Use of irrigation systems to provide water in drought - Produce alternative crops which are better adapted to the new environment

CHEMISTRY GCSE (5 decks)

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