AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462), Higher tier · Using resources › Using materials
Practise Ceramics, polymers and composites. 12 exam-style questions on this subtopic, at up to four difficulty levels, with full mark schemes and a progress tracker. Free, no account needed.
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Soda-lime glass is made by heating a mixture of sand, sodium carbonate and one other substance. Name the other substance.
limestone
Sample questions
Written for this site in the style of AQA exam questions. They are not taken from real past papers.
Question 1Easy4 marks
(a) Soda-lime glass is made by heating a mixture of sand, sodium carbonate and one other substance. Name the other substance.[1]
(b) Describe how clay ceramics are made.[2]
(c) Give one example of a clay ceramic.[1]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)Answer: limestone
limestone / calcium carbonate
(b)
wet clay is shaped
and then heated in a furnace
(c)
pottery / bricks / tiles
Question 2Medium6 marks
Polymers can be thermosoftening or thermosetting.
(a) Explain the difference between thermosoftening polymers and thermosetting polymers. Refer to their structures and what happens when they are heated.[4]
(b) Which type of polymer should be used to make a saucepan handle? Give a reason for your answer.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
thermosoftening polymers are made of individual polymer chains (with weak intermolecular forces between them)
when heated the chains can slide over each other, so the polymer softens / melts
thermosetting polymers have cross-links (covalent bonds) between the chains
so they do not melt when heated
(b)
thermosetting
it does not soften / melt when heated
Question 3Hard6 marks
A student heated samples of two polymers, X and Y.
X softened at 120 °C and could be reshaped. It set hard again when it cooled.
Y did not soften. At 300 °C it began to char.
(a) Identify which polymer is thermosetting. Explain your answer in terms of structure.[3]
(b) Suggest why polymer X can be recycled by melting and remoulding, but polymer Y cannot.[1]
(c) LD poly(ethene) is made at about 200 °C and 2000 atmospheres. HD poly(ethene) is made at about 60 °C and a few atmospheres, using a catalyst. Use this information to explain how the properties of a polymer depend on how it is made.[2]
Show the answer and mark scheme
(a)
Y
Y has cross-links / covalent bonds between the polymer chains
so the chains cannot slide over each other / move apart when heated, so it does not soften
(b)
X melts / softens when heated so it can be reshaped, but Y does not melt (so it cannot be reshaped)
(c)
the same monomer (ethene) gives polymers with different properties / densities
because different conditions (temperature, pressure, catalyst) produce different chain structures (e.g. more or less branching)