2000-CE

HONG KONG EXAMINATIONS AUTHORITY

CHEM
PAPER 1 HONG KONG CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION EXAMINATION 2000

CHEMISTRY PAPER 1

8.30 am – 10.00 am (1½ hours)

This paper must be answered in English

1. There are TWO sections in this paper, Section A and Section B.

2. Answer ALL questions in Section A and any THREE questions in

Section B.

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2000-CE-CHEM 1–1
Section A (Answer ALL questions.)

1. Six compounds are classified into two groups as shown in the table below :

Gas Solid
ammonia iron(III) oxide
carbon dioxide magnesium oxide
nitrogen dioxide potassium oxide

Reclassify these compounds into two groups according to

(a) one of their physical properties, and

(b) one of their chemical properties.

(4 marks)

2. The table below lists some information about four elements, W, X, Y and Z :

Element Atomic number Relative atomic mass

W 16 32.1
X 18 39.9
Y 19 39.1
Z 20 40.1

(a) What is the meaning of the term ‘relative atomic mass’ ?

(b) State, with explanation, which of the above elements

(i) should be stored under paraffin oil.

(ii) is used to fill a light bulb.

(iii) forms an oxide which dissolves in water to give a solution

with pH less than 7.
(8 marks)

2000-CE-CHEM 1–2 –1–

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3. Consider the following materials :

aluminium, bronze, copper, lead, mild steel and titanium

For each of the tasks listed below, choose the ONE material which is best to
accomplish the task. Explain your choice in each case.

(a) making electrical wiring

(b) making overhead high voltage cables

(c) making ship propellers

(6 marks)

For questions 4 and 5, candidates are required to give

paragraph-length answers. 3 of the marks for each of
these two questions will be awarded for effective
communication of knowledge in Chemistry.

4. The mass of a sample of copper powder contaminated with copper(II) oxide

is known. Describe how you would conduct an experiment to determine the
percentage by mass of copper powder in the sample. State the expected
observation of the experiment.

(Hint : You may use an acid in the experiment.)

(9 marks)

5. Describe the actions of food preservatives. Illustrate your answer with

appropriate examples.
(9 marks)

End of Section A

2000-CE-CHEM 1–3 –2– Go on to the next page

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Section B (Answer any THREE questions.)

6. (a) The flow diagram below shows the stages involved in the
extraction of zinc from zinc blende, ZnS.

Stage I
zinc blende zinc oxide
roasting

Stage II

Stage III
zinc zinc sulphate
electrolysis
solution

(i) The reaction in Stage I gives, apart from zinc oxide, a

gaseous product.

(1) Write the chemical equation for the reaction.

(2) Give ONE industrial use of the gaseous product.

(ii) Suggest how zinc oxide can be converted to zinc sulphate

solution in Stage II.

(iii) The zinc sulphate solution obtained contains ions of other

metals. During the electrolysis in Stage III, zinc metal is
liberated at one of the electrodes.

(1) Suggest ONE way to remove ions of metals

which are less reactive than zinc from the zinc
sulphate solution before electrolysis.

(2) Why is it not necessary to remove ions of metals

which are more reactive than zinc from the
solution ?

(3) Write half equations for the reactions occurring

at the anode and cathode during the electrolysis.

(iv) Give ONE use of zinc in daily life.

(8 marks)

2000-CE-CHEM 1–4 –3–

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6. (b) In Hong Kong, the supply of fresh water mainly comes from Dong
Jiang (東江). After some preliminary treatment of the river water
in the water treatment plants, chlorine and calcium hydroxide are
successively added.

(i) Why are the following substances added to the river

water ?

(1) chlorine

(2) calcium hydroxide

(ii) Chlorine can react with organic matter present in the river
water to give trichloromethane which is harmful to human
beings.

(1) Draw the structure of trichloromethane.

(2) Why is trichloromethane harmful to human

beings ?

(3) Suggest ONE preventive measure to reduce the

amount of organic matter in the river water.
(5 marks)

(c) Explain the following statements :

(i) In cold weather, a person trying to warm up a room with a

coal fire soon gets dizzy.

(ii) Detergents can be used to clean up oil spillage in the sea.

(5 marks)

2000-CE-CHEM 1–5 –4– Go on to the next page

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7. (a) The sour taste of citrus fruits is mainly due to citric acid which is a
weak acid with the following structure :

CH2CO2H

HO C CO2H

CH2CO2H

(i) What is the meaning of the term ‘weak acid’ ?

(ii) Given that citric acid is a tribasic acid, write a chemical

equation for the complete neutralization of citric acid by
sodium hydroxide solution.

(iii) In a titration experiment to determine the concentration of

citric acid in orange juice, 25.0 cm3 of a sample of orange
juice required 10.0 cm3 of 0.30 M sodium hydroxide
solution to reach the end-point, at which the citric acid had
been completely neutralized.

(1) Given that the relative molecular mass of citric

acid is 192, calculate the concentration of citric
acid, in g dm–3, in the sample of orange juice.

(2) State ONE assumption in your calculation in (1).

(3) Given the following materials and apparatus,

briefly describe how a 0.30 M sodium hydroxide
solution can be prepared.

1.20 M sodium hydroxide solution

distilled water
25.0 cm3 pipette
50.0 cm3 volumetric flask, 100.0 cm3 volumetric
flask and 250.0 cm3 volumetric flask (Only one of
these flasks should be used.)
(10 marks)

2000-CE-CHEM 1–6 –5–

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7. (b) Polystyrene can be prepared in the laboratory by heating a mixture
of styrene and kerosene under reflux.

(i) Draw a labelled diagram of the set-up used for heating the
mixture under reflux.

(ii) Suggest ONE safety precaution that should be taken when

heating the mixture. Explain your answer.

(iii) Styrene has the following structure :

C6H5CH=CH2

(1) What characteristic in the structure of styrene

enables it to act as a monomer ?

(2) Write the chemical equation for the

polymerization.

(iv) Disposable lunch boxes are commonly made of expanded

polystyrene.

(1) Suggest ONE reason why polystyrene should be

expanded before it is used to make disposable
lunch boxes.

(2) State whether you agree with the following

statement. Explain your answer.

‘Landfilling is better than incineration for the

disposal of polystyrene wastes.’

(8 marks)

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8. (a) Crude oil is a mixture consisting mainly of alkanes. Fractional
distillation of crude oil gives different petroleum fractions. The
table below lists the length of carbon chain of the alkanes in some
of the fractions.

Fraction Length of carbon chain

petrol/naphtha C5 – C10

kerosene C11 – C18

diesel C18 – C25

X C20 – C34

(i) Describe the principle underlying the fractional distillation

of crude oil.

(ii) (1) Explain why the global demand for petrol is

greater than that for kerosene.

(2) Cracking kerosene can produce petrol. State the

conditions required for the cracking process.

(iii) In Hong Kong, naphtha instead of coal is used to

manufacture town gas.

(1) State ONE advantage of using naphtha instead of

coal to manufacture town gas.
(You are NOT required to consider the price of
the materials.)

(2) Explain why an additive with a foul smell is

added to town gas before it is delivered to the
consumers.

(iv) Give ONE use of fraction X in cars.

(9 marks)

2000-CE-CHEM 1–8 –7–

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8. (b) In some countries, ‘gasohol’ (a mixture of petrol and ethanol) is
used as fuel for cars.

(i) Explain why burning gasohol causes less air pollution

than burning petrol.

(ii) Ethanol can be manufactured from a petroleum product.

Name the manufacturing process and write the chemical
equation for the reaction involved.

(iii) Ethanol can also be manufactured by another process.

Name this process.

(iv) Of the two processes you have mentioned in (ii) and (iii),
which one is better for the manufacture of ethanol in
gasohol ? Explain your answer.
(5 marks)

(c) State whether each of the following statements is true or false.

Explain your answer in each case.

(i) The melting point of sodium chloride is much higher than

that of methane because the ionic bonding in sodium
chloride is much stronger than the covalent bonding in
methane.

(ii) When concentrated sulphuric acid is diluted, water should

be added slowly to the acid.
(4 marks)

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9. (a) X, Y and Z are three different metals. The table below shows the
results of two experiments carried out using the metals or their
oxides.

Experiment X Y Z
Adding the effervescence no observable no observable
metal to water change change
Heating the no observable metal produced no observable
metal oxide change change

(i) Based on the above information, arrange the three metals

in order of increasing reactivity. Explain your answer.

(ii) An oxide of Y has the formula YO. When 1.08 g of this

oxide is heated strongly, it decomposes completely to give
60.0 cm3 of oxygen, measured at room temperature and
pressure. Calculate the relative atomic mass of Y.

(Relative atomic mass : O = 16.0;

molar volume of gas at room temperature and pressure = 24.0 dm3)

(6 marks)

2000-CE-CHEM 1–10 –9–

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9. (b) Carbon dioxide constitutes about 0.03% of the atmosphere. Over
millions of years, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere has remained almost constant because of a number of
processes.

(i) Suggest ONE process by which carbon dioxide is added

to the atmosphere.

(ii) Suggest ONE process by which carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere is consumed.

(iii) Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases in the

atmosphere.

(1) Explain why carbon dioxide can cause the

greenhouse effect.

(2) State the importance of the greenhouse gases in

the atmosphere to living things on earth.

(3) Increasing the concentration of the greenhouse

gases in the atmosphere leads to global warming.
State ONE harmful effect of global warming.
(6 marks)

(This question is continued on the next page.)

2000-CE-CHEM 1–11 – 10 – Go on to the next page

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9. (c) Nitrogen constitutes about 78% of the atmosphere. The flow
diagram below shows the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to
plant proteins.

atmospheric nitrates plant

nitrogen in soil proteins

(i) Draw the electronic diagram for a molecule of nitrogen,

showing electrons in the outermost shells only.

(ii) Describe ONE process by which atmospheric nitrogen can

be converted to nitrates in soil.

(iii) When plants are eaten by animals, the plant proteins are
transformed into animal proteins. State ONE way by
which the nitrogen in animal proteins can return to soil.
(4 marks)

(d) Fritz Haber, a German chemist, discovered the transformation of

atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia which can be used to produce
nitrogenous fertilizers and explosives. He also managed to
successfully use chlorine and mustard gas as chemical weapons. In
1918, when he was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry, several
other Nobel Prize winners refused to accept their awards because
of Haber’s involvement.

State whether or not you agree that Haber’s inventions contributed

to the well-being of the world. Explain your answer.
(2 marks)

END OF PAPER

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2000

Chemistry 1

Section B

7. (a) (iii) (1) 7.68

9. (a) (ii) 200

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