Grade 12 prelim – paper 2 – chemistry P a g e | 1 of 17

PHYSICAL SCIENCE
PRELIM – PAPER 2 – CHEMISTRY
AUGUST 2021
MARKS: 200 TIME: 3 HOURS
EXAMINER: C. ORCHISON MODERATOR: D. GINSBURG

INSTRUCTIONS AND INFORMATION

1. This question paper consists of 17 pages with 9 questions

2. A data sheet is provided

3. Answer the multiple choice and the indicated questions on the answer sheet.

4. You may use a non-programmable calculator and appropriate mathematical instruments.

5. Number the answers correctly according to the numbering system used in this question
paper

6. Use mark allocation as a guide to the maximum time you

should spend on a question.

7. May the moles be ever in your favour ☺

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QUESTION 1
1.1 In which of the following options have the substances been correctly ranked in order of
decreasing intermolecular force strength?
A diamond, KCl, H2O, Br2 B graphite, NH3, NaCl, Cl2
C I2, HF, KI, SiO2 D H2O, CO2, LiF, F2

1.2 Carbon dioxide gas is produced according to the following reaction:

2HCl + Na2CO3 → 2NaCl + H2O + CO2
The graph below shows the volume of gas produced as a function of time.

What mass of Na2CO3 must have been added to excess HCl at STP to produce the
volume of gas indicated at 40 seconds
A 0,21 g B 4,35 g C 2,17 g D 20,54 g

1.3 The graph for an endothermic reaction is shown below:

Which of the following stresses occurred at 7,5 seconds?

A an increase in temperature favouring the reverse reaction
B a decrease in temperature favouring the reverse reaction
C an increase in temperature favouring the forward reaction
D a decrease in temperature favouring the forward reaction
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1.4 Consider the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution curve shown below and the statements
regarding the graph that follow:

I – temperature T2 is lower than temperature T3

II – the reaction is able to proceed at all temperatures
III – there are more particles taking place in the reaction at temperature T1
Which of the statements are correct?
A I and II B I and III C II only D I only

1.5 Which of the following substances is not considered to be amphiprotic?

A H2O B HCO3 - C HSO4 - D OH -

1.6 Consider the following reaction:

H2Se(g) + 4O2F2 → SeF6(g) + 2HF(g) + 4O2(g)
Which of the statements below is true for the reaction as written?
A the oxidation number of O does not change
B the oxidation number of H changes from -1 to +1
C the oxidation number of F changes from +1 to -1
D the oxidation number of Se changes from -2 to +6

1.7 Which of the following reactions will occur spontaneously ?

A Cu(s) + Pb2+(aq) → Cu(s) + Pb(s)
B Pb2+(aq) + H2(g) → Pb(s) + 2H+(aq)
C Cr(s) + Pb2+(aq) → Pb(s) + Cr3+(aq)
D Pb(s) + Cr3+(aq) → Cr2+(aq) + Pb2+(aq)
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1.8 The electrolytic cells below represents the purification of copper. The graphs are two
options of how to show the change in mass of the electrodes as the reaction proceeds:

(i) (ii)

Which letter correctly identifies both the graph that matches the change in mass
and gives the correct equation for the reaction taking place at electrode P?
A (i) ; Cu2+ + 2e- → Cu B (ii) ; Cu → Cu2+ + 2e-
C (i) ; Cu → Cu2+ + 2e- D (ii) ; Cu2+ + 2e- → Cu

1.9 The following molecule undergoes thermal cracking:

Which correctly gives the possible products of this reaction?

A pentane, prop-1-ene and eth-1-ene
B hexane and butane
C non-1-ene and methane
D pentane, propane and eth-1-ene

1.10 Which of the statements regarding the two molecules show below is/are correct?

(i) (ii)

I – the IUPAC name of molecule (ii) is penta-1,2,4-triol

II – the IUPAC name of molecule (i) is 2-bromo-4,5-dimethylhexane
III – molecule (i) could be formed in the test for saturation using Br2(l)
A I and III B II and III C I and II D III only
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Grade 12 prelim – paper 2 – chemistry P a g e | 5 of 17

QUESTION 2
Tanjiro and Nezuko are on quest through Japan to find the poison extracted from wisteria flowers
as a cure for Nezuko’s demon curse. They aren’t having much luck though, but they have come
across a number of other chemicals and toxins on their travels.
They gather samples of:

HCN(aq) C11H17N3O8(s) NaCN(s) HCl(aq) CCl4(l)

2.1 Define electronegativity. (1)

2.2 Which of the substances above do not contain polar intramolecular bonds. (1)
2.3 Draw the Lewis diagram for the HCN (hydrogen cyanide) molecule. (2)
2.4 Define intermolecular forces. (1)
2.5 Identify the intermolecular forces present in :
2.5.1 CCl4 2.5.2 HCl (2)

Tanjiro explains that tetrodotoxin (C11H17N3O8) is the lethal poison

found in pufferfish and is 1200 times more toxic than cyanide. He draws
its molecular structure, as shown alongside:
2.6 Identify the type of intermolecular force present in tetrodotoxin. (1)
2.7 State two characteristics that atoms must have in order for the type of intermolecular
force you identified in 2.6 above to take place. (2)
2.8 Which substance from the list would tetrodotoxin not dissolve in? (1)
2.9 Explain why NaCN is able to conduct electricity when dissolved in water. (1)

Nezuko thinks that chloroalkanes might hold the key to her freedom, so she researches the
boiling points of the first four chloroalkanes and tabulates her findings:
Chloroalkane Boiling point (0C)
1-chloromethane -28,8
1-chloroethane 13,1
1-chloropropane 46,6
1-chlorobutane 78,4

2.10 Plot a graph of boiling point versus increasing molecular mass of chloroalkanes on
your answer sheet from the data in the table and include a line of best fit. (7)
2.11 Explain the reason for the trend that Nezuko observed from these results. (2)

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Grade 12 prelim – paper 2 – chemistry P a g e | 6 of 17

QUESTION 3
Rick notices that the colour of his blue hair is fading due to
stress. Morty, who wants to help his eccentric grandfather,
knows that copper 2+ ions are blue in colour and sees a
bottle of copper (II) sulphate on the shelf in the lab. Before
he simply pours it over his grandfather’s head, he wants to
determine the concentration of the solution. He does this by
reacting it with barium nitrate to form a barium sulphate
precipitate and aqueous copper (II) nitrate. He adds 3 g of
barium nitrate to 50 cm3 of the copper (II) sulphate solution
and tabulates the following results:

3.1 Write a balanced chemical equation for the reaction. (3)

3.2 Define solvent. (1)
3.3 Identify the solvent in Morty’s reaction. (1)
3.4 Calculate the moles of precipitate formed. (3)
3.5 When calculating the percentage yield of his experiment, Morty determines it to
only be 80%. Calculate the mass of precipitate that should have been formed. (2)
3.6 Calculate the concentration of the copper (II) sulphate solution based on the
theoretical moles. (4)
3.7 Determine the excess moles of barium nitrate using the theoretical moles. (3)

Morty then decides that purple might be a nice change, and so he investigates the reaction shown
below to produce purple iodine using purple potassium permanganate:

10 HI + 2 KMnO4 + 3 H2SO4 → 5 I2 + 2 MnSO4 + 2 K2SO4 + 8 H2O

3.8 100 g of iodine is produced from an impure 100 g sample of KMnO4 with all other
reagents in excess. Calculate the percentage purity of the KMnO4 sample that
Morty started with. (5)

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Grade 12 prelim – paper 2 – chemistry P a g e | 7 of 17

QUESTION 4
Captain Jack Sparrow has had a
revelation about his cold hands and
instead of looting and wreaking havoc
across the seas with the most useless
gloves ever, he would like to retire and
start a little business manufacturing hand
warmers, using his questionable
knowledge of chemistry reaction rates.
The reaction that generates the heat in disposable hand warmers is given
below:

4Fe(s) + 3O2(g) → 2Fe2O3(s) ΔH = - 1650 kJ.mol-1.

Captain Jack has access to plenty of iron, so his first option to produce
sufficient pure oxygen is to break down ozone (O3) from the earth’s upper
atmosphere by introducing more chlorine radicals which are produced by CFCs. (A radical is a
single atom with an unpaired electron making it very reactive! It is denoted as Cl where the dot
represents the unpaired electron). This chlorine radical acts as a catalyst and one chlorine radical
repeats the cycle of destruction many times leading to the breakdown of a vast amount of ozone.
Oxygen radicals are also naturally present in the upper atmosphere due to UV photons breaking
apart oxygen molecules.
The reactions for the breakdown of ozone using the chlorine radicals are given as follows:

Cl + O3 → ClO + O2 step 1
ClO + O → Cl + O2 step 2
O + O3 → 2O2 ΔH = - 138 kJ overall reaction

4.1 Define catalyst. (1)

4.2 Explain how you can tell that the chlorine radical is a catalyst in this reaction. (1)
4.3 State the effect that increasing the temperature would have on the rate of the
overall reaction. Simply write INCREASE, DECREASE, or NO EFFECT. (1)
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Since he will no longer be engaged in warfare, his second plan is to decompose his stash of rocket
fuel, N2O(g), in order to make even more oxygen gas.

The reaction is as follows: 2N2O(g) ⇌ 2N2(g) + O2(g) ΔH > 0

He experiments with various catalysts and tabulates his findings:

Ea (k.J.mol-1)
Without a catalyst 245
With a gold catalyst 121
With an iron catalyst 116
With a platinum catalyst 135

4.4 Using the reaction as written and the specific values given in the table, draw an
energy profile graph on your answer sheet of the reaction when the most effective
catalyst has been added. (5)

Will Turner is monitoring the reaction and sketches the following graph:

Will, however, is not to be trusted and his graph is incorrect.

4.5 State two errors that are present in Will’s graph. (2)
4.6 Calculate the average rate of the reaction during the first 100 seconds with respect
to N2(g). Ensure you give suitable units. (3)
4.7 Explain what is meant by collision theory. (2)
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4.8 Will wants to save money and so decreases the pressure on the system. Explain
the effect that this change will have on the yield of oxygen gas. (2)
4.9 Now that they have sufficient oxygen to work with, Jack Sparrow tells Jack the
monkey to grind up the iron into powder form because the reaction will happen
quicker. The monkey however, reasons that simply adding more of the solid iron
will have the same effect since the iron concentration will be increased. Explain
fully whether or not the monkey is correct. (3)

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QUESTION 5
Instead of just using their talents for corporate espionage, Cobbs
and the team decide to try to go back in time to 1914 to the start of
World War I. The plan is to infiltrate the exceptional mind of Fritz
Haber, who developed the Haber process which is essential for the
production of ammonia and thus fertilizers. Unfortunately, his
development and weaponization of chlorine and other poisonous
gases earned him the title of “the father of chemical warfare” and
these toxins led to the deaths of 1,3 million people in World War I
alone.
Cobbs finds himself inside the mind of Haber as he is perfecting the
Haber process and sees that he has scribbled the following graph :
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5.1 State Le Chatelier’s principle. (1)

5.2 Explain the change that occurred at time t=1. (3)
5.3 Would the graph have the same shape between t=1 and t=2 if the same change was
made, but the graph was a mol-time graph instead of a concentration-time graph?
Explain your answer. (2)

The change at time t=2 was documented in his notes as being a temperature change, however
the graph does not reflect that.
5.4 Explain what change the graph is showing. (2)
5.5 Complete the graph below (on your answer sheet) showing what the effect of a
decrease in temperature should look like if equilibrium is re-established at 3 minutes.
Mole ratios must be considered. (4)

Cobbs then finds the following equation in Haber’s mind:

4HCl(aq) + O2(g) ⇌ 2H2O(l) + 2Cl2(g) ΔH < 0

5.6 Write the expression for the equilibrium constant for this reaction. (2)
5.7 Calculate the value of Kc if 5 moles of HCl and 3 mol of oxygen gas are placed in a
sealed 400 cm3 container and 1 mol of Cl2(g) is present at equilibrium. (6)
5.8 Haber is thinking of ways to increase the yield of chlorine gas. State two methods that
Cobbs should implant in Haber’s mind so as to decrease the yield of chlorine gas
instead. (2)

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Grade 12 prelim – paper 2 – chemistry P a g e | 11 of 17

QUESTION 6
Fred and George Weasley are known for being
mischievous and smart in the word of Harry Potter. The
twins have turned their attention to experimenting with
ascorbic acid (which sounds very wizardy but is in fact
just vitamin C).
They add the ascorbic acid (HC6H7O6) to a beaker of
sodium hydroxide to form NaC6H7O6 as one of the
products and want to see when the equivalence point of the reaction is reached.

6.1 Ascorbic acid is a weak acid. What does that mean? (1)
6.2 Write the ionisation reaction for ascorbic acid, showing
the conjugate acid-base pairs clearly. (3)
6.3 What is meant by equivalence point? (1)
6.4 Fred says they should use alizarin yellow indicator to
determine the endpoint. George suggests bromophenol
blue instead. Which of the twins do you agree with?
Explain your answer. (2)

George sketches the following titration curve for their reaction:

6.5 In one sentence, state the mistake that George has made in his graph. (1)
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Harry and Hermione are performing their own titrations using potassium hydroxide and sulphuric
acid. They mix up a standard solution by adding 40 g of potassium hydroxide to 500 cm3 water.
6.6 Define standard solution. (1)
6.7 Determine the concentration of their standard solution. (4)

They react 15 cm3 of their standard solution with 2 mol.dm-3 sulphuric acid.
6.8 Calculate the hydroxide concentration of the sulphuric acid solution at 250C. (3)
6.9 Write the balanced equation for the reaction of the sulphuric acid and potassium
hydroxide. (3)
6.10 Calculate what volume of acid they would need to add in order for equivalence point
to be reached. (5)

Ron is testing the various reactions of metal carbonates and acids and adds a solution of lithium
carbonate to hydrochloric acid to produce bubbles.
6.11 Name the gaseous product of this reaction. (1)
6.12 Use a hydrolysis equation to show why the pH of the lithium carbonate solution
would be greater than 7. (3)

“He who shall not be named”, is busy preparing what

he deems to be a magical solution which will appear
to not change pH when a strong acid is added. He is,
however, actually just making a buffer solution. A
buffer solution is one in which the addition of a strong
acid does not increase the hydronium ion
concentration by as much as expected due to an
equilibrium being established between a weak acid
(HA) and its conjugate base (A-) in the buffer solution
according to the reaction shown below:

HA(aq) ⇌ H+(aq) + A-(aq)

6.13 Hermione always wants to have all the answers. How would she use the equation
above to explain the less-than-expected increase in hydronium ion concentration
of the solution when a strong acid is added. (2)

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QUESTION 7
When you live off the grid and down in the sewers, like Master
Splinter the rat and his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sons, you
tend to be resourceful. Master Splinter sets up a galvanic cell to
provide some battery power for the Turtles while using up the
toxic chlorine gas the evil Shredder has pumped down into the
sewer to poison them.
He connects the cell as shown below, using unknown metal X
which decreases in mass as the reaction proceeds. The emf of the cell is +1,76 V.

7.1 Define anode. (1)

7.2 Identify the cathode in the cell above. (1)
7.3 Determine the identify of metal X. (4)
7.4 Write the oxidation, reduction and net reaction for this cell. (4)
7.5 Write the cell notation for the cell. (3)
7.6 Define electrolyte. (1)
7.7 Name a suitable electrolyte for Splinter to place in the apparatus marked as Q. (1)
7.8 Give the formula of a suitable electrolyte for the cathode compartment. (1)

Michelangelo replaces metal X with some solid silver he found lying around. He also
adjusts the electrolyte solution accordingly.
7.9 Explain what effect, if any, that would have on the direction of electron flow. (2)

Raphael and Donatello were working on maintaining the pipes that run through their sewer home.
The pipes are made from iron and they have the option of attaching pieces of either aluminium or
copper to the pipes to protect them as sacrificial anodes.
7.10 Explain which metal they should choose and why. (3)

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Grade 12 prelim – paper 2 – chemistry P a g e | 14 of 17

QUESTION 8
The closest Taylor Swift has come to being even vaguely scientific was when she dated Lucas Till,
who stars as the engineering genius “MacGyver”, and got him to feature in her “You belong with
me” music video. She decides to see if Lucas really understands the chemistry of what he’s doing
on screen and presents him with the schematics of two chlor-alkali cells, Cell 1 and Cell 2:

With respect to Cell 1:

8.1 What is the energy conversion taking place in this electrolytic cell? (1)
8.2 Lucas tells Taylor that the equations for the reactions taking place in this cell that are
given in the block highlight a major feature of this method of chlorine manufacture.
Explain the important step in the Mercury Cell that Lucas is referring to. (2)
8.3 Give the equation for the reaction taking place at the anode. (1)
8.4 Give a use for the sodium hydroxide produced. (1)
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With respect to Cell 2:

8.5 Name the type of cell shown on the diagram. (1)
8.6 What is the purpose of this cell’s distinguishing feature. (1)
8.7 What is meant by brine? (1)
8.8 If a current of 10 A passes through the cell for 15 minutes, calculate the volume of
chlorine gas produced at STP. (6)
8.9 Taylor says there is a third type of cell that is being phased out in favour of Cell 2.
What is the reason the other cell is being phased out? (1)

Taylor thinks she’s getting the idea and shows Lucas the following electrolytic cell:

8.10 Taylor says that since this is also an electrolytic cell like the chlor-alkali ones which
produce chlorine, it should similarly also produce hydrogen gas and magnesium
chloride. This cell, however, produces magnesium metal whereas the chlor-alkali
cells do not produce sodium metal. Explain to Taylor why this is the case. (2)

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Grade 12 prelim – paper 2 – chemistry P a g e | 16 of 17

QUESTION 9
After the unfortunate failure of his third movie, Stuart Little fell on hard
times and ended up in prison. There he became the feared drug-lord
known as ‘Lil Stu, the criminal mastermind behind an operation to
produce Catnip (otherwise known as ‘kitty crack’), to manipulate
Snowbell the cat into breaking him out of jail.
‘Lil Stu is testing his new recruits on their knowledge of some innocent-
looking molecules and gives them the following flowchart. The letters represent molecules and the
numbers in brackets correspond to reactions.

9.1 Give the IUPAC names for compounds A, B and D. (6)

9.2 Define functional group. (1)
9.3 Name the functional group of molecule B. (1)
9.4 Identify the specific reaction types indicated as (i), (ii) and (iii). (3)
9.5 Give the chemical formula of the compound indicated as C. (1)
9.6 Reaction (ii) produces compounds D, E and F. Give the chemical formulae of E and F. (2)
9.7 ‘Lil Stu correctly says that compound D has a different boiling point than that of propane.
Explain why he is correct. (2)
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9.8 If compound D contained two double bonds instead of only one, what would its IUPAC
name be? (1)
9.9 Draw the structural formula for compound G which is the product of reaction (iii) and
give its IUPAC name. (2)
9.10 Define a structural isomer. (1)
9.11 Draw a positional isomer of compound B. (1)

‘Lil Stu knows that the reaction of isomer you have drawn in 9.11 produces a substance with a
smell of pears (which Snowbell likes) when reacted with ethanoic acid.
9.12 Draw the structural formula of and name the organic product of this reaction. (3)
9.13 Which chemical is needed in order for this reaction that produces the smell of pears
to take place? (1)

The main ingredient in ‘kitty crack’ is nepetalactone, shown below

9.14 ‘Lil Stu says that the nepetalactone molecule is unsaturated because of the double bond
present between the carbon and oxygen atom. Explain whether he is correct or not. (2)
9.15 One of ‘Lil Stu’s fellow inmates also try to sound clever and states that this molecule
will be readily soluble in water because it contains hydrogen bonds. Explain fully
whether you agree with him or not. (2)

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