Year 8

Combustion test

Name : ___________________________

Subject Teacher: __________________________

Year: 8
Length of Paper: 50 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

• • Do not open this booklet until you are told to do so

• • Write your name and your subject teacher’s name at the top of this page
• • Read the questions carefully before you answer
• • Answer ALL questions in ALL sections in the space provided
• • Show all working out
 1. 1. Use words from the word box to complete the sentences correctly. Not all the words
will be used.

burn flames hot fire extinguisher wet

wood

To light a bonfire, you need to make the wood very .

[1 mark]

We can tell when the wood starts to burn, because we can see .

[1 mark]

To put the fire out, we can use a .

[1 mark]

2. Draw lines to link each of the words on the left with its meaning shown on the right.

combustion a reaction in which a

substance combines with
oxygen

fuel a substance that contains

only hydrogen and carbon

hydrocarbon a substance that contains

stored energy that can be
released during burning

oxidation a reaction in which

burning happens

[4 marks]

3. What happens in an exothermic reaction?

a. a Energy is released that increases the temperature of the surroundings.

b Energy is taken in from the surroundings, reducing the temperature.

c The reacting substances always explode.

d You need to heat a substance or substances to get a reaction to occur. [1 mark]

4. The best way to put out a small electrical fire is:

a. a spray it with water to cool it down.

b spray with foam to exclude air and cool it down.

c cover with a wet cloth to exclude air and cool it down.

d spray with a powder extinguisher to exclude air. [1 mark]

5. How does a catalytic converter help to reduce pollution from burning fossil fuels?

a. a It filters out soot particles from the gases formed.

b It changes pollutant gases into less harmful gases.

c It absorbs sulfur dioxide so that it isn’t released into the air.

d It reacts with the pollutants to form a solid, which has to be scraped out of the converter at
regular intervals. [1
mark]

6. Which of these methods would not help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released each
year?

a. a Changing from fossil fuel power stations to nuclear power stations.

b Fitting catalytic converters to all vehicles.

c Setting government targets for carbon dioxide production and fines for industries that exceed
their target.

d Travelling by bus or train rather than by car. [1

mark]

7. Which of these factors caused the Earth’s surface temperature to vary thousands of years ago?

a. a release of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels

b variation in the energy emitted by the Sun

c variation in the number of vehicles on Earth

d variation in ice ages [1 mark]

8 . This table shows where different pollutants in the air come from.

source of
pollutants

percentage percentage percentage

pollutants from power from road from other
stations traffic sources

sulphur
72 2 26
dioxide

nitrogen
28 51 21
oxides

smoke 6 46 48

carbon
1 90 9
monoxide

(a) Which two pollutants in the table above cause acid rain?

1. ..................................................................................................................

2. ..................................................................................................................
2 marks

(b) Lichens are organisms which grow on buildings and trees. They are affected by
some pollutants.

Use the information in the table to suggest why few lichens survive close to
power stations but many survive alongside roads.

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................
1 mark

(c) The two products of complete combustion of petrol are not shown in the table.
Give the names of the two products of complete combustion of a fuel such as
petrol.

1. ..................................................................................................................

2. ..................................................................................................................
2 marks

(d) Smoke contains particles of carbon. These can burn when there is enough
oxygen present. Write a word equation for the reaction of carbon
 with excess oxygen.

.....................................................................................................................
1 mark

(e) Which term best describes the combustion process?

Tick one box.

decomposition

oxidation

pollution

respiration
1 mark

9. The table below gives information about three fuels that can be used in cars.

shows a substance is produced when the fuel burns.X shows a substance

is not produced when the fuel burns.

some of
the
substance
s
produced
when the
energy
fuel burns
fuel physical released,
state in kJ/kg
carbon sulphur water
monoxide dioxide

petrol liquid 48 000

hydrogen gas 121 000 X X

ethanol liquid 30 000 X

(alcohol)

(a) Which fuel, in the table, releases the least energy per kilogram (kg)?

.....................................................................................................................
1 mark

(b) Some scientists say that if hydrogen is burned as a fuel there will be less pollution.
From the information in the table, give one reason why there will be less pollution.
 .....................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................
1 mark

(c) Which of the three fuels in the table can be compressed into a small container?

...................................................................
1 mark

(d) Which gas in the air is needed for fuels to burn?Tick the correct box.

carbon dioxide

nitrogen

oxygen

water vapour
1 mark

(e) Petrol and ethanol are both fuels. Petrol is made from oil.Scientists say that oil could
run out in 100 years.In some countries people plant sugar cane and use it to make
ethanol.

Sugar cane will not run out. Explain why.

.....................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................
1 mark

10. (a) George used the apparatus below to find out what substances are produced
when methanol burns.

As the methanol burned, two different gases were produced.

(i) One of these gases condensed in the U-tube to give a colourless liquid. Give the
name of this liquid.

........................................................
1 mark

(ii) The other gas turned the lime water cloudy.Give the name of this gas.

........................................................
1 mark
(b) Methanol is sometimes used in antifreeze. It can be added to water in carwindscreen
wash-bottles to prevent the water from freezing in cold conditions.

(i) The label on the bottle of antifreeze has two hazard warning symbols.
What two precautions would you need to take when using this antifreeze?

1. .........................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................

2. .........................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................
2 marks
11. The diagram below shows two other types of fire extinguisher.

contains
carbon contains dioxide
gas water

To put out a fire, you have to do one or more of the following:

• keep oxygen away from the fire

• take the heat away from the fire
• take the fuel away from the fire.

The density of carbon dioxide is about 1.8 g per 1000 cm3.The density of air is about
1.2 g per 1000 cm3.

(i) Use the information above to explain why carbon dioxide is used to put out
fires.

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................
2 marks

(ii) When water from the fire extinguisher is sprayed over a fire, the water
evaporates.

Why does evaporation cool the fire down?

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................
1 mark
12. Global warming is thought to be happening because of the increased burning of fossil
fuels. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the air from 1905 to 2005 has been
calculated.

(a) Draw a line of best fit for these points.

(1)

(b) (i) What was the concentration of carbon dioxide in 1955?

.................................................................................................................. ppm
(1)

(ii) In what year did the concentration of carbon dioxide reach 350 ppm?

..........................................................................................................................
(1)

(c) Use the graph to describe, in as much detail as you can, what happened to the
concentration of carbon dioxide from 1905 to 2005.

....................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................
(2)

13. The exhaust gases of a car with a petrol engine are analysed during its ‘MOT test’. The
results are shown below.

gas % volume

carbon monoxide 3.0

carbon dioxide 13.0

oxygen 0.4

other gases 83.6

(a) The air going into the engine contains about 20% of oxygen.Explain why there
is only 0.4% of oxygen in the exhaust gases coming out of the car engine.

....................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................
1 mark

(b) (i) Petrol is a mixture of compounds which contains only carbon and hydrogen.
Complete combustion of petrol produces carbon dioxide and one other
substance. What is this other substance?

.............................................................................................................
1 mark

(ii) When petrol is burned in the car engine, carbon monoxide is produced as
well as carbon dioxide.

Explain why carbon monoxide is dangerous and may kill you.

.............................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................
1 mark