CIE AS Chemistry

Topic Questions

Syllabus Edition

First teaching 2020

Last exams 2024

|

1.6 Electrochemistry

11 mark

Which row correctly describes oxidation and reduction in terms of the transfer of electrons and changes in oxidation state?

 

Transfer of electrons

Change in oxidation state

 

Oxidation

Reduction

Oxidation

Reduction

A

B

C

D

Gain

Loss

Loss

Gain

Loss

Gain

Loss

Gain

Increase

Increase

Decrease

Decrease

Decrease

Decrease

Increase

Increase

Did this page help you?

21 mark

The heptahydrate mineral of magnesium sulfate is used in Epsom Salts for preparing therapeutic baths. Magnesium sulfate is also used in some medical applications.

What is the oxidation state of MgSO4?

  • -2

  • +2

  • +7

  • 0

Did this page help you?

31 mark

Which row describes the most common oxidation numbers of fluorine, oxygen and hydrogen in compounds?

 

F

H

A

B

C

D

+7

+1

-7

-1

-1

+2

-1

-2

-1

+1

-1

+1

Did this page help you?

41 mark

Solutions containing chlorate(I) ions decompose on heating as shown:

3ClO- → ClO3- + 2Cl-

Which row is correct for the oxidation state of the chlorine in each ion?

 

ClO-

ClO3-

Cl-

A

B

C

D

+1

+1

-1

-1

+5

+3

+5

+3

-1

+1

-1

+1

Did this page help you?

51 mark

A student added a solution of iodine to a solution of sodium bromide. Which statement correctly describes what happens?

  • No reaction occurs.

  • The bromide ions are oxidised.

  • The iodine ions are oxidised.

  • Both the bromide and iodide ions undergo changes in their oxidation state.

Did this page help you?

61 mark

In which of the following reactions is the change in oxidation number the smallest for nitrogen?

  • N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3

  • 3Mg + N2 → Mg3N2

  • 4NH3 + 5O2 → 4NO + 6H2O

  • 2NO + O2 → 2NO2

Did this page help you?

71 mark

In the compound [ICl2]+[SbCl6], the oxidation number of chlorine is −1.

What are the oxidation numbers of I and Sb in the compound?

 

I

Sb

A

B

C

D

+1

+1

+3

+3

+5

+7

+5

+7

Did this page help you?

81 mark

Titanium dioxide is obtained from the ore ilmenite, Fe(II)TiO3

FeTiO3 → TiO2

What is the change in the oxidation number of titanium in the reaction?

  • +4 to +5

  • +3 to +4

  • No change in oxidation number occurs

  • +6 to +4

Did this page help you?

91 mark

In which of the following compounds is the oxidation state of nitrogen the highest?

  • NaNO2

  • N2O4

  • N2O

  • NO

Did this page help you?

101 mark

In which reaction does an element have the largest change in oxidation number?

  • Cr2O72-  +  6Fe2+  +  14H+  →  2Cr3+  +  6Fe3+  +  7H2O

  • 3ClO  → ClO3  +  2Cl

  • 5Fe2+  +  MnO4  +  8H+  →  5Fe3+  +  Mn2+  +  4H2O

  • PbO2  +  Sn2+ +  4H+  →  Sn4+  +  Pb2+  +  2H2O

Did this page help you?

111 mark

Sulfur dioxide and oxygen difluoride react together. The oxidation number of fluorine in OF2 is -1.

SO2 + OF2 → SO3 + F2

Which row is correct?

 

Sulfur

Fluorine

Oxygen in OF2

A

B

C

D

Oxidised

Reduced

Oxidised

Reduced

Reduced

Oxidised

Oxidised

Oxidised

Reduced

Reduced

Reduced

Oxidised

Did this page help you?

11 mark

When heated ammonium nitrate, NH4NO3, can decompose explosively.

NH4NO3 → N2O + 2H2O

The nitrogen atoms in NH4NO3 have different oxidation numbers.

What are the changes in the oxidation numbers when this reaction proceeds?

  • +4, -4

  • -2, -4

  • +4, -6

  • +2, +6

Did this page help you?

21 mark

The acid HIO disproportionate when in aqueous solution, this is shown in the equation, where q, r, s and t are simple whole numbers in their lowest ratios.

q HIO → r I2 + s HIO3 + t H2O

The equation can be balanced using oxidation numbers.

What are the values for r and s?

 

r

s

A

4

2

B

4

1

C

2

1

D

1

2

Did this page help you?

31 mark

In winemaking to prevent oxidation of ethanol by air, sulfur dioxide (SO2) is added. In order to calculate the amount of SO2, a sample is titrated with iodine (I2). The reaction is a one to one ratio for SO2 and I2.

What is the change in the oxidation number of sulfur in this reaction?

  • +2 to +6

  • +4 to +6

  • +2 to +4

  • +4 to +5

Did this page help you?

41 mark

The table shows the redox potentials of a number of species.

Half reaction bold italic E to the power of bold empty set /  V

V3+ (aq) + e- rightwards harpoon over leftwards harpoon V2+ (aq)

- 0.26

VO2+ (aq) + 2H+ (aq) + e- rightwards harpoon over leftwards harpoon V3+ (aq) + H2O (l)

+ 0.34

S4O62- (aq) + 2e- rightwards harpoon over leftwards harpoon 2S2O32- (aq)

+ 0.47

2VO2+ (aq) + 2H+ (aq) + e- rightwards harpoon over leftwards harpoon VO2+ (aq) + H2O (l)

+ 1.00

What is the lowest possible oxidation number that Vanadium (V) can be reduced to by thiosulphate ions?

  • +2

  • +3

  • +4

  • +5

Did this page help you?

51 mark

The oxidation state of chlorine can range from –1 to +7 in its compounds.

Which reagent(s) and conditions are necessary to oxidise elemental chlorine into a compound containing chlorine in the +5 oxidation state?

  • Concentrated H2SO4 at room temperature.

  • AgNO3 (aq) followed by NH3 (aq) at room temperature.

  • Cold dilute NaOH (aq).

  • Hot concentrated NaOH (aq).

Did this page help you?

61 mark

A student set up experiments to observe the outcome of adding different sodium halides to concentrated phosphoric acid and concentrated sulfuric acid. She recorded her findings in the table below.

 

sodium chloride

sodium iodide

Conc. H3PO4

Conc. H2SO4

Colourless acidic gas formed

Colourless acidic gas formed

Colourless acidic gas formed

Purple vapour formed

Which deduction can be made from these observations?

  • Concentrated sulfuric acid is a stronger oxidising agent than chlorine.

  • Concentrated sulfuric acid is a stronger oxidising agent than iodine.

  • Concentrated phosphoric acid is a stronger oxidising agent than iodine.

  • Concentrated phosphoric acid is a stronger oxidising agent than concentrated sulfuric acid.

Did this page help you?

71 mark

If a solution contains both bromine and chlorine, BrO3 ions are produced.

The reactions leading to the production of BrO3 ions are shown below: 

Reaction 1:     Br2  +  H2O  →  HBr  +  HBrO

Reaction 2:     3HBrO  +  Cl2  →  2Cl   +  BrO3  +  Br2  +  3H+

1

Chlorine is reduced in reaction 2.

2

Bromine is reduced in both reaction 1 and reaction 2.

3

Bromine is oxidised in both reaction 1 and reaction 2.

Which statements about these reactions are correct?

  • 1 only

  • 1 and 2

  • 2 and 3

  • 1, 2 and 3

Did this page help you?

81 mark

If a dilute acid is added to an aqueous solution containing nitrite ions, NO2, two different nitrogen compounds are released as gases.

2H+ (aq)  +  2NO2 (aq)  →  H2O (l)  +  NO (g)  +  NO2 (g)

Which of the three statements below correctly describe the process?

1

The H+ (aq) ion is oxidised by NO2 (aq).

2

Some nitrogen atoms are oxidised, and some nitrogen atoms are reduced.

3

The H+ (aq) ion acts as a catalyst.

  • 1 and 2

  • 2 only

  • 2 and 3

  • 1, 2 and 3

Did this page help you?

91 mark

Which pair of reactants will result in a redox reaction?

1

CH3COCH3  +  Tollens’ reagent

2

CH3CH2CHO  +  Fehling’s reagent

3

C2H4  +  Br2

  • 1 only

  • 1 and 2

  • 2 and 3

  • 3 only

Did this page help you?

101 mark

How does concentrated sulfuric acid behave when it reacts with sodium chloride?

  • As a reducing agent only.

  • As an oxidising agent only.

  • As an acid only.

  • As an acid and an oxidizing agent.

Did this page help you?

11 mark

Oxidation numbers can be used to balance equations. Chlorine and hot aqueous sodium hydroxide react to produce chloride ions, chlorate ions and water.

What are the values of the coefficients p, r and s in the equation?

pCl2 (g) + qOH- (aq) → rCl- (aq) + sClO3- (aq) + tH2O (l)

 

p

r

s

A

B

C

D

3

3

2

2

5

6

5

4

1

2

1

2

Did this page help you?

21 mark

The chemistry of the Group VII elements often involves redox processes. 

Which statement is correct?

  • Bromine can oxidise chloride ions.

  • Iodide ions are the weakest reducing agent of the first four Group VII ions.

  • In reactions with water, chlorine is oxidised and reduced.

  • Fluorine is a weaker oxidising agent than chlorine.

Did this page help you?

31 mark

Four reactions are shown. In which reaction is the species in bold acting as an oxidising agent?

  • Cr2O72- + 8H+ + 3SO32- → 2Cr3+ + 4H2O + 3SO42-

  • Mg + Fe2+ → Mg2+ + Fe

  • Cl2 + 2Br- → 2Cl- + Br2

  • Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2

Did this page help you?

41 mark

In which compound are there two different elements with the same oxidation number?

  • Mg(OH)2

  • Na2SO4

  • HClO

  • NH4Cl

Did this page help you?

51 mark

When sulfuric acid and sodium iodide react one of the reactions that take place is shown by the equation below

8NaI + 9H2SO4 → 8NaHSO4 + 4I2 + H2S + 4H2O

Which species has been oxidised in this reaction?

  • I-

  • SO42-

  • Na+

  • H+

Did this page help you?

61 mark

The following reaction can be used to determine the mass of titanium dioxide in an ore.

3TiO2 + 4BrF3 → 3TiF4 + 2Br2 + 3O2

Which element increases in oxidation number in this reaction?

  • Fluorine

  • Bromine

  • Titanium

  • Oxygen

Did this page help you?

71 mark

In which reaction does hydrogen behave as an oxidising agent?

  • 2Na  +  H2  →  2NaH

  • N2  +  3H2  →  2NH3

  • H2  +  Cl2  →  2HCl

  • C2H4  +  H2  →  C2H6

Did this page help you?

81 mark

Chlorine gas reacts with both hot and cold aqueous sodium hydroxide, each resulting in a different set of products.

What are the oxidation numbers of chlorine in the products of these reactions?

 

Hot aqueous sodium hydroxide

Cold aqueous sodium hydroxide

A

B

C

D

-1, +5

-1, +5

+1, +6

+1, +6

-1, +1

-1, +2

-1, +1

-1, +2

Did this page help you?

91 mark

When solid potassium halides are added to concentrated sulfuric acid, the following reactions take place:

Reaction 1

2KBr  +  2H2SO4  →  K2SO4  +  SO2  +  Br2  +  2H2

Reaction 2

8KI  +  5H2SO4  →  4K2SO4  +  H2S  +  4I2  +  4H2O

Reaction 3

2KCl  +  H2SO4  →  K2SO4  +  2HCl

In each reaction, what is the largest change in the oxidation number of sulfur?

 

Reaction 1

Reaction 2

Reaction 3

A

B

C

D

1

2

2

4

4

4

8

8

1

0

0

1

Did this page help you?