← Chemistry syllabus

SAChemistry

Topic 4: Managing Resources

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do primary and secondary cells store and supply electrical energy?

Distinguish primary and secondary cells, describe their electrode reactions, and evaluate them as energy resources.
How primary cells provide single-use energy and secondary cells are rechargeable, the electrode reactions involved, and how batteries are evaluated as energy resources.
7 min answer →

How does electrical energy drive non-spontaneous redox reactions in electrolysis?

Describe electrolytic cells, predict electrode products, and apply Faraday's relationships to calculate amounts in electrolysis.
How electrolytic cells use electrical energy to drive non-spontaneous redox reactions, how to predict the products at each electrode, and how to use charge and Faraday's constant in calculations.
9 min answer →

How are metals extracted from ores and protected from corrosion?

Describe methods of metal extraction and explain corrosion (rusting) of iron and methods used to prevent it.
How metals are extracted by reduction methods chosen by reactivity, the electrochemical mechanism of iron corrosion, and prevention methods including sacrificial protection and galvanising.
8 min answer →

How is the energy content of a fuel measured and compared?

Define and calculate the enthalpy of combustion of fuels, and compare fuels by their energy content per gram and per mole.
How the enthalpy of combustion measures the energy released when a fuel burns completely, and how to calculate and compare the energy content of fuels per mole and per gram.
8 min answer →

How does a galvanic cell convert a redox reaction into electrical energy?

Describe the operation of galvanic cells and use standard electrode potentials to calculate cell potential and predict spontaneity.
How galvanic cells generate electricity from spontaneous redox reactions, the roles of anode, cathode and salt bridge, and how to use standard electrode potentials to calculate cell EMF.
9 min answer →

How can the full environmental impact of a product or process be assessed?

Use life cycle analysis to evaluate the sustainability and environmental impact of materials, products and chemical processes.
How life cycle analysis assesses the environmental impact of a product from raw-material extraction through manufacture, use and disposal, and how it informs sustainable resource management.
7 min answer →

How are oxidation and reduction tracked using oxidation numbers and half-equations?

Assign oxidation numbers, identify oxidation and reduction, and balance redox equations using half-equations.
How to assign oxidation numbers using the standard rules, identify the species oxidised and reduced, and combine balanced half-equations into an overall redox equation.
8 min answer →