These two sample questions give an indication of the style of

questions to be used in the Lower Sixth Exam. They are

questions the committee previously used for the UK
Chemistry Olympiad.

The paper will consist of two or three questions to be sat in

90 minutes under exam conditions in school. Each question
will contain parts that should be readily accessible to most
students, but also parts designed to stretch students. The
students should be able to solve these questions by logical
thinking rather than by using additional knowledge they may
or may not have been taught.
 1 18

H He
1 2 13 14 15 16 17 2
1.008 4.003

Li Be symbol B C N O F Ne
3 4 atomic number 5 6 7 8 9 10
6.94 9.01 relative atomic mass 10.81 12.01 14.01 16.00 19.00 20.18

Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
22.99 24.31
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 26.98 28.09 30.97 32.06 35.45 39.95

K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
39.102 40.08 44.96 47.90 50.94 52.00 54.94 55.85 58.93 58.71 63.55 65.37 69.72 72.59 74.92 78.96 79.904 83.80

Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
85.47 87.62 88.91 91.22 92.91 95.94 101.07 102.91 106.4 107.87 112.40 114.82 118.69 121.75 127.60 126.90 131.30

Cs Ba La* Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
55 56 57 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
132.91 137.34 138.91 178.49 180.95 183.85 186.2 190.2 192.2 195.09 196.97 200.59 204.37 207.2 208.98

Fr Ra Ac+
87 88 89

Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
*Lanthanides 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71
140.12 140.91 144.24 150.4 151.96 157.25 158.93 162.50 164.93 167.26 168.93 173.04 174.97

Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr
+Actinides
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103
232.01 238.03
This question is about launching the space shuttle

To launch the space shuttle, two propulsion

systems are used. Most of the thrust for the first
two minutes of flight comes from the two reusable
solid rocket boosters. The so-called ‘external
tank’ provides the remainder of the thrust needed
to get the shuttle into orbit.

The external tank is filled with liquid hydrogen

and liquid oxygen which react to form water. The
solid rocket boosters use a mixture of aluminium
powder and ammonium perchlorate, NH4ClO4,
together with an iron oxide catalyst and an
organic binder.

(a) Write the equation for the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.

(b) The external tank has a mass of 27 tonnes (27,000 kg) when empty and 745 tonnes
when full. Assuming these are present in the correct stoichiometric proportions,
calculate the masses of hydrogen and oxygen in the external tank.

(c) In practice, the actual masses of hydrogen and oxygen used are 104 and 614 tonnes
respectively. Given that the densities of liquid hydrogen and oxygen are 0.0708 and
1.141 g cm–3, calculate the volumes of these liquids needed and hence the total
capacity of the external tank in m3.

The reaction that takes place during the combustion of the solid rocket booster fuel has been
summarized as:

10Al(s) + 6NH4ClO4(s) 4Al2O3(s) + 2AlCl3(s) + 12H2O(l) + 3N2(g)

(d) Given the following standard enthalpies of formation, calculate the standard enthalpy
change at 298 K for this reaction as given.

NH4ClO4(s) Al2O3(s) AlCl3(s) H2O(l)

∆fH / kJ mol–1 –295.3 –1675.7 –704.2 –285.8

(e) Given that 450 tonnes of solid propellant are used in the solid rocket boosters in total,
and that aluminium is the limiting reagent present at 16% in the mixture, calculate the
energy released when this is reacted according to the above equation.
This question is about the redox chemistry of vehicle pollution

The unwanted pollutants from the

exhausts of vehicles include unburnt
hydrocarbons (HCs), carbon monoxide
and oxides of nitrogen, mainly NO and
NO2.
The first two pollutants arise if there is
insufficient oxygen present to oxidise
them fully. The oxides of nitrogen are
formed in larger quantities if too much
oxygen is present.

(a) Write an equation for the complete combustion of petrol, assuming that the only
hydrocarbon present is octane, C8H18.

Any unburnt hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide may be removed by being oxidised, either
by oxygen or water. Platinum and / or palladium metal is used to catalyse these oxidation
reactions.

(b) Write an equation for the oxidation of CO by i) oxygen and ii) water.

The nitrogen oxides must be removed by being reduced to nitrogen gas. Any carbon
monoxide present can accomplish this, as can any hydrogen gas present. These reduction
reactions are catalysed by rhodium metal.

(c) Write an equation for the reduction of NO by i) carbon monoxide and ii) hydrogen.

To help maintain a stable oxygen : fuel ratio, so-called ‘oxygen-storage materials’ are used.
One commonly used is ceria which exists as an equilibrium mixture of cerium(III) and
cerium(IV) oxides.

(d) Write an equation for this equilibrium. (The symbol for cerium is Ce.)

The combustion of diesel is less efficient than that of petrol. Despite an excess of oxygen,
unburnt hydrocarbons, CO and even solid carbon are produced. Whilst the first two
pollutants may be removed as before in the catalytic converter, the carbon formed would
simply block it up were it not removed. At the operating temperatures within the catalyst,
very little of the carbon reacts with oxygen; it is, however, oxidised by nitrogen dioxide, NO2,
forming CO2 and NO.

(e) Write an equation for the reaction between carbon and NO2.

In order to remove the oxides of nitrogen emitted from the catalyst, further
reducing agent is added. One such reducing agent is ammonia, prepared
by the decomposition of an aqueous solution of urea, H2NCONH2. The
urea solution is known commercially as ‘AdBlue’.

(f) Draw the structure for urea indicating the approximate angles for the N–C–O and the
H–N–H bonds.

(g) Write an equation for the production of ammonia from urea and water.

(h) Write an equation for the reaction between ammonia and i) NO and ii) NO2.

(i) On your answers for parts b, c, d, e and h underline with a single line the atom(s) which
undergo oxidation and underline with a double line those atom(s) which undergo
reduction.