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Sample Case Studies Questions (Past Paper Spring 2015) EXAMINER’S
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Sample Case Studies 1 The copper industry (20 marks)
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Copper metal is extracted from copper ores containing chalcopyrite, which is copper(II) WRITE HERE
sulfide. The Kidd mine in Timmins, Ontario, Canada is one of the operating copper
mines harvesting chalcopyrite ores. Three steps as shown below are used to extract
and purify copper metal from the ore.
A B C D
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
1 tonne (1000 kg) 10 kg of 2.5 kg of 2.4 kg of
of r ock + copper ore copper ore concentrate copper 96 % pure copper, 99.9% pure
[1]
i. Write the chemical formula of copper(II) sulfide.
ii. Draw a dot-cross diagram for the sulfide ion. You need only show the outer shell
electrons. Include any charges in your diagram.
Answer
[2]
iii. The ionic radius of the copper(II) ion is 69 pm, while the sulfide ion is 184 pm.
Calculate an ionic radius ratio for copper(II) sulfide, and using the information provided
in the data booklet, predict which structure copper(II) sulfide crystal would adopt.
Ionic radius ratio:
(to 3 decimal places)
[1]
Circle the correct structure below. [1]
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iv. In Step 1, 1 tonne of copper ore and rocks (A ) was purified by a process that removed EXAMINER’S
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most of the non-copper containing rocks to give 10 kg of copper ore concentrate (B ).
From 10 kg of copper ore concentrate, 2.4 kg of pure copper (D ) was obtained at the
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end after steps 2 and 3. WRITE HERE
Calculate the number of moles of copper in 2.4 kg of pure copper.
Include units in your answer. (1 kg = 1000 g)
Answer
(to 1 decimal place)
[2]
All of the 2.4 kg of pure copper (D ) came from 10 kg of copper ore concentrate (B ).
Calculate the % (by mass) of copper in the copper ore concentrate (B ).
Answer
(to nearest whole number)
% [1]
Calculate the % (by mass) of copper in pure copper(II) sulfide. Refer to the chemical
formula you obtained in part i.
Answer
(to 1 decimal place)
% [2]
Hence, work out the % (by mass) of pure copper(II) sulfide in the 1 tonne of copper ore
and rocks ( A) removed from the mine. Use this % to determine the economical grade of
this ore according to the table below. [3]
Grade ore content %
HIGH >5%
MEDIUM >1%
LOW <1%
Answer
(to 3 decimal places)
Grade of ore
[Turn over]
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The extraction of copper metal from copper(II) sulfide (Step 2) is carried out by first EXAMINER’S
USE
roasting the ore in air to obtain copper(II) oxide. Then copper(II) oxide is mixed with a
reducing agent and the mixture is heated to produce copper metal.
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v. What is the reducing agent used by the industry?
Answer [1]
vi. In the laboratory, it is possible to use aluminium powder as a reducing agent for
copper(II) oxide in a carefully controlled experiment. (Al powder is unsuitable for the
industry due to a very violent reaction.)
Write a balanced chemical equation for the redox reaction between copper(II) oxide and
aluminium metal. (state symbols are not required)
Answer [2]
vii. Copper obtained after reduction (C ) is around 96 % pure, so it is purified by an
electrochemical method to obtain 99.9 % pure copper metal (D ) in step 3.
Complete the set up below to show how this purification is carried out.
(Show the details of how to connect the set-up correctly) [2]
Identify the material of the electrode and the solution of the bath.
Electrode material
crude
copper [1]
(96 % pure)
Solution
[1]
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Sample Case Studies 2 Lithium batteries (10 marks) EXAMINER’S
USE
Lithium and lithium-ion batteries are used for almost every kind of consumer electronic
goods. The lithium-ion battery is rechargable and provides around 3.7 V of electricity per
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cell during discharge. WRITE HERE
i. The diagram below is a simple scheme of a lithium-ion battery. Fill in the missing
information.
Li+
electrode electrode
A B
Electrode material lithium cobalt oxide
[1]
ii. In the diagram above, lithium ions are travelling from electrode A to electrode B.
Electrode B contains some empty sites where there are no Li+ ions and we can
represent these empty sites as CoO2. When a Li+ ion fills an empty site (as in the
scheme above), we can represent the filled site as LiCoO2.
Deduce the oxidation states of Co in CoO2 and LiCoO2?
Co in CoO2 : [1] Co in LiCoO2 : [1]
iii. As Li+ travel from electrode A to electrode B, CoO2 is forming LiCoO2. Given that this
material has a higher chemical potential energy when Co is more oxidised, deduce
whether the battery above is being discharged in a device or is connected to a charger.
[1]
FOR
Lithium batteries are a different class to Li-ion batteries, they contain real lithium metal. EXAMINER’S
USE
In these non-rechargable lithium batteries, lithium metal is the anode and the cathode
reaction is the reduction of MnO2 (manganese dioxide) under basic (OH– ) conditions.
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WRITE HERE
iv. Write down the cathode and anode half reactions in the non-rechargable lithium
battery in the correct direction of reaction, and obtain the correct E ʅ value for the half
reactions from the data booklet. (The E ʅ values should correspond to the written reactions)
Cathode [1]
E ʅ (cathode)
[0.5]
Anode [1]
E ʅ (anode)
[0.5]
Deduce the voltage of the cell.
E ʅ cell
[1]
v. Lithium metal poses a risk of explosion because it reacts with water to form hydrogen
gas. The post office will not allow you to post lithium batteries in your packages.
Write a balanced equation to show the reaction of lithium metal and water.
(State symbols are not required.)
Answer [2]