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Science Quiz - Chemistry - Calcium Carbonate (AQA) (Questions)

Calcium carbonate is more than chalk and limestone. Explore how heating and reacting it makes cement, concrete and useful products in the construction industry.

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Fascinating Fact:

Cement is made by heating limestone with clay. Add sand and gravel to make concrete.

In GCSE Science (Chemistry), you learn how calcium carbonate in limestone is broken down by heating, and how its products are used to build roads, bridges and everyday buildings.

Key Terms

Calcium carbonate: A compound with the formula CaCO₃, found in limestone, chalk and marble.
Limestone: A rock mainly made of calcium carbonate, quarried and heated to make quicklime and cement.
Thermal decomposition: When a substance is broken down into simpler substances by heating it strongly.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What is calcium carbonate used for in GCSE Chemistry?

In GCSE Chemistry, calcium carbonate is studied as a raw material for cement and glass, a source of lime, and as a compound that reacts with acids to form salts.

What happens when calcium carbonate is heated strongly?

When calcium carbonate is heated strongly, it thermally decomposes to form calcium oxide, called quicklime, and carbon dioxide gas is released.

Is calcium carbonate an element, mixture or compound?

Calcium carbonate is a compound because it contains calcium, carbon and oxygen atoms chemically bonded together in a fixed ratio.

Try These Related Quizzes

1.

What is the formula of calcium carbonate?

[ ]	CaC₃
[ ]	CaCO₂
[ ]	CaCO₃
[ ]	Ca₃CO

2.

When calcium carbonate is strongly heated what does it do?

[ ]	It thermally decomposes
[ ]	It optically decomposes
[ ]	It mentally decomposes
[ ]	It does nothing

3.

What are the products when calcium carbonate thermally decomposes?

[ ]	Calcium and oxygen.
[ ]	Calcium and carbonate.
[ ]	Calcium oxide and oxygen.
[ ]	Calcium oxide and carbon dioxide.

4.

Some students heated pieces of limestone in a roaring flame of a bunsen burner. What would they have observed as the reaction was taking place?

[ ]	The limestone spitting and popping
[ ]	The limestone glowing red hot
[ ]	The limestone expanding at first, then going smaller
[ ]	The limestone glowing with an intense white light

5.

Heated limestone was left to cool and when it was cold a few drops of water were added to it. Then a piece of moist litmus paper was touched against it. What was observed?

[ ]	The piece of heated limestone hissed, crumbled and became hot. The litmus paper turned red.
[ ]	The piece of heated limestone hissed, crumbled and became hot. The litmus paper turned blue.
[ ]	The piece of heated limestone turned pale yellow and the litmus paper stayed the same.
[ ]	Nothing happened and the litmus paper stayed the same.

6.

Which of the following terms best describes calcium oxide?

[ ]	Calcium oxide is an acid
[ ]	Calcium oxide is a base
[ ]	Calcium oxide is neutral
[ ]	Calcium oxide is a salt

7.

Calcium oxide is slightly soluble in water and can be used for testing for a gas. What is the gas and what happens to the solution if the gas is present?

[ ]	Hydrogen is the gas and the solution goes blue
[ ]	Oxygen is the gas and the solution gives a green precipitate
[ ]	Nitrogen is the gas and the solution turns a pale straw colour
[ ]	Carbon dioxide is the gas and the solution goes cloudy

8.

A student added some nitric acid to a small quantity of powdered calcium carbonate in a large beaker. Which of the following would not have been observed during the experiment?

[ ]	Brown fumes of nitric oxide
[ ]	The calcium carbonate frothed up
[ ]	The calcium carbonate disappeared
[ ]	A fizzing noise was heard

9.

Which of the following statements about limestone is false?

[ ]	It reacts with acid rain and is gradually eroded
[ ]	It is used for making the foundations of roads
[ ]	It is used in the manufacture of cement
[ ]	It is not used in agriculture

10.

Calcium carbonate is heated with which of the following substances to make cement?

[ ]	Sand
[ ]	Clay
[ ]	Aggregate (gravel and small pebbles)
[ ]	All of the above

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Atoms, elements and compounds - AQA

Science Quiz - Chemistry - Calcium Carbonate (AQA) (Answers)

1.

What is the formula of calcium carbonate?

[ ]	CaC₃
[ ]	CaCO₂
[x]	CaCO₃
[ ]	Ca₃CO

We know from its name that calcium carbonate contains calcium, carbon and oxygen, so we can rule out option 1. Limestone and chalk are mainly CaCO₃

2.

When calcium carbonate is strongly heated what does it do?

[x]	It thermally decomposes
[ ]	It optically decomposes
[ ]	It mentally decomposes
[ ]	It does nothing

When a chemical is heated on its own and breaks down to form new materials, it is always called 'thermal decomposition'

3.

What are the products when calcium carbonate thermally decomposes?

[ ]	Calcium and oxygen.
[ ]	Calcium and carbonate.
[ ]	Calcium oxide and oxygen.
[x]	Calcium oxide and carbon dioxide.

This is the basis of the cement making process

4.

Some students heated pieces of limestone in a roaring flame of a bunsen burner. What would they have observed as the reaction was taking place?

[ ]	The limestone spitting and popping
[ ]	The limestone glowing red hot
[ ]	The limestone expanding at first, then going smaller
[x]	The limestone glowing with an intense white light

This is called 'limelight' and was once used to provide lighting for the stages in theatres, hence the expression 'being in the limelight'

5.

Heated limestone was left to cool and when it was cold a few drops of water were added to it. Then a piece of moist litmus paper was touched against it. What was observed?

[ ]	The piece of heated limestone hissed, crumbled and became hot. The litmus paper turned red.
[x]	The piece of heated limestone hissed, crumbled and became hot. The litmus paper turned blue.
[ ]	The piece of heated limestone turned pale yellow and the litmus paper stayed the same.
[ ]	Nothing happened and the litmus paper stayed the same.

This process of adding water to calcium oxide is called 'slaking'

6.

Which of the following terms best describes calcium oxide?

[ ]	Calcium oxide is an acid
[x]	Calcium oxide is a base
[ ]	Calcium oxide is neutral
[ ]	Calcium oxide is a salt

Oxides of metals are usually bases. If a base dissolves in water, it forms an alkali

7.

Calcium oxide is slightly soluble in water and can be used for testing for a gas. What is the gas and what happens to the solution if the gas is present?

[ ]	Hydrogen is the gas and the solution goes blue
[ ]	Oxygen is the gas and the solution gives a green precipitate
[ ]	Nitrogen is the gas and the solution turns a pale straw colour
[x]	Carbon dioxide is the gas and the solution goes cloudy

An easy question, but, if we had said the solution was limewater, the question would have been just too easy

8.

A student added some nitric acid to a small quantity of powdered calcium carbonate in a large beaker. Which of the following would not have been observed during the experiment?

[x]	Brown fumes of nitric oxide
[ ]	The calcium carbonate frothed up
[ ]	The calcium carbonate disappeared
[ ]	A fizzing noise was heard

Calcium carbonate reacts with the common laboratory acids. It neutralises the acid and gives off carbon dioxide

9.

Which of the following statements about limestone is false?

[ ]	It reacts with acid rain and is gradually eroded
[ ]	It is used for making the foundations of roads
[ ]	It is used in the manufacture of cement
[x]	It is not used in agriculture

Farmers use it to neutralise slightly acidic soil

10.

Calcium carbonate is heated with which of the following substances to make cement?

[ ]	Sand
[x]	Clay
[ ]	Aggregate (gravel and small pebbles)
[ ]	All of the above

The catch here was to include sand and aggregate. Often in everyday life, people talk about cement when they really mean mortar (sand and cement) or concrete (sand, cement and aggregate)