Practical questions

You will complete 21 required practical activities if you are studying GCSE combined science: Synergy. You could be asked questions about the apparatus, methods, safety precautions, results, analysis and evaluation of these experiments.

There will be a number of different types of practical based questions. Some will be on the set required practicals, some will cover the working scientifically terms and some will be on other science practicals which you might have done in class. Use all the information given in the question particularly any diagrams to help you understand what the question is about.

This page contains AQA material which is reproduced by permission of AQA.

Learn about practicals with Dr Alex Lathbridge

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Dr Alex Lathbridge answers questions about practicals.

Sample question 1 - Foundation

Question

Zinc carbonate decomposes when heated.

A student heated 25 g of zinc carbonate (ZnCO₃).

The image shows how he set up the apparatus.

25 g of zinc carbonate in a crucible under intense heat

The balanced chemical equation for the decomposition reaction is:

ZnCO₃ (s) → ZnO (s) + CO₂ (g)

The student measured the mass of solid product after heating until there was no further change in mass.

The student did the experiment four times. The table shows the results.

Experiment	1	2	3	4
Mass of solid product in g	17.4	19.7	17.6	16.9

Experiment
1
2
3
4

Mass of solid product in g
17.4
19.7
17.6
16.9

Calculate the mean mass of the solid product.

Do not use any anomalous results in your calculation. [2 marks]

Sample question 2 - Foundation

Question

A teacher demonstrates the reaction of some alkali metals with water.

Look at the image.

Alkali metal reacting in a trough of water and universal indicator

The students write what they see.

The alkali metals float on water.
The alkali metals fizz when they react with water.
The universal indicator changes from green to purple.
The sodium disappears faster than the lithium.

Give a reason for each of the four things that the students see. [4 marks]

The alkali metals float on water.
- Reason: ______
The alkali metals fizz when they react with water.
- Reason: ______
The universal indicator changed from green to purple.
- Reason: ______
The sodium disappears faster than lithium.
- Reason: ______

Sample question 3 - Higher

Question

A student puts some potassium bromide solution in a test tube.

She added a few drops of chlorine solution and observed the result.

She repeated the processes using different potassium halide salts and different halogens.

The table shows the student's results.

Solution of halogen	Potassium chloride solution	Potassium bromide solution	Potassium iodide solution
Chlorine		Orange colour forms	Brown colour forms
Bromine	No reaction		Brown colour forms
Iodine	No reaction	No reaction

Solution of halogen	Chlorine
Potassium chloride solution
Potassium bromide solution	Orange colour forms
Potassium iodide solution	Brown colour forms

Solution of halogen	Bromine
Potassium chloride solution	No reaction
Potassium bromide solution
Potassium iodide solution	Brown colour forms

Solution of halogen	Iodine
Potassium chloride solution	No reaction
Potassium bromide solution	No reaction
Potassium iodide solution

Give the order of reactivity of the halogens from the results in the table.

Explain how you used the results to show this order of reactivity. [2 marks]

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Sample questions - Building blocks for understanding - AQA SynergyPractical questions