Objectives for Minerals to Elements

Candidates should be able to:
(a) use the concept of amount of substance to perform calculations involving: concentrations of solutions;
(b) use conventions for representing the distribution of electrons in atomic orbitals (no treatment of the shapes of atomic orbitals is expected);
(c) recall the classification of elements into s, p and d blocks;
(d) deduce (given the atomic number) the electronic configuration of atoms from hydrogen to krypton in terms of main energy levels and s, p and d atomic orbitals;
(e) recall the following physical properties of the halogens:
(i) appearance and state at room temperature,
(ii) volatility,
(iii) solubility in water and organic solvents;
(f) assign oxidation states to the elements in a compound;
(g) use oxidation states to decide which species have been oxidised and which reduced in a redox reaction;
(h) describe redox reactions of s- and p-block elements in terms of electron transfer, using half equations to represent the oxidation and reduction reactions;
(i) explain the redox changes which take place when chlorine, bromine and iodine react with other halide ions;
(j) explain the redox changes occurring in the extraction of bromine from sea water;
(k) compare the relative reactivity of the halogens;
(l) recall the reaction between halide ions and silver ions;
(m) show awareness of the health and safety precautions needed in industry when hazardous chemicals are being stored, transported and used;
(n) show awareness of the economic importance of bromine and chlorine and their compounds;
(o) describe the structure of an ionic lattice, exemplified by sodium chloride;
(p) write ionic equations to represent precipitation reactions and other reactions involving ionic compounds;
(q) describe the hydration of ions in aqueous solution;
(r) describe and explain the major stages in the extraction of a pure metal from its ore;
(s) show awareness of the scale and importance of mineral extractive industries and discuss the environmental implications of mineral extraction;
(t) interpret flow diagrams showing the sequence of operations in a chemical process;
(u) recognise from the balanced equation for a reaction whether it is an acid-base, redox or precipitation reaction;
(v) recall that acid-base reactions involve proton transfer;
(w) identify the proton donor and proton acceptor in an acid-base reaction;
(x) recall the procedure for carrying out an acid-alkali titration and be able to work out the results;
(y) recall the procedure for vacuum filtration;
(z) describe examples of giant covalent (network) structures, such as diamond and silicon(IV) oxide;
(aa) interpret differences in the physical properties of CO2 and SiO2 in terms of their different structures.