AQA GCSE Chemistry: Using resources — Practice Questions & Answers
Finite vs renewable resources, water treatment, life cycle assessments, recycling, metal extraction, Haber process, fertilisers, corrosion and materials.
418 practice questions available for this topic — here are 10 with full answers and explanations.
WhyCrude oil forms over millions of years and is used far faster than it can be replaced, so it is finite. Wind, solar and timber from replanted forests are renewable.
2Multiple choice · Easy
Which of these best describes sustainable development?
Meeting today's needs without harming the ability of future generations to meet theirs
Using resources as quickly as possible to grow the economy
Stopping all use of natural resources
Replacing all metals with plastics
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WhySustainable development meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
3Multiple choice · Easy
Potable water is water that is:
Safe to drink
Completely pure with nothing dissolved in it
Only used in industry
The same as sea water
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WhyPotable water is safe to drink. It is not necessarily pure, as it can contain dissolved salts and small amounts of microbes within safe limits.
4Multiple choice · Easy
Which step is used to kill microbes during the treatment of fresh water to make it potable?
Sterilisation with chlorine
Filtration through gravel
Sedimentation
Adding fertiliser
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WhySterilisation kills harmful microbes, commonly using chlorine, ozone or ultraviolet light. Filtration only removes solid material.
5Multiple choice · Easy
Which of these is an example of reducing the use of resources?
Using less packaging on a product
Melting down old bottles to make new ones
Refilling a glass milk bottle
Burning waste for energy
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WhyUsing less packaging directly reduces the amount of raw material consumed. Recycling and reusing handle materials after they have been made.
6Fill in the blank · Easy
The three Rs that help conserve resources and reduce environmental impact are reduce, reuse and .
Answer:
recycle / recycling
WhyRecycling processes used materials into new products, saving raw materials and energy.
7Multiple choice · Medium
A life cycle assessment (LCA) is used to:
Assess the environmental impact of a product over its whole life
Measure only the cost of making a product
Decide how long a product will last before breaking
Test how strong a material is
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WhyAn LCA assesses the environmental impact of a product across its whole life, from raw material extraction through manufacture, use and disposal.
8Multiple choice · Medium
Which stage of a life cycle assessment can be difficult to judge objectively?
Assigning values to the effects of pollutants
Counting the mass of raw materials used
Measuring the energy used in manufacture
Recording the volume of water used
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WhyAllocating numerical values to environmental effects, such as pollutant impact, often involves value judgements, so an LCA is not a purely objective process.
9Multiple choice · Medium
Waste water from a sewage works is treated before release. Which stage removes large insoluble solids by settling?
Sedimentation
Chlorination
Distillation
Reverse osmosis
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WhySedimentation produces sludge (settled solids) and effluent (liquid). The sludge is treated separately by anaerobic digestion.
10Multiple choice · Medium
Why is desalination of sea water generally avoided where fresh water is available?
It requires large amounts of energy
It produces water that is unsafe to drink
It removes too few of the dissolved salts
It is faster than treating fresh water
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WhyDistillation or reverse osmosis of sea water needs large amounts of energy, making it expensive, so it is used mainly where fresh water is scarce.
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