AQA GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy · 5.10

Using resources

50 revision questions with answers for 5.10 Using resources in AQA GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy (spec 8464). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 5.10.1.1
What do humans obtain from Earth's resources?
Answer:
Materials and energy for warmth, shelter, food, clothing and transport.
Question 2 · Spec 5.10.1.1
Give an example of a natural material being supplemented or replaced.
Answer:
Synthetic fibres can replace some uses of natural fibres; agricultural production supplements naturally occurring food resources.
Question 3 · Spec 5.10.1.1
What makes a resource finite?
Answer:
Its supply is limited and it is not replenished fast enough to match use, for example metal ores or fossil fuels.
Question 4 · Spec 5.10.1.1
What makes a resource renewable?
Answer:
It is replenished on a timescale comparable with use, provided it is managed appropriately.
Question 5 · Spec 5.10.1.1
Define sustainable development.
Answer:
Meeting current generations' needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet their own needs.
Question 6 · Spec 5.10.1.1
How can chemistry support sustainable development?
Answer:
By improving processes to use fewer resources and less energy, reduce waste and develop useful alternative materials.
Question 7 · Spec 5.10.1.2
What is potable water?
Answer:
Water safe to drink, with sufficiently low levels of harmful microbes and dissolved substances.
Question 8 · Spec 5.10.1.2
Why is potable water not necessarily chemically pure?
Answer:
It usually contains dissolved substances, but at levels suitable for drinking.
Question 9 · Spec 5.10.1.2
Why does the water source affect the treatment required?
Answer:
Fresh water, seawater and waste water contain different amounts and types of dissolved material, particles and microbes.
Question 10 · Spec 5.10.1.2
What do filter beds remove in fresh-water treatment?
Answer:
Suspended solid particles; filtration does not normally remove dissolved salts.
Question 11 · Spec 5.10.1.2
Why is water sterilised after filtration?
Answer:
To kill harmful microorganisms that could cause disease.
Question 12 · Spec 5.10.1.2
Name three methods used to sterilise potable water.
Answer:
Chlorine, ozone and ultraviolet radiation.
Question 13 · Spec 5.10.1.2
What is desalination?
Answer:
Removing dissolved salts from seawater or other salty water to obtain water suitable for use.
Question 14 · Spec 5.10.1.2
How does distillation desalinate water?
Answer:
Water evaporates, leaving salts behind; the vapour is condensed and collected as liquid water.
Question 15 · Spec 5.10.1.2
How does reverse osmosis remove salts?
Answer:
Pressure forces water through a membrane that allows water through while retaining most dissolved salts.
Question 16 · Spec 5.10.1.2
Why can desalination be expensive?
Answer:
Distillation and reverse osmosis require substantial energy, for heating or pressurising water.
Question 17 · Spec 5.10.1.2
Why is treating suitable fresh water often easier than treating seawater?
Answer:
Fresh water usually has much less dissolved salt, so it may need only filtration and sterilisation.
Question 18 · Spec 5.10.1.2 · Required practical
How can the pH of different water samples be compared?
Answer:
Use a calibrated pH meter or a suitable indicator, keeping the measurement method consistent.
Question 19 · Spec 5.10.1.2 · Required practical
How can dissolved solids in water be investigated?
Answer:
Filter out suspended solids, evaporate a measured volume in a pre-weighed dish and measure the dry residue mass.
Question 20 · Spec 5.10.1.2 · Required practical
A dish is 42.16 g empty and 42.23 g after evaporating filtered water. Find residue mass.
Answer:
Dissolved-solid residue = 42.23 − 42.16 = 0.07 g.
Question 21 · Spec 5.10.1.2 · Required practical
What should be collected during simple distillation of a water sample?
Answer:
Condensed water vapour, while most dissolved solids remain in the original vessel.
Question 22 · Spec 5.10.1.2 · Required practical
What is the condenser's role in distillation?
Answer:
It cools water vapour, transferring energy away so the vapour condenses to liquid.
Question 23 · Spec 5.10.1.2 · Required practical
Why should the distillation flask not be heated to complete dryness?
Answer:
It can overheat or spit; stopping before dryness makes the procedure easier to control safely.
Question 24 · Spec 5.10.1.2 · Required practical
Does a neutral pH alone prove a water sample is safe to drink?
Answer:
No. Harmful microbes or chemicals may be present even if the pH is near neutral.
Question 25 · Spec 5.10.1.3
Why must sewage and industrial waste water be treated?
Answer:
To remove harmful material before release, reducing environmental damage and disease transmission.
Question 26 · Spec 5.10.1.3
What is removed by sewage screening and grit removal?
Answer:
Large objects and grit that could interfere with later treatment stages.
Question 27 · Spec 5.10.1.3
What does sedimentation produce during sewage treatment?
Answer:
Solid sewage sludge settles, leaving liquid effluent above it.
Question 28 · Spec 5.10.1.3
How is sewage sludge biologically treated?
Answer:
By anaerobic digestion, in which microorganisms break down organic material without oxygen.
Question 29 · Spec 5.10.1.3
How is sewage effluent biologically treated?
Answer:
By aerobic microorganisms that break down organic matter in the presence of oxygen.
Question 30 · Spec 5.10.1.3
Why may industrial waste water need different treatment from sewage?
Answer:
It may contain harmful chemicals that require specific removal processes in addition to biological treatment.
Question 31 · Spec 5.10.1.4 · Higher only
Why are alternative copper extraction methods being developed?
Answer:
High-grade ores are becoming scarcer, so lower-grade ores and other sources must be used more effectively.
Question 32 · Spec 5.10.1.4 · Higher only
Describe phytomining.
Answer:
Plants absorb metal compounds through roots; the plants are harvested and burned, producing metal-rich ash.
Question 33 · Spec 5.10.1.4 · Higher only
Why is phytomining ash useful for metal recovery?
Answer:
Burning removes much of the plant material, leaving a higher concentration of metal compounds in the ash.
Question 34 · Spec 5.10.1.4 · Higher only
Describe bioleaching.
Answer:
Bacteria produce a leachate containing dissolved metal compounds that can be processed to recover the metal.
Question 35 · Spec 5.10.1.4 · Higher only
How can copper be recovered from solutions produced by biological extraction?
Answer:
By displacement with a more reactive metal such as scrap iron, or by electrolysis.
Question 36 · Spec 5.10.1.4 · Higher only
Give one advantage and one limitation of biological metal extraction.
Answer:
It can use low-grade sources with less rock excavation, but it is often slow and still needs further metal recovery.
Question 37 · Spec 5.10.2.1
Name the main life cycle assessment stages.
Answer:
Raw material extraction and processing; manufacture and packaging; use; disposal, with transport and distribution considered throughout.
Question 38 · Spec 5.10.2.1
Why must transport be included at several life-cycle stages?
Answer:
Materials and products travel between extraction, manufacturing, sale, use and disposal, consuming resources and producing emissions.
Question 39 · Spec 5.10.2.1
Which life-cycle impacts are relatively easy to quantify?
Answer:
Energy use, water use, resource use and amounts of some wastes.
Question 40 · Spec 5.10.2.1
Why is a life cycle assessment not completely objective?
Answer:
Assigning values to different environmental harms requires assumptions and judgements, not just direct measurement.
Question 41 · Spec 5.10.2.1
How can a selective life cycle assessment mislead?
Answer:
It may omit unfavourable stages or impacts, making a product appear better than a full assessment would show.
Question 42 · Spec 5.10.2.1
How should paper and plastic shopping bags be compared fairly?
Answer:
Compare equivalent carrying service and reuse, considering extraction, manufacture, transport and disposal rather than only one impact.
Question 43 · Spec 5.10.2.2
How does reducing material use conserve resources?
Answer:
Less raw material must be extracted and processed, and less waste is produced.
Question 44 · Spec 5.10.2.2
How does reuse differ from recycling?
Answer:
Reuse uses the product again; recycling processes its material into another product.
Question 45 · Spec 5.10.2.2
Why can recycling still require energy?
Answer:
Collection, sorting, transport and reprocessing, such as melting, all consume energy.
Question 46 · Spec 5.10.2.2
How can glass bottles be reused or recycled?
Answer:
They can be cleaned and refilled, or crushed and melted to make new glass products.
Question 47 · Spec 5.10.2.2
How are metals commonly recycled?
Answer:
They are separated as needed, melted, then recast or reformed into new products.
Question 48 · Spec 5.10.2.2
Why does the amount of recycling separation depend on the product?
Answer:
The final material must meet required properties; contamination by other materials may make it unsuitable.
Question 49 · Spec 5.10.2.2
A recycling route uses 12 MJ instead of 60 MJ per kg. Calculate the percentage energy saving.
Answer:
Saving = 48 MJ; percentage saving = 48 / 60 × 100 = 80%.
Question 50 · Spec 5.10.2.1
A reusable bag has a 30-unit production impact; a disposable bag has 2 units/use. Ignoring other impacts, when are totals equal?
Answer:
After 15 uses: 30 / 2 = 15. Real assessments must also consider cleaning, transport and disposal.

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