AQA · Chemistry · 8462

GCSE Chemistry: Ceramics, polymers and composites

Using resources · AQA GCSE Chemistry (8462), specification point 4.10.3.3. Cards are generated from the exam board's own specification for "Ceramics, polymers and composites", and every card links back to the page it came from. Separate science only. Specification © AQA — used with attribution.

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  1. What three raw materials are heated together to make soda-lime glass?

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    Sand, sodium carbonate and limestone.

  2. Borosilicate glass is made from sand and ?.

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    boron trioxide

  3. Which melts at a higher temperature: borosilicate glass or soda-lime glass?

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    Borosilicate glass.

  4. How are clay ceramics such as pottery and bricks made?

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    By shaping wet clay and then heating it in a furnace.

  5. What two factors determine the properties of a polymer?

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    The monomers it is made from and the conditions under which it is made.

  6. From which monomer are both LD and HD poly(ethene) produced?

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    Ethene — the different densities result from different reaction conditions, not different monomers.

  7. What happens to a thermosoftening polymer when it is heated?

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    It melts.

  8. What happens to a thermosetting polymer when it is heated?

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    It does not melt.

  9. Why do thermosetting polymers not melt when heated?

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    Their polymer chains are joined by strong covalent cross-links, which do not break on heating.

  10. Why do thermosoftening polymers melt when heated?

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    Their chains are held together only by weak intermolecular forces, which are easily overcome by heating.

  11. In a composite, the material that surrounds and binds together the fibres or fragments is called the ? (or binder).

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    matrix

  12. In a composite, what is the name for the fibres or fragments held within the matrix?

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    The reinforcement.

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