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Carboxylic acidsIB MYP Chemistry: Flashcards

What these 15 flashcards ask

  • What is the functional group of a carboxylic acid?
  • What is the general formula of the carboxylic acids?
  • Name the first four carboxylic acids with formulae.
  • What does 'weak acid' mean?
  • Why does ethanoic acid have a higher pH than hydrochloric acid of the same concentration?
  • What is the difference between weak and dilute?
  • What forms when a carboxylic acid reacts with a metal?
  • What forms when a carboxylic acid reacts with a carbonate?
  • What forms when ethanoic acid reacts with sodium hydroxide?
  • Write the equation for ethanoic acid reacting with magnesium.
  • How do you test for hydrogen and carbon dioxide?
  • What do a carboxylic acid and an alcohol make when they react?
  • Name the ester made from ethanoic acid and ethanol.
  • What are esters used for?
  • What is vinegar?

Exam questions on Carboxylic acids

  1. A teacher writes the formulae HCOOH, CH₃COOH, C₂H₅COOH and C₃H₇COOH on the board. They are the first four members of a family of organic compounds.
    Explain why ethanoic acid is a weak acid, whereas hydrochloric acid of the same concentration is a strong acid.2 marks
  2. A student investigates how ethanoic acid reacts with different substances: magnesium ribbon, calcium carbonate and sodium hydroxide solution.
    Write the word equation for the reaction between ethanoic acid and sodium hydroxide.2 marks
  3. A student compares ethanoic acid and hydrochloric acid, each with a concentration of 0.10 mol dm⁻³. She measures the pH of each acid with a pH meter. She then times how long a 2 cm strip of magnesium ribbon takes to dissolve completely in 50 cm³ of each acid at 20 °C. Hydrochloric acid had a pH of 1.0 and the magnesium dissolved in 40 s. Ethanoic acid had a pH of 2.9 and the magnesium dissolved in 210 s.
    State a testable hypothesis that the student could have been investigating, and include a scientific reason for it.3 marks
See the full worksheet

Written by the Exaim team, led by Shaun Daswani (Head of Upper Secondary, Improve ME Institute; MSc Financial Mathematics, Imperial College London; BSc, UCL) and Jason Daswani (operational lead, Improve ME Institute; LSE).