From dead plants in swamps, buried and changed by heat and pressure over millions of years.

How did oil and natural gas form?

From the remains of tiny sea organisms buried under mud, changed by heat and pressure over millions of years.

What is a hydrocarbon?

A compound containing hydrogen and carbon atoms only.

A mixture of many different hydrocarbons.

Where do the largest molecules collect in the fractionating column?

At the bottom, where it is hottest, because they have the highest boiling points.

Which pollutant causes acid rain?

Sulfur dioxide (and nitrogen oxides).

How are nitrogen oxides formed?

Nitrogen and oxygen from the air react in hot engines.

What are particulates?

Tiny particles of soot (carbon) from incomplete combustion.

Hydrocarbons and fossil fuelsIB MYP Sciences: Flashcards

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How did coal form?

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How did coal form?: From dead plants in swamps, buried and changed by heat and pressure over millions of years.
How did oil and natural gas form?: From the remains of tiny sea organisms buried under mud, changed by heat and pressure over millions of years.
What is a hydrocarbon?: A compound containing hydrogen and carbon atoms only.
What is crude oil?: A mixture of many different hydrocarbons.
What property is used to separate crude oil in fractional distillation?: Boiling point.
Where do the largest molecules collect in the fractionating column?: At the bottom, where it is hottest, because they have the highest boiling points.
Give a use of kerosene.: Jet fuel.
Give a use of bitumen.: Surfacing roads.
What is the formula of methane?: CH₄
What are the formulae of ethane and propane?: C₂H₆ and C₃H₈.
Which pollutant causes acid rain?: Sulfur dioxide (and nitrogen oxides).
How are nitrogen oxides formed?: Nitrogen and oxygen from the air react in hot engines.
What are particulates?: Tiny particles of soot (carbon) from incomplete combustion.
Which pollutant is linked to global warming?: Carbon dioxide.

Exam questions on Hydrocarbons and fossil fuels

At an oil refinery in Rotterdam, crude oil is heated until it vaporises and the vapour is fed into a tall fractionating column. The column is very hot at the bottom and much cooler at the top. Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, and different groups of hydrocarbons, called fractions, are collected at different heights in the column.
Explain why bitumen is collected at the bottom of the column.2 marks
A museum exhibit in Aberdeen explains how fossil fuels formed millions of years ago. It displays a fossilised fern from a coal seam beside a model of an offshore oil platform, and notes that natural gas contains alkanes such as methane, ethane and propane.
Describe how coal was formed.2 marks
Mei, a student in Seoul, investigates how acid rain affects limestone buildings. She places identical marble chips (calcium carbonate) of the same mass in beakers containing the same volume of solutions with different pH values for 24 hours, then dries and reweighs them. The mass lost was 0.9 g at pH 2, 0.4 g at pH 4, 0.1 g at pH 6 and 0.0 g at pH 7. She did each test once.
Describe the trend in Mei's results and explain it.3 marks

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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).