Led by Humphry Davy
About this course
The seventh module of the Edexcel GCSE Chemistry course covers the chemistry that puts metals into our hands and the principle that not all reactions go to completion. The student deduces the reactivity series from observed reactions, chooses the right extraction method for any given metal, accounts for biological alternatives and the case for recycling, and works through reversible reactions and the Haber process — the spec's introduction to dynamic equilibrium.
It is led by Sir Humphry Davy, the Cornish chemist who in 1807–08 isolated potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, strontium, and barium for the first time in history by electrolysing their molten compounds. The Davy lamp; the founder of British electrochemistry; Faraday's mentor.
The student leaves the module able to deduce reactivity from observed reactions, choose the correct extraction method by reactivity-series position, evaluate biological alternatives and recycling cases, explain reversible reactions and dynamic equilibrium, and predict the response of the Haber process equilibrium to changes in temperature, pressure, and concentration.
Led by Humphry Davy
The question
How does a chemist deduce the relative reactivity of metals from a small set of experiments, what method should be used to extract any given metal from its ore, and how does the principle of reversible reactions and dynamic equilibrium govern industrial processes like the Haber synthesis of ammonia? The spec asks the student to construct the reactivity series, explain displacement as redox (Higher), choose extraction methods by reactivity-series position, evaluate biological alternatives and recycling, define reversible reactions and dynamic equilibrium, recall the Haber process and its industrial conditions, and predict equilibrium response (Higher).
Outcome
the student can deduce metal reactivity from observed reactions, explain displacement as redox, choose the correct extraction method for any metal, evaluate biological alternatives and recycling, explain reversible reactions and dynamic equilibrium, recall the Haber process conditions, and predict equilibrium response to changes (Higher). *(Edexcel 1CH0 Paper 1 — Topic 4, spec points 4.1–4.17)*
Sub-units