Chemistry · Professor Curie

Every card in Earth and atmosphere, Year 7: more practice

The whole deck, in order — so you can read it through before your child ever sees it.

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1 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0033

Name the layer of the Earth that lies directly beneath the crust.

The mantle

HintIt is a thick layer of hot rock.

WhyBeneath the crust is the mantle, a thick layer of hot rock that moves very slowly.

2 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0034

Which layer at the centre of the Earth is made mostly of iron and nickel?

The core

HintIt is the hottest part of the Earth.

WhyThe Earth's core is mostly iron and nickel. The outer part is liquid and the inner part is solid.

3 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0035

Why has nobody ever drilled through the crust into the mantle?

It is too deep and too hot

HintThink about what happens to temperature the further down you go.

WhyThe deeper you go the hotter it gets. Drills and equipment cannot cope with the temperature and pressure.

4 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0036

Which layer of the Earth is the thinnest?

The crust

HintCompare it to the skin of an apple.

WhyThe crust is only a few kilometres thick under the oceans and a few tens of kilometres thick under the continents.

5 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0037

Why can water freezing in a crack split a rock?

Ice takes up more space than water, so it expands and forces the crack wider

HintWhat happens to the volume when liquid turns solid?

WhyThis is freeze–thaw weathering. It repeats night after night until pieces of rock break off.

6 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0038

Rain is slightly acidic and slowly dissolves limestone. Is this physical, chemical or biological weathering?

Chemical weathering

HintIs the rock changed by a reaction, a living thing or just a force?

WhyWeak acid in rain reacts with limestone and eats it away. A chemical reaction is involved, so it is chemical weathering.

7 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0039

A tree root grows into a crack in a rock and makes it wider. Which type of weathering is this?

Biological weathering

HintA living thing is doing the work.

WhyBiological weathering is caused by plants and animals, such as roots growing in cracks.

8 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0040

In a hot desert the rocks crack as they heat up in the day and cool at night. Which type of weathering is this?

Physical weathering

HintIs the rock changing into a new substance or just breaking up?

WhyRepeated expanding and contracting stresses the rock until it breaks. No new substance forms.

9 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0041

Which gas is the third most plentiful in air, after nitrogen and oxygen? (one word)

Argon

HintIt is an unreactive noble gas.

WhyArgon makes up a little under 1% of the air. It is a noble gas, so it does not react.

10 KS3-CHEM-EAR-0042

Why is air a mixture and not a compound?

Its gases are not chemically joined and can be in different amounts

HintThink about whether the parts are bonded to each other.

WhyThe gases in air are just mixed. The amounts can vary from place to place and the gases keep their own properties.

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