BTEC First Award in Application of Science - specification - Edexcel

UNIT 5: APPLICATIONS OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES
Teacher guidance
Resources
The special resources required for this unit are a laboratory with at least one fume
cupboard and samples of specialised materials.
Assessment guidance
This unit is assessed internally by the centre and externally verified by Edexcel.
Please read this guidance in conjunction with Section 8 Internal assessment.
The content of this unit should be approached from a practical point of view as
far as possible, e.g. through scientific investigative assignments.
Level 1 exemplifies partial achievement within a level 2 learning aim.
Learning aim A: Investigate and understand enthalpy changes associated
with chemical reactions
To achieve 1A.1, learners should carry out at least one exothermic and one
endothermic reaction, measure the temperature changes and record these changes.
Learners should correctly identify that the temperature increased or decreased but
do not need to make the link to the reaction taking in heat or giving out heat.
A proforma could be used to allow learners to achieve this criterion. More
understanding is required at level 2.
To achieve 2A.P1, learners should carry out two exothermic reactions and one
endothermic reaction, and conclude, from the measurements of temperature change,
that the reaction was exothermic (gave out heat) or endothermic (took in heat).
They must understand the meanings of those terms.
To achieve 2A.M1, learners must be able to explain clearly the link between the sign
of the temperature change and the heat absorbed by the water, in contact with the
reaction (or increase/decrease in temperature) and whether the reaction gives out
heat or takes in heat. The words ‘exothermic’ and ‘endothermic’ should be used
correctly. The role of the water in absorbing heat or supplying heat must be
explained.
To achieve 2A.D1, learners must be able to calculate the heat absorbed by or taken
from the water, in contact with the reaction using the equation mCΔT and relate this
to the enthalpy changes for reactions in terms of breaking bonds (which requires
heat) and making bonds (which releases heat).
Learning aim B: Investigate organic compounds used in society
To achieve 1B.2, learners should research and identify the uses of crude oil fractions.
They must specifically state the uses of the gases: propane and butane. This could be
done by the preparation of a poster or by detailed labelling of a fractional distillation
diagram.
To achieve 2B.P2, learners must show that they can describe how fractional
distillation of crude oil works and be able to identify the uses of a range of the
fractions. That could be done by producing an annotated diagram of a fractional
distillation column. They must specifically state the uses of propane and butane,
petrol, diesel and kerosene.
To achieve 2B.M2, learners need to explain the boiling ranges of the different
fractions to show how compounds are separated. This could be achieved by the use
of secondary data such as a table or detailed annotation on a fractional distillation
column diagram.
BF029957 – Specification – Edexcel BTEC Level 1/Level 2 First Award in Application of Science –
Issue 1 – March 2012 © Pearson Education Limited 2012
45