The Earth’s Atmosphere (AQA GCSE Combined Science: Synergy: Life & Environmental Sciences): Exam Questions

Pollutants in the atmosphere can be harmful to the environment and to human health.

Four pollutants in the atmosphere are:

• carbon monoxide

• oxides of nitrogen

• particulates

• sulfur dioxide

How is carbon monoxide produced?

Tick (✓) one box.

What is formed when sulfur dioxide dissolves in moisture in the air?

Tick (✓) one box.

Complete the sentence.

Oxides of nitrogen are produced when fuels are burnt in air at a high _____________ .

Give one way that oxides of nitrogen can be harmful to human health.

Particulates are classified into different groups depending on the diameter of the particulate.

Table 1 shows information about the different groups.

Table 1

Figure 7 shows a soot particle viewed using an electron microscope.

Figure 7

The diameter of the soot particle in Figure 7 is 1.5 micrometres.

Which particulate group does the soot particle belong to?

Use Table 1.

Tick (✓) one box.

Figure 8 shows the emissions of particulates from two different sources in 1990 and in 2020.

Figure 8

Determine the difference between the emission of particulates from industrial processes and the emission of particulates from road transport in 1990.

Use Figure 8.

Emission of particulates from industrial processes = __________ millions of kilograms

Emission of particulates from road transport = _____________millions of kilograms

Difference in emissions of particulates in 1990 = _______________ millions of kilograms

Give three conclusions from Figure 8.

1

2

3

Pollutants in the atmosphere can be harmful to the environment and to human health.

Four pollutants in the atmosphere are:

• carbon monoxide

• oxides of nitrogen

• particulates

• sulfur dioxide

Describe how carbon monoxide is produced from hydrocarbon fuels.

Describe one harmful effect of oxides of nitrogen.

Figure 7 shows the emissions of three atmospheric pollutants from 1970 to 2019.

Figure 7

Determine the percentage change in emission of oxides of nitrogen from 1970 to 2019.

Give your answer to 2 significant figures.

Percentage change (2 significant figures) = ___________ %

Compare the changes in the emission of atmospheric pollutants from 1970 to 2019.

You should refer to:

• sulfur dioxide

• oxides of nitrogen

• particulates

Use Figure 7.

Suggest one reason for the change in the emission of atmospheric pollutants shown in Figure 7.

Particulates are classified into different groups depending on diameter of the particulate.

Table 4 shows information about the different groups.

Table 4

A soot particle was viewed using a microscope.

The magnification used was ×5000.

The diameter of the image of the soot particle was 7.5 mm.

Determine the particulate group of the soot particle.

1 mm = 1000 micrometres

Use Table 4.

Real diameter of soot particle = micrometres

Particulate group. Tick (✓) one box.

• PM₁₀

• PM_2.5

• PM_0.1

Figure 4 shows part of the water cycle.

Figure 4

Name processes A and B shown on Figure 4.

Water that is safe to drink is called potable water.

Give two methods used to sterilise potable water.

Explain why it is more expensive to produce potable water from sea water than from river water.

Waste water must be treated to produce potable water.

Waste water from fields where crops are growing may contain chemicals.

Suggest two types of chemical from fields where crops are growing that must be removed from waste water.

One step in sewage treatment is sedimentation to produce sewage sludge and effluent.

What further treatment is used on the sewage sludge and on the effluent?

Sewage sludge ____________________

Effluent __________________________

Carbon-14 is formed in the atmosphere.

Carbon-14 reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide.

Explain why animal tissues contain carbon-14

In 1991 the frozen remains of a human body were found in a glacier.

The carbon-14 in the body was used to determine the age of the body.

The body was 5400 years old.

Explain why the body tissues had not decayed completely.

An isotope of carbon is carbon-14

Plants contain carbon-14

How does carbon-14 pass from plants to animals?

In 1991, the frozen remains of a human body were found in a glacier.

The body was 5400 years old.

The body tissues had not decayed completely.

What causes the decay of body tissues?

Tick (✓) one box.

In a managed forest:

• tree seedlings are regularly planted

• some trees are regularly removed

Figure 12 shows information about the managed forest.

Figure 12

Name the processes X, Y and Z in Figure 12.

Choose answers from the box.

The dead trees are broken down during process Z.

What type of organism breaks down the dead trees?

Explain how growing trees reduces climate change.

You should refer to carbon dioxide in your answer.

A scientist investigated the number of tree species in two forests in 1970 and 2000.

Table 4 shows the results.

Table 4

Give two conclusions about the number of tree species in the forests in 1970 and 2000.

Carbon monoxide is an atmospheric pollutant.

How is carbon monoxide formed?

Breathing in carbon monoxide can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Which of the following is a symptom of carbon monoxide poisoning?

Tick (✓) one box.

Carbon monoxide can build up in a room.

The risk of carbon monoxide poisoning can be reduced by opening windows in the room.

Suggest how opening windows reduces the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The atmosphere of the Earth has changed since the Earth formed.

The Earth's early atmosphere may have been similar to the atmosphere of Mars today.

Figure 4 shows the main gases in the atmosphere of Mars today and the atmosphere of the Earth today.

Determine percentage X in Figure 4.

X = ______________ %

Give three differences between the atmosphere of the Earth today and the atmosphere of Mars today.

Use Figure 4.

What was the source of the nitrogen in the Earth's early atmosphere?

Why did the formation of oceans cause the carbon dioxide concentration in the Earth's early atmosphere to change?

It was important that the water in the meteorite was analysed as soon as possible.

Suggest one reason why.

The atmosphere of the Earth has changed since the Earth formed.

What was the source of nitrogen in the Earth's early atmosphere?

Figure 6 shows the change in the percentage of nitrogen in the Earth's atmosphere during the last 4.5 billion years.

The graph shows a tangent drawn at 3.0 billion years ago.

Determine the rate of change in the percentage of nitrogen in the atmosphere 3.0 billion years ago.

Give your answer to 2 significant figures.

Rate of change (2 significant figures) = __________ % per billion years

Why did the percentage of carbon dioxide in the Earth's early atmosphere change when the oceans formed?

Two students analysed water from four rivers.

Each student measured the pH of the river water using a different method.

Table 5 shows the results.

Table 5

Suggest what was used to measure the pH in each method.

Method A: _____________________________________

Method B: _____________________________________

Why is it not valid to calculate a mean of the two pH values for each river?

Tick (✓) one box.

Complete the sentence. Choose the answer from the box.

Method A and method B gave similar results.

This shows that the results are .

Which river is most likely to be in an area with a high concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air?

Use Table 5.

Tick (✓) one box.

Explain your answer to Question 08.4.

Describe a method to determine the mass of dissolved solids in 50 cm³ of river water.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a type of bacterium.

E. coli causes symptoms of food poisoning.

Water companies sterilise rain water to produce drinking water. The drinking water is then transported to homes in underground pipes. Flooding can cause contamination of the drinking water by E. coli.

Suggest how people should treat drinking water at home if there is a risk of E. coli contamination.

Figure 1 shows two graphs over the same one-month period:

• Rainfall in mm (peak ≈78 mm at day 12)

• Number of cases of E. coli (peak ≈40 cases at day 17, around 5 days after the rainfall peak)

The rainfall on day 12 was greater than on day 10.

Calculate how many times greater.

Number of times greater = _____________

Symptoms of E. coli infection usually occur 5 days after infection.

A scientist stated:

'Increased rainfall causes an increase in the number of cases of E. coli.'

Describe one piece of evidence from Figure 1 that supports the scientist's statement.

Why might the number of cases of E. coli infection increase in the future?

Tick (✓) one box.

Climate change is caused by an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas.

Name two other greenhouse gases.

Do not refer to carbon dioxide in your answer.

Describe one way the rate of increase in carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere could be reduced.

Carbon monoxide is an atmospheric pollutant.

Carbon monoxide can have dangerous effects on the human body.

Describe how carbon monoxide is formed from hydrocarbon fuels.

Scientists investigated the effect of breathing in air containing different concentrations of carbon monoxide. They measured the percentage of haemoglobin molecules attached to oxygen at different concentrations of oxygen in the blood.

The air breathed contained:

• no carbon monoxide

• a low concentration of carbon monoxide.

Figure 5 shows the results

A person:

• breathes in air containing no carbon monoxide

• has a concentration of oxygen in the blood of 90 arbitrary units.

What percentage of haemoglobin molecules are attached to oxygen?

Use Figure 5.

Percentage = __________%

The scientists repeated the investigation with air containing a higher concentration of carbon monoxide.

Table 3 shows the results.

Table 3

Complete Figure 5.

You should:

• plot the data from Table 3

• draw a line of best fit.

A person breathes in air containing a low concentration of carbon monoxide.

Suggest two symptoms the person might show.

Figure 2 shows the carbon cycle.

Use information from Figure 2 to answer the question.

In process A, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is taken into plants.

What is process A?

Tick one box.

In process B, carbon dioxide is released from plants and animals into the atmosphere.

What is process B?

Tick one box.

In which process is carbon passed from one organism to another?

Tick one box.

What will happen to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere if lots of trees are cut down?

Greenhouse gases cause global warming.

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas.

Name two other greenhouse gases.

When living organisms die the dead material decays and is broken down.

The process of decay returns carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

What type of organism causes decay?

Millions of years ago the Earth's atmosphere was probably like the atmosphere of Mars today.

Table 4 shows percentages of the main gases in the atmospheres of Earth and Mars today.

Table 4

For each gas in the table, suggest a reason for the change in the percentage of the gas in Earth's atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide: _____________________________________________

Nitrogen: __________________________________________________

Oxygen: ___________________________________________________

Figure 8 shows how the concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere changed between 1900 and 2000.

One of the causes of the increase in carbon dioxide between 1900 and 2000 is increased use of fossil fuels.

Suggest when use of fossil fuels began to increase.

Use data from Figure 8 to explain your answer.

What is the percentage increase in carbon dioxide levels between 1970 and 2000?

Increase = ____________%

Explain how the changes shown in Figure 8 can have harmful effects on the environment.

Oxides of nitrogen are produced when fuels are burnt.

Write a balanced symbol equation for the production of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) from nitrogen and oxygen.

Figure 11 gives information about emissions of oxides of nitrogen in the UK

Calculate the percentage decrease in emissions of oxides of nitrogen from 1990 to 2014.

Give your answer to three significant figures.

Percentage decrease =______________ %

Give one advantage of reducing the emissions of oxides of nitrogen.

All life on Earth depends on water.

Figure 5 shows an iceberg floating on the sea.

Explain how the water molecules in the iceberg could end up as water in a lake.

Rainwater collects in rivers and lakes.

Water in rivers and lakes contains materials that make the water unsafe to drink.

Describe how the water from rivers and lakes is treated to make it safe to drink.