What this practice covers
These questions are drawn from past CIE 0620 Chemistry papers and filtered to giant covalent structures. You answer, you find out immediately whether you were right, and you get the reasoning for the correct option and for each distractor. Wrong answers go to a mistakes locker so you can come back to exactly those.
Practice is free. You need an account only so your progress and your mistakes are still there next time.
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What examiners see students get wrong here
These are the errors that cost marks on giant covalent structures, taken from our own topic notes. Read them before you practise and you will recognise the traps in the questions.
- Saying diamond and graphite are different because they contain different atoms. Both are pure carbon.
- Saying graphite conducts because the layers slide. Sliding explains softness; delocalised electrons explain conduction.
- Saying graphite has a low melting point because the forces between layers are weak. Melting breaks the covalent bonds within the layers, so the melting point is very high.
- Saying diamond conducts electricity because it is made of carbon like graphite.
- Saying weak covalent bonds hold graphite's layers together. The forces between layers are not covalent bonds at all.
- Giving silicon(IV) oxide the formula SiO or Si₂O.
- Saying a giant covalent substance dissolves in water. None of the three does.
Revise it first
If any of the above is unfamiliar, work through the notes before practising: Giant covalent structures revision notes.