Introduction to Chemistry

I. THE SIGNIFICANCE and RELEVANCE of CHEMISTRY

What is Chemistry?
Chemistry is the study of the composition, structure, properties, and changes of matter.

• The composition of matter relates to the kinds of elements it contains.

• The structure of matter relates to the ways the atoms of these elements are arranged.

• A molecule is an entity composed of two or more atoms with the atoms attached to one another in a
specific way.

Why study Chemistry?

• Chemistry provides an important understanding to our world and how it works.

• It is an extremely practical science that greatly impacts our daily living.

• Chemistry lies near the heart of many matters of public concern:

- improvement of health care

- conservation of natural resources

- protection of the environment

- provision of our everyday needs for food clothing and shelter

Using chemistry, pharmaceutical chemicals that

enhance health and prolong lives were discovered

• Increased food production through the development of fertilizers and pesticides.

• Plastics and other materials that are used in almost every facet of our lives were developed

• Unfortunately, some chemicals also have the potential to harm our health or the environment. It is in
our best interest as educated citizens and consumers to understand the profound effects, both positive
and negative, that chemicals have on our lives and to strike an informed balanced about their uses.
 II. LABORATORY SAFETY MEASURES
• What are the general hazards in a laboratory?

• Fire

• Breakage of glassware

• Sharps

• Spillages

• Pressure equipment & gas

cylinders

• Extremes of heat & cold

• Chemical hazards

• Biological hazards

• Radiation

Laboratory hygiene
• Never eat, drink or smoke in a laboratory

• Never apply cosmetics

• Never touch your face, mouth or eyes

• Never suck pens or chew pencils

• Always wash your hands before you leave and especially before eating

Protecting yourself
• Wear the clothing and protective wear identified in your risk assessment

• Laboratory coats must be kept fastened

• Don’t wear sandals or open shoes

• Long hair must be tied back

Protecting yourself - gloves
• There are many different types of protective glove

• Use the correct ones for the job you will be doing

• Remember that you need to select chemical protection gloves according to the materials and/or
substances with which you will be working

• Remove your gloves before using instruments, telephone, and leaving the laboratory

Glassware
• Use correct techniques for the insertion of tubing onto

glassware

• Never use glassware under pressure or vacuum unless it is designed for the job and suitably shielded

• Dispose of chipped or broken glassware – it is a risk to you and others

• Always dispose of broken glass in a glass bin or sharps bin and not in a general waste bin

Spillages
• Clear up spillage promptly

• You will already have determined how to do this as part of your risk assessment

• Dispose of any hazardous material as toxic waste

Messy workers are usually poor workers!!

Electrical Equipment
• Always do a visual check on electrical equipment before use, looking for obvious wear or defects

• All portable electrical equipment must have a current “PAT test” sticker

• NEVER use defective equipment

General Tidiness
• Keep your workplace tidy

• Clear up waste, deal with washing up and put things away as you finish with them

• Make sure everything is safe before you leave things unattended

• A tidy laboratory avoids accidents to everyone

First Aid
• All laboratory workers should undergo simple first aid training

• For ALL chemical splashes, wash with plenty of water for 10 minutes

• Control bleeding with direct pressure, avoiding any foreign bodies such as glass

• Report all accidents to your teacher or laboratory personnel

Waste Materials
• Part of your risk assessment will be to determine how to dispose of waste lab materials safely

• Solvents and oils must be segregated into the correct waste bottle or drum

• Your department will help you determine what to do with chemical or biological materials

• Do not put materials down the drain or in with normal waste unless authorized to do so

When in doubt – ASK!!!

• Do not carry out a new or unfamiliar procedure until you have been fully trained & understand the
precautions necessary for safe working

• DO NOT GUESS!!!!

III. LABORATORY APPARATUS and EQUIPMENT

 Beaker - Beakers hold solids or liquids that will not release gases when reacted or are unlikely to
splatter if stirred or heated.

 Beaker Tongs - Beaker tongs are used to move beakers containing hot liquids.
 Erlenmeyer Flask - Erlenmeyer flasks hold solids or liquids that may release gases during a
reaction or that are likely to splatter if stirred or heated.

 Florence Flask - Rarely used in first year chemistry, it is used for the mixing of chemicals. Narrow
neck prevents splash exposure.

 Graduated Cylinder - A graduated cylinder is used to measure volumes of liquids.

 Test Tubes

 Test Tube Holder - A test tube holder is useful for holding a test tube which is too hot to handle.
 Test Tube Brushes - Test tube brushes are used to clean test tubes and graduated cylinders.
Forcing a large brush into a small test tube will often break the tube.

 Test Tube Racks - Test tube racks are for holding and organizing test tubes on the laboratory
counter.
After washing flip test tube over on wooden peg to dry.

 Rubber Stoppers - Rubber stoppers are used to close containers to avoid spillage or
contamination.
Containers should never be heated when there is a stopper in place.

 Spot Plates - Spot plates are used when we want to perform many small scale reactions at one
time.
 Glass Stir Rod - A glass rod is used to manually stir solutions. It can also be used to transfer a
single drop of a solution.

 Funnel - A funnel is used to aid in the transfer of liquid from one vessel to another.

 Watch Glass - A watch glass is used to hold a small amount of solid, such as the product of a
reaction.

 Wash Bottle - A wash bottle has a spout that delivers a wash solution to a specific area. Distilled
water is the only liquid that should be used in a wash bottle.

 Weighing Boat - Weighing boats are used to weigh solids that will be transferred to another
vessel.
 Bunsen Burner - Bunsen burners are used for the heating of nonvolatile liquids and solids.

 Strikers -Strikers are used to light Bunsen burners.

The flints on strikers are expensive. Do not operate the striker repeatedly just to see the sparks!

 Evaporating Dish - The evaporating dish is used for the heating of stable solid compounds and
elements.

 Crucible - Crucibles are used for heating certain solids, particularly metals, to very high
temperatures.

 Clay Triangle - The clay triangle is used as a support for porcelain crucibles when being heated
over a Bunsen burner.
 Crucible Tongs - For handling hot crucibles; also used to pick up other hot objects.
NOT to be used for picking up beakers!

RINGSTANDS AND THEIR COMPONENTS

 Ringstand - Ringstands are a safe and convenient way to perform reactions that require
heating using a Bunsen burner.

 Utility Clamps - Utility clamps are used to secure test tubes, distillation columns, and
burets to the ringstand.

 Iron Ring - Iron rings connect to a ringstand and provide a stable, elevated platform for
the reaction.
  Wire Gauze - Wire gauze sits on the iron ring to provide a place to stand a beaker.

 Triangular File - Triangular files are used primarily to cut glass rod, a skill that your
instructor will share with you when it becomes useful.

 Medicine Dropper - A medicine dropper is used to transfer a small volume of liquid (less
than one mL). On top of each medicine dropper is a “rubber bulb”

 Mohr Pipet - A Mohr pipet measures and delivers exact volumes of liquids.

IV. PHYSICAL QUANTITIES and SYSTEMS of MEASUREMENTS

Physical Quantities

• A physical quantity is a property of a material or system that can be quantified by measurement.

• A physical quantity can be expressed as the combination of a numerical value and a unit.
For example, the physical quantity mass can be quantified as n kg, where n is the numerical value and kg
is the unit.
• Measurement is the act of comparing a physical quantity with its unit. Measurement result is the
value of a physical quantity obtained by means of measurement.

BASE UNITS IN THE METRIC SYSTEM

1. Length meter (m) 4. Time second (s) 7. Amount of a substance mole (mol)
2. Volume liter (L) 5. Temperature Kelvin (K)
3. Mass gram (g) 6. Energy Joule (J)
 METRIC and ENGLISH SYSTEMS

• In the United States, most measurements are made with the English system of units: pounds, miles,
gallons, and so on.
• Most countries use the metric system, however few people could tell what a pound or an inch is. Most
countries use the metric system that originated in France about 1800 and that has since spread
throughout the world.
• Around 1960, international scientific organizations adopted another system called the International
System Units (abbreviated as SI). The SI is based on the metric system and uses some of the metric unit.
The main difference is that the SI is more restrictive. It discourages the use of certain metric units and
favor others, it also has significant disadvantages. For this reason US chemist have been very slow to
adopt it.

SOME CONVERSION FACTORS

LENGTH

In the English System we have the foot, the yard, and the mile. If you want to convert one unit to
another, you must memorize or look up to these conversion factors:
5280 ft.= 1 mile
1760 yards= 1 mile
3 feet= 1 yard
12 inches= 1 foot
 VOLUME
• Volume is space.
• The volume of a liquid, solid or gas is the space occupied by the substance.
• The base unit of volume in the metric system is the Liter (L). This unit is a little larger that quart. The
only common metric unit for volume is the milliliter (mL) which is equal to 10−3 L.
1 ml =0.001 L
1 L = 1000 ml = 1000 cc (cubic centimeter)

TIME and TEMPERATURE

Time is the quantity for which the units are the same in all systems: English, metric, and SI, The base unit
is second (s).
60 s = 1 min ; 60 min = 1 h

Temperature is the degree of hotness or coldness measured on a definite scale.

Most people in the United States are familiar with the Fahrenheit scale of temperature. The metric
system uses the centigrade, or Celsius , scale. In this scale, the boiling point of water is set at 100 C and
the freezing point in 0 C . We can convert from one scale to the other by using the following formulas.

T(°C) = (T(°F) - 32) × 5/9 or T(°C) = (T(°F) - 32) / (9/5) or T(°C) = (T(°F) - 32) / 1.8
 HOW DO SCIENTISTS REPORT NUMBERS?

• Because we frequently use very large or very small numbers, we use powers of 10 to express these
numbers more conveniently, a method called exponential notation.
• With exponential notation, we no longer have to keep track of so many zeros, and we have the added
convenience of being able to see which digits convey information (significant figures) and which merely
indicate the position of the decimal point.

HOW TO DETERMINE THE NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT

FIGURES IN A NUMBER
1. Nonzero digits are significant.
Ex. 233.1 m has four significant figures; 2.3 g has two significant figures
2. Zeros at the beginning of a number are never significant.
Ex. 0.0055 L has two significant figures; 0.3456 has four significant figures
3. Zeros between nonzero digits are always significant.
Ex. 2.045 kcal has four significant figures; 8.0506 g has five significant figures
4. Zeros at the end of a number that contains a decimal point are always significant.
Ex. 3.00 L has three significant figures; 0.0450 mm has three significant figures
5. Zeros at the end of a number that contains a decimal point may or may not be significant.

UNIT CONVERSION BY THE FACTOR-LABEL METHOD (Dimensional Analysis)

One of the most useful ways of approaching conversions is to ask three questions:
• What information am I given? This is the starting point.
• What do I want to know? This is the answer that you want to find.
• What is the connection between the first two? This is the conversion factor. More than one conversion
factor may be needed for some problems.

Example 1. Unit conversion : Volume

The label on a container of olive oil says 1.844 gal. How many milliliters does the container hold in 5
significant figures?
Strategy: Here we use two conversion factors, rather than a single one. We will need to keep track of
units.
Solution: We use the conversion factor, 1 gal= 3.785 L, 1000 mL=1 L

Example 2. Unit conversion: Multiple Units

The maximum speed limit on many roads in United States is 65 mi/h. How many meters per second in
four significant figures (m/s) is this speed?
Strategy: We use conversion factors in succession. It is more important than ever to keep track of units.
Solution:
 MATTER
•States •Properties •Classification

Chemistry
The study of matter, its classification, composition, properties and structure; the changes it undergoes,
the energy transformation that goes with the change, and the laws and principles governing such
changes.

Matter

-is anything that occupies space and has mass

-can be invisible (can not be seen by the naked eye)
-may appear to be continuous and unbroken (but actually discontinuous; since it is made up of tiny
particles)
-can be classified based on the physical state, or based on the chemical state or composition

Matter

An apparently empty test tube is submerged, mouth downward in water.

Only a small volume of water rises into the tube, which is actually filled with invisible matter, that is air.

Classification of Matter

A pure substance is always homogeneous in composition, whereas a mixture always contains two or
more substances and may be either homogeneous or heterogeneous.
 Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Mixture
Homogeneous Mixture – Matter that is uniform in appearance and with uniform properties all
throughout.
Examples: ice, soda, solid gold, metal alloy
Heterogeneous Mixture – Matter with two or more physically distinct phases present.
Examples: iced water, wood, concrete, blood

Phase Changes in Matter

• Solid to liquid - Melting
• Solid to gas - Sublimation
• Liquid to solid - Freezing
• Liquid to gas - Evaporation
• Gas to liquid - Condensation
• Gas to solid - Deposition

States of Matter

 Solid – has a fixed shape and volume

 Liquid – has a fixed volume but it takes the shape of its container
 Gas – has neither a fixed volume nor shape
 Plasma – phase of matter that can only be observed at extremely high temperature ( present in
the sun and stars, outer space, and in nuclear reactions).
 Bose-Einstein Condensate – phase of matter that can only be observed at extremely low
temperature ( the temperature that approaches zero, 0 K).

Comparison Between Compound & Mixture

 Element and Compound
 Element – is a fundamental or elementary substance that cannot be broken down into simpler
substances by chemical means.
Examples : hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, aluminum

 Compound – is a distinct substance that contains two or more elements combined in a definite
proportion by weight.
Examples: carbon dioxide, water, sugar, salt

Compounds can be classified as molecular or ionic.

• Ionic compounds are held together by attractive forces between their positive and negative charges.

• Molecular compounds are held together by covalent bonds.

Properties of a Substance
• A property is a characteristic of a substance.

• Each substance has a set of properties that are characteristic of that substance and give it a unique
identity.

Properties: Intensive / Extensive

Intensive properties are attributes that do not depend on the amount of matter.

Examples: density, boiling point, melting point, color, malleability, solubility, composition, etc

Extensive properties are attributes that depend on the amount of matter.

Examples: (volume, mass, size, length, etc)

 Properties: Chemical / Physical
• Chemical properties are observed when a material undergoes chemical change. (nuclear/atomic
stability, combustibility, ionization, relative activity to other substances, etc)

• Physical properties can be observed without changing the composition of the substance. (mass,
density, malleability, volatility, color, etc.)

Changes in Matter
• Physical Change

• Chemical Change

 Endothermic – chemical reaction that involves absorption of heat by the system from the
surrounding.
 Exothermic – chemical reaction which involves release to heat by the system to the
surrounding.
Observations that a chemical change has occurred include:
1. There may be a color change. When colorless acid and alkali are mixed, a colorless solution remains. If
indicator is added, there is a color change.

2. A new substance may be formed that has a different state from the reactants. For example, a solid
may be formed from 2 liquids or a gas may be released from reacting a solid and a liquid.

3. There may be an energy change.

Energy may be given out – this is an exothermic process, and there is an increase in temperature.

Energy may be taken in – this is an endothermicprocess, and the temperature decreases.

Signs of Change
 All changes of state are called physical changes because the atoms and molecules within do not
change.
 All physical changes are easily reversible. The original state can be achieved by reversing the change.

• The nature of the atoms and molecules involved in a physical change is not altered – chemically they
are the same.

• A few physical changes, like dissolving certain solutes, result in a temperature change, but most
physical changes do not have an energy change associated with them.

• All chemical changes are difficult to reverse. They occur as a result of a reaction between reactant
chemicals to make new products – they can be summarized by an equation.

Laws and Principles Regarding Changes of Matter

• Law of Definite Composition

• Law of Multiple Proportion

• Law of Conservation of Mass

• Law of Conservation of Energy

  Law of Definite Composition

A given compound always contain exactly the same proportion of elements by weight. When atoms
combined to form compounds, it always have a fixed proportion.

 Law of Multiple Proportion

When two elements form a series of compounds, the rations of the masses of the second element that
combined with one gram of the first element can always be reduced to small whole numbers.

The significance of these data?

• Compound I contains twice as much nitrogen (N) per gram oxygen (O) as does Compound II.

• Compound II contain twice as much nitrogen per gram oxygen as does compound III.
  Law of Conservation of Mass

No change is observed in the total mass of the substances involved in a chemical change.

In a chemical reaction the total mass of the product is equal to the total mass of the reactant.

 Law of Conservation of Energy

Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, though it can be transformed from one form of energy to
another form of energy.

Forms of Energy

1.) Chemical energy 3.) Mechanical energy

2.) Radiant energy 4.) Electrical energy
i. Thermal energy
ii. Light
Atom – smallest particle of an elementthat can exist alone

• Two regions of an atom

1.) Nucleus

• Center of atom

• Protons and neutrons

2.) Electron “cloud”

• Area surrounding nucleus containing electrons

 Proton – Positive charge (+), 1 atomic mass unit (amu); found in the nucleus

• amu -Approximate mass of a proton or a neutron

 Neutron – Neutral charge (0), 1 amu; found inthe nucleus

 Electron – Negative charge (-), mass is VERY small
 Counting Atoms

• Atomic Number
• Number of protons in nucleus
• The number of protons determines identity of the element!!

• Mass Number (Atomic Mass)

• Number of protons + neutrons
• Units are g/mol

• Isotopes
- Atoms of the same element with varying number of neutrons
- Different isotopes have different mass numbers because the number of neutrons is different

Atoms
• Protons have a positive (+) charge and electrons have a negative (-) charge

• In a neutral atom, the number of protons equals the number of electrons, so the overall charge is zero
(0)

• Example: Helium, with an atomic number of 2, has 2 protons and 2 electrons when stable

Ions
• In a neutral atom

• Atomic number = # of protons = #of electrons

• Sometimes atoms will gain or lose electrons and form IONS

• Because an electron has a negative charge:

• When an atom GAINS electrons it becomes NEGATIVE

• When an atom LOSES electrons it becomes POSITIVE

 Ions
 Cation = a positive ion

 Anion = a negative ion

ION Example
Atomic Theory
1. Early Theory
a. Aristotle - all matter flows continuously and is composed of 4 elements

-fire, air, earth and water

b. Democritus - Disagreed with Aristotle and said that matter was made of small units called “atomos”
that were indivisible

Aristotle was more popular than Democritus so this theory was ignored for over 2000 years

2. Modern Theory

a. Dalton (England, 1800’s) atoms.

1. All elements are composed of atoms and they are indestructible-like a solid sphere.

They cannot be created or destroyed - LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MATTER

2. Atoms of the same element are exactly alike.

3. Atoms of different elements are different.

4. Compounds are formed by the joining of atoms of two or more elements.

b. Thomson (1897-England)- Discovered negatively charged electrons

c. Rutherford (1897- England)-In 1908, discovered the nucleus

d. Bohr (1913)-Denmark –said electrons were in orbits or energy levels around the nucleus.

•Energy Levels
The energy that an electron has is based on its location around the nucleus. (Electrons that are closer to
the nucleushave less energy than those that are farther away from the nucleus).

Energy Levels (cont’d)

• Level 1 -2 electrons

• Level 2 -8 electrons

• Level 3 -8 electrons

• Level 4 -18 electrons

• Level 5 -32 electrons

Each level must be full beforeanother can be started.

 Filling Rules for Electron Orbitals
 Aufbau Principle: Electrons are added one at a time to the lowest energy orbitals
available until all the electrons of the atom have been accounted for.
 Pauli Exclusion Principle: An orbital can hold a maximum of two electrons. To occupy
the same orbital, two electrons must spin in opposite directions.
 Hund’s Rule: Electrons occupy equal-energy orbitals so that a maximum number of
unpaired electrons results.