SOME BASIC CONCEPTS OF CHEMISTRY

IMPORTANCE IN CHEMISTRY

Chemistry has a direct impact on our lives and has a wide range of applications in different fields. These are given below:

A. IN AGRICULTURE AND FOOD:

(i) It has provided chemical fertilizers such as urea, calcium phosphate, sodium nitrate, ammonium phosphate etc.
(ii) It has helped to protect the crops from insects and harmful bacteria, by the use of certain effective insecticides, fungicides and pesticides.
(iii) The use of preservatives has helped to preserve food products like jam, butter, squashes etc. for longer periods.

B. IN HEALTH AND SANITATION:

(i) It has provided mankind with a large number of life-saving drugs. Today, dysentery and pneumonia are curable due to the discovery of sulfa drugs and penicillin life-saving drugs. Cisplatin and taxol have been found to be very effective for cancer therapy and AZT (Azidothymidine) is used for AIDS victims.
(ii) Disinfectants such as phenol are used to kill the micro-organisms present in drains, toilets, floors etc.
(iii) A low concentration of chlorine i.e., 0.2 to 0.4 parts per million (ppm) is used for sterilization of water to make it fit for drinking purposes.

C. SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT:

The rapid industrialisation all over the world has resulted in a lot of pollution. Poisonous gases and chemicals are being constantly released in the atmosphere. They are polluting the environment at an alarming rate. Scientists are working day and night to develop substitutes which may cause lower pollution. For example, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), a substitute of petrol, is very effective in checking pollution caused by automobiles.

D. APPLICATION IN INDUSTRY:

Chemistry has played an important role in developing many industrially manufactured fertilizers, alkalis, acids, salts, dyes, polymers, drugs, soaps,
detergents, metal alloys and other inorganic and organic chemicals including new materials contribute in a big way to the national economy.

MATTER

Anything which has mass and occupies space is called matter. For example, books, pencils, water, air are composed of matter as we know that they have mass and they occupy space.

CLASSIFICATION OF MATTER

There are two ways of classifying the matter:
(A) Physical classification
(B) Chemical classification

(A) PHYSICAL EXAMINATION

Matter can exist in three physical states:
1. Solids 2. Liquids 3. Gases
1. Solids: The particles are held very close to each other in an orderly fashion and there is not much freedom of movement. Characteristics of solids: Solids have definite volume and definite shape.
2. Liquids: In liquids, the particles are close to each other but can move around. Characteristics of liquids: Liquids have definite volume but not definite shape.
3. Gases: In gases, the particles are far apart as compared to those present in solid or liquid states. Their movement is easy and fast.
Characteristics of Gases: Gases have neither definite volume nor definite shape. They completely occupy the container in which they are placed.

(B) CHEMICAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Pure substances:

A pure substance may be defined as a single substance (or matter) which cannot be separated by simple physical methods.
Pure substances can be further classified as (i) Elements (ii) Compounds

(i) Elements:

An element consists of only one type of particle. These particles may be atoms or molecules.
For example, sodium, copper, silver, hydrogen, oxygen etc. are some examples of elements.
They all contain atoms of one type.
However, atoms of different elements are different in nature.
Some elements such as sodium . or copper contain single atoms held together as their constituent particles whereas in some others two or more atoms combine to give molecules of the element.
Thus, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen gases consist of molecules in which two atoms combine to give the respective molecules of the element.

(ii) Compounds:

It may be defined as a pure substance containing two or more elements combined together in a fixed proportion by weight and can be decomposed into these elements by suitable chemical methods.
Moreover, the properties of a compound are altogether different from the constituting elements.
The compounds have been classified into two types. These are:

(a) Inorganic Compounds:

These are compounds which are obtained from non-living sources such as rocks and minerals. A few examples are: Common salt, marble, gypsum, washing soda etc.

(b) Organic Compounds:

These are the compounds which are present in plants and animals. All the organic compounds have been found to contain carbon as their essential constituent. For example, carbohydrates, proteins, oils, fats etc.

2. Mixtures

The combination of two or more elements or compounds which are not chemically combined together and may also be present in any proportion, is called mixture. A few examples of mixtures are: milk, sea water, petrol, lime water, paint glass, cement, wood etc.

Types of Mixtures:

(i) Homogeneous mixtures: A mixture is said to be homogeneous if it has a uniform composition throughout and there are no visible boundaries of separation between the constituents. For example: A mixture of sugar solution in water has the same sugar water composition throughout and all portions have the same sweetness.
(ii) Heterogeneous mixtures: A mixture is said to be heterogeneous if it does not have uniform composition throughout and has visible boundaries of separation between the various constituents. The different constituents of a heterogeneous mixture can be seen even with naked eye. For example: When iron filings and sulphur powder are mixed together, the mixture formed is heterogeneous. It has a greyish-yellow appearance and the two constituents, iron and sulphur, can be easily identified with naked eye.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COMPOUNDS AND MIXTURES

Compounds:

1. In a compound, two or more elements are combined chemically.
2. In a compound, the elements are present in the fixed ratio by mass. This ratio cannot change.
3. Compounds are always homogeneous, i.e., they have the same composition throughout.
4. In a compound, constituents cannot be separated by physical methods.
5. In a compound, the constituents lose their identities i.e., i compound does not show the characteristics of the constituting elements.

Mixtures:

1. In a mixture, more elements or compounds are simply mixed and not combined chemically.
2. In a mixture the constituents are not present in a fixed ratio. It can vary.
3. Mixtures may be either homogeneous or heterogeneous in nature.
4. Constituents of mixtures can be separated by physical methods.
5, In a mixture, the constituents do not lose their identities i.e., a mixture shows the characteristics of all the constituents .
We have discussed the physical and chemical classification of matter.

PROPERTIES OF MATTER AND THEIR MEASUREMENTS

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

Those properties which can be measured or observed without changing the identity or the composition of the substance. Some examples of physical properties are colour, odour, melting point, boiling point etc.

CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

It requires a chemical change to occur. The examples of chemical properties are characteristic reactions of different substances. These include acidity, basicity, combustibility etc.

UNITS OF MEASUREMENT

Fundamental Units: The quantities mass, length and time are called fundamental quantities and their units are known as fundamental units. There are seven basic units of measurement for the quantities: length, mass, time, temperature, amount of substance, electric current and luminous intensity.

SI-SYSTEM

This system of measurement is the most common system employed throughout the world. It has given units of all the seven basic quantities listed above.

DEFINITELY OF BASIC SI UNITS

1. Metre: It is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of a second.
2. Kilogram: It is the unit of mass. It is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram.
3. Second: It is the duration of 9192631, 770 periods of radiation which correspond to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of caesium- 133 atoms.
4. Kelvin: It is the unit of thermodynamic temperature and is equal to 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water.
5. Ampere: The ampere is that constant current which if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross section and placed, 1 metre apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10-7 N per metre of length.
6. Candela: It may be defined as the luminous intensity in a given direction, from a source which emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 Hz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/ 683 watt per steradian.
7. Mole: It is the amount of substance which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon -12. Its symbol is ‘mol’.

MASS AND WEIGHT

MASS

Mass of a substance is the amount of matter present in it.
The mass of a substance is constant.
The mass of a substance can be determined accurately in the laboratory by using an analytical balance.
The SI unit of mass is kilogram.

WEIGHT

It is the force exerted by gravity on an object. Weight of a substance may vary from one place to another due to change in gravity.

VOLUME

Volume means the space occupied by matter.
It has the units of (length)3.
In SI units, volume is expressed in metre3 (m3).
However, a popular unit of measuring volume, particularly in liquids is litre (L) but it is not in SI units or an S.I. unit.
Mathematically,
1L = 1000 mL = 1000 cm3 = 1dm3.
Volume of liquids can be measured by different devices like a burette, pipette, cylinder, measuring flask etc. All of them have been calibrated.

TEMPERATURE

There are three scales in which temperature can be measured. These are known as Celsius scale (°C), Fahrenheit scale (°F) and Kelvin scale (K).

-> Thermometers with Celsius scale are calibrated from 0°C to 100°C.
-> Thermometers with Fahrenheit scale are calibrated from 32°F to 212°F.
-> Kelvin Scale of temperature is S.I. scale and is very common these days. Temperature on this scale is shown by the sign K. The temperature on two scales are related to each other by the relationship.

DENSITY

Density of a substance is its amount of mass per unit volume. So, SI units of density can be obtained as follows:

This unit is quite large and a chemist often expresses density in g cm3 where mass is expressed in grams and volume is expressed in cm3.

UNCERTAINTY IN MEASUREMENTS

All scientific measurements involve a certain degree of error or uncertainty.
The errors which arise depend upon two factors.
(i) Skill and accuracy of the worker
(ii) Limitations of measuring instruments.

LAWS OF CHEMICAL COMBINATIONS

The combination of elements to form compounds is governed by the following five basic laws.
(i) Law of Conservation of Mass
(ii) Law of Definite Proportions
(iii) Law of Multiple Proportions
(iv) Law of Gaseous Volume (Gay Lussac’s Law)
(v) Avogadro’s Law

(i) LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS

The law was established by a French chemist, A. Lavoisier.
The law states:
In all physical and chemical changes, the total mass of the reactants is equal to that of the products.
In other words, matter can neither be created nor destroyed.
The following experiments illustrate the truth of this law.
(a) When matter undergoes a physical change.

It is found that there is no change in weight though a physical change has taken place.
(b) When matter undergoes a chemical change.
For example, decomposition of mercuric oxide.

During the above decomposition reaction, matter is neither gained nor lost.

(ii) LAW OF DEFINITE PROPORTIONS

According to this law:
A pure chemical compound always consists of the same elements combined together in a fixed proportion by weight.
For example, Carbon dioxide may be formed in a number of ways i.e.,

(iii) LAW OF MULTIPLE PROPORTIONS

If two elements combine to form two or more compounds, the weight of one of the elements which combines with a fixed weight of the other in these compounds, bears a simple whole number ratio by weight.
For example,

(iv) GAY LUSSAC'S LAW OF GASEOUS VOLUMES

The law states that, under similar conditions of temperature and pressure, whenever gases combine, they do so in volumes which bear simple whole number ratios with each other and also with the gaseous products. The law may be illustrated by the following examples. (a) Combination between hydrogen and chlorine:

(b) Combination between nitrogen and hydrogen: The two gases lead to the formation of ammonia gas under suitable conditions. The chemical equation is

(v) AVOGADRO'S LAW

Avogadro proposed that equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure should contain an equal number of molecules.
For example,
If we consider the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to produce water, we see that two volumes of hydrogen combine with one volume of oxygen to give two volumes of water without leaving any unreacted oxygen.

DALTON'S ATOMIC THEORY

In 1808, Dalton published ‘A New System of Chemical Philosophy’ in which he proposed the following:
1. Matter consists of indivisible atoms.
2. All the atoms of a given element have identical properties including identical mass. Atoms of different elements differ in mass.
3. Compounds are formed when atoms of different elements combine in a fixed ratio.
4. Chemical reactions involve reorganisation of atoms. These are neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.

ATOMIC MASS

The atomic mass of an element is the number of times an atom of that element is heavier than an atom of carbon taken as 12. It may be noted that the atomic masses as obtained above are the relative atomic masses and not the actual masses of the atoms. One atomic mass unit (amu) is equal to l/12th of the mass of an atom of carbon-12 isotope. It is also known as a unified mass.

AVERAGE ATOMIC MASS

Most of the elements exist as isotopes which are different atoms of the same element with different mass numbers and the same atomic number. Therefore, the atomic mass of an element must be its average atomic mass and it may be defined as the average relative mass of an atom of an element as compared to the mass of carbon atoms (C-12) taken as 12w.

MOLECULAR MASS

Molecular mass is the sum of atomic masses of the elements present in a molecule. It is obtained by multiplying the atomic mass of each element by the number of its atoms and adding them together.
For example,
Molecular mass of methane (CH4)
= 12.011 u + 4 (1.008 u)
= 16.043 u

FORMULA MASS

Ionic compounds such as NaCl, KNO3, Na2C03 etc. do not consist of molecules i.e., single entities but exist “as ions closely packed together in a three dimensional space as shown in -Fig. 1.5.

In such cases, the formula is used to calculate the formula mass instead of molecular mass. Thus, formula mass of NaCl = Atomic mass of sodium + atomic mass of chlorine = 23.0 u + 35.5 u = 58.5 u.

MOLE CONCEPT

It is found that one gram atom of any element contains the same number of atoms and one gram molecule of any substance contains the same number of molecules.
This number has been experimentally determined and found to be equal to 6.022137 x 1023 The value is generally called Avogadro’s number or Avogadro’s constant.
It is usually represented by NA:
Avogadro’s Number, NA = 6.022 × 1023

PERCENTAGE COMPOSITION

One can check the purity of a given sample by analysing this data. Let us understand by taking the example of water (H20). Since water contains hydrogen and oxygen, the percentage composition of both these elements can be calculated as follows:

EMPIRICAL FORMULA

The formula of the compound which gives the simplest whole number ratio of the atoms of yarious elements present in one molecule of the compound.
For example, the formula of hydrogen peroxide is H202.
In order to express its empirical formula, we have to take out a common factor 2.
The simplest whole number ratio of the atoms is 1:1 and the empirical formula is HO. Similarly, the formula of glucose is C6H1206.
In order to get the simplest whole number of the atoms,
(i) Common factor = 6
(ii) The ratio is = 1 : 2 : 1 The empirical formula of glucose = CH20

MOLECULAR FORMULA

The formula of a compound which gives the actual ratio of the atoms of various elements present in one molecule of the compound. For example, molecular formula of hydrogen peroxide = H202and Glucose = C6H1206
Molecular formula = n x Empirical formula
Where n is the common factor and also called the multiplying factor.
The value of n may be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc.
In case n is 1, Molecular formula of a compound = Empirical formula of the compound.

STOICHIOMETRY AND STOICHIOMETRIC CALCULATIONS

The word ‘stoichiometry’ is derived from two Greek words—Stoicheion (meaning element) and metron (meaning measure). Stoichiometry deals with the calculation of masses (sometimes volume also) of the reactants and the products involved in a chemical reaction.
Let us consider the combustion of methane. A balanced equation for this reaction is as given below:

LIMITING REACTANT/REAGENT

Sometimes, in alchemical equations, the reactants present are not the amount as required according to the balanced equation. The amount of products formed then depends upon the reactant which has reacted completely. This reactant which reacts completely in the reaction is called the limiting reactant or limiting reagent. The reactant which is not consumed completely in the reaction is called an excess reactant.

REACTIONS IN SOLUTIONS

When the reactions are carried out in solutions, the amount of substance present in its given volume can be expressed in any of the following ways:
1. Mass percent or weight percent (w/w%)
2. Mole fraction
3. Molarity
4. Molality

1. Mass percent:

It is obtained by using the following relation:

2. Mole fraction:

It is the ratio of the number of moles of a particular component to the total number of moles of the solution. For a solution containing n2 moles of the solute dissolved in n1 moles of the solvent,

3. Molarity:

It is defined as the number of moles of solute in 1 litre of the solution.

4. Molality:

It is defined as the number of moles of solute present in 1 kg of solvent. It is denoted by m.