Class - 11th

Some basic concepts of

chemistry
● Chemistry is the branch of
science that deals with the
composition, structure and
properties of matter. Chemistry
is called the science of atoms
and molecule .

Importance of Chemistry
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: It has
provided mankind with a large number
of life-saving drugs. Today, dysentery
and pneumonia are curable due to
discovery of sulpha 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.

Matter - Anything which has mass and

occupies space is called matter.
For example, book, pencil, 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
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.
(B) Chemical classification -Based
upon the composition, matter can be
divided into two main types:
1. Pure Substances 2. Mixtures.

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

The compounds have been classified

into two types. These are:
(i) 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.
(ii) Organic Compounds 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

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
examples of mixtures are: milk, sea
water, petrol, lime water, paint glass,
cement, wood etc.
Types of mixtures: Mixtures are of two
types:
(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
Properties of Matter and Their
Measurements:

1)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.
2)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.

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.
•Mass and Weight-- Mass of a
substance is the amount of matter
present in it while weight is the force
exerted by gravity on an object. The
mass of a substance is constant
whereas its weight may vary from one
place to another due to change in
gravity. The mass of a substance can
be determined very accurately by
using an analytical balance
•Volume-- Volume has the units of
(length)3 . So volume has units of m3
or cm3 or dm3 .A common unit, litre
(L) is not an SI unit, is used for
measurement of volume of liquids. 1 L
= 1000 mL, 1000 cm3 = 1 dm3
•Density: Density of a substance is its
amount of mass per unit volume.SI
unit of density = SI unit of mass/SI unit
of volume = kg/m3 or kg m–3 This unit
is quite large and a chemist often
expresses density in g cm–3 .
• Temperature--There are three
common scales to measure
temperature — °C (degree celsius), °F
(degree Fahrenheit) and K (kelvin).
Here, K is the SI unit.
K = °C + 273.15

Derived Units:-
These units are the function of more
than one fundamental unit
Prefixes used in SI system
Uncertainty in Measurements
All scientific measurements involve
certain degree of error or uncertainty.

Scientific Notation

Scientific Notation In which any

number can be represented in the
form N × 10^n (Where n is an
exponent having positive or negative
values and N can vary between 1 to
10).
e.g. We can write 232.508 as
2.32508 x 10^2 in scientific notation.
Similarly, 0.00016 can be written as 1.6
x 10^–4 .
. If the given number is multiples
of 10 then the decimal point has
to move to the left, and the
power of 10 will be positive.
Example: 6000 = 6 × 10^3 is in
scientific notation.
. If the given number is smaller
than 1, then the decimal point
has to move to the right, so the
power of 10 will be negative.
Example: 0.006 = 6 × 0.001 = 6
× 10^-3 is in scientific notation.
Scientific Notation
Examples
. The examples of scientific
notation are:
490000000 = 4.9×10^8
1230000000 = 1.23×10^9
50500000 = 5.05 x 10^7
0.000000097 = 9.7 x 10^-8
0.0000212 = 2.12 x 10^-5
● Question : Convert 0.00000046
into scientific notation
 ● Question : Convert 1.36 × 10^7
from scientific notation to
standard notation.
Accuracy
The ability of an instrument to
measure the accurate value is known
as accuracy. In other words, it is
the the closeness of the measured
value to a standard or true value.

Precision
The closeness of two or more
measurements to each other is known
as the precision of a substance. If you
weigh a given substance five times
and get 3.2 kg each time, then your
measurement is very precise but not
necessarily accurate. Precision is
independent of accuracy.

Q1) The volume of a liquid is 26 mL. A

student measures the volume and
finds it to be 26.2 mL, 26.1 mL, 25.9
mL, and 26.3 mL in the first, second,
third, and fourth trial, respectively.
Which of the following statements is
true for his measurements?
a. They are neither precise nor
accurate.
b. They have poor accuracy.
c. They have good precision.
d. They have poor precision.
Answer: They have good precision.

i) Calculation involving multiplication

and division
(ii) Calculation involving addition and
subtraction: For these two operations,
the first numbers are written in such a
way that they have the same
exponent. After that, the coefficients
are added or subtracted as the case
may be. For example,

Significant figures:
Significant figures are meaningful
digits which are known with certainty.
There are certain rules for determining
the number of significant figures.
These are stated below:
1. All non-zero digits are significant.
For example, in 285 cm, there are
three significant figures and in 0.25
mL, there are two significant figures.
2. Zeros preceding to first non-zero
digit are not significant. Such zeros
indicates the position of decimal point.
For example, 0.03 has one significant
figure and 0.0052 has two significant
figures.
3. Zeros between two non-zero digits
are significant. Thus, 2.005 has four
significant figures.
4. Zeros at the end or right of a
number are significant provided they
are on the right side of the decimal
point. For example, 0.200 g has three
significant figures.
5. Counting numbers of objects. For
example, 2 balls or 20 eggs have
infinite significant figures as these are
exact numbers and can be
represented by writing infinite number
of zeros after placing a decimal.
i.e., 2 = 2.000000
or 20 = 20.000000

Addition and Subtraction of

Significant Figures :
In addition or subtraction of the
numbers having different precisions,
the final result should be reported to
the same number of decimal places as
in the term having the least number of
decimal places.
For example, let us carry out the
addition of three numbers 3.52, 2.3
and 6.24, having different precisions
or different number of decimal places.

The final result has two decimal places

but the answer has to be reported only
up to one decimal place, i.e., the
answer would be 12.0.
Subtraction of numbers can be done in
the same way as the addition.
The final result has four decimal
places. But it has to be reported only
up to two decimal places, i.e., the
answer would be 11.36.
• Multiplication and Division of
Significant Figures
In the multiplication or division, the
final result should be reported upto
the same number of significant figures
as present in the least precise number.
•if the calculation involves a number of
steps , the result should contain the
same number of significant figures as
that of the least precise number
involved , other than the exact
number .

Multiplication of Numbers: 2.2120 x

0.011 = 0.024332
According to the rule the final result =
0.024
Division of Numbers: 4.2211÷3.76 =
1.12263
The correct answer = 1.12