Cavendish University Zambia

Chemistry Department

Lecturer: S. Mwale
• “The fear of the lord is the beginning
of wisdom, only fools despises wisdom
and discipline”. Proverbs 1.
Some Fundamental Definitions
• The science of chemistry deals with the
makeup of the entire physical universe.
• A good place to begin our discussion is
with the definition of a few central ideas,
some of which may already be familiar to
you.
• Chemistry is the study of matter and its
properties, the changes that matter
undergoes, and the energy associated
with those changes.
 The Properties of Matter
• Matter is the "stuff” of the universe:
 Air,
 glass,
 planets,
 students
• “Anything that has mass and volume”
• Chemists are particularly interested in
the composition of matter, the types and
amounts of simpler substances that make
it up.
 The Properties of Matter
• A substance is a type of matter that has
a defined, fixed composition.
• We learn about matter by observing its
properties, the characteristics that give
each substance its unique identity.
• To identify a person, we observe such
properties as height, weight, eye color,
race, fingerprints, and, now, even a DNA
fingerprint, until we arrive at a unique
identification.
 The Properties of Matter

• To identify a substance, chemists

observe two types of properties, physical
and chemical, which are closely related to
two types of change that matter
undergoes (physical change and chemical
change).
 The Properties of Matter
• Physical properties:
 are those that a substance shows by
itself, without changing into or
interacting with another substance.
 Some physical properties are color,
melting point, electrical conductivity,
and density.
 The Properties of Matter
• A physical change:
 occurs when a substance alters its
physical form, not its composition.
 Thus, a physical change results in
different physical properties.
 For example, when ice melts, several
physical properties have changed, such
as hardness, density, and ability to
flow. But the sample has not changed
its composition: it is still water.
• Figure l shows this change the way you
would see it in everyday life.
• Physical change (same substance before
and after):
Water (solid form) → water (liquid form)

Figure l
A Physical change:
 Solid form of water
becomes liquid form;
composition does not
change because
particles are the
same.
 The Properties of Matter
• Chemical properties:
 are those that a substance shows as it
changes into or interacts with another
substance (or substances).
 Some examples of chemical properties
are flammability, corrosiveness, and
reactivity with acids.
 The Properties of Matter
• A chemical change:
 also called a chemical reaction, occurs
when a substance (or substances) is
converted into a different substance
(or substances).
 Figure 2 shows the chemical change
(reaction) that occurs when you pass an
electric current through water
 The Properties of Matter
• A chemical change:
 the water decomposes (breaks down)
into two other substances, hydrogen
and oxygen, each with physical and
chemical properties different from
each other and from water.
 The sample has changed its
composition: it is no longer water, as
you can see from the different
particles in the magnified view.
• Chemical change (different substances
before and after):
Water + electric current → hydrogen gas +
oxygen gas

Figure 2
 The Three States of Matter
• Matter occurs commonly in three physical
forms called states: solid, liquid, and gas.
• A solid has a fixed shape that does not
conform to the container shape.
• A liquid conforms to the container shape
but fills the container only to the extent
of the liquid's volume; thus, a liquid forms
a surface.
• A gas conforms to the container shape
also, but it fills the entire container, and
thus, does not form a surface.
 Measurements and
Calculations in Chemistry

• Making observations is fundamental to all

science.
• These observations can be qualitative or
quantitative.
 Measurements and
Calculations in Chemistry
• A quantitative observation is called a
measurement, which always has two
parts:
 a number and
 a scale (called a unit).
 Measurements and Calculations in
Chemistry

• Examples

a) 20 grams
b) 6.63 × 10-34 joule·second

• Both parts must be present for a

measurement to be meaningful.
 Measurements and Calculations in
Chemistry
• A qualitative observation does not involve
a number.
• Examples of qualitative observations are
“the substance is blue” and “the sun is
very hot.”
 Unit of measurement
• In our study of chemistry we will use
measurements of mass, length, time,
temperature, electric current, and the
amount of a substance, among others.
• Scientists recognized long ago that
standard systems of units had to be
adopted if measurements were to be
useful.
 Unit of measurement
• If every scientist had a different set of
units, complete chaos would result.
• Unfortunately, different standards were
adopted in different parts of the world.
• The two major systems are the English
system used in the United States and the
metric system used by most of the rest
of the industrialized world.
 Unit of measurement
• This duality causes a good deal of trouble;
for example, parts as simple as bolts are
not interchangeable between machines
built according to the two systems.
• As a result, the United States has begun
to adopt the metric system.
• Most scientists in all countries have for
many years used the metric system.
 Unit of measurement
• In 1960, an international agreement set
up a system of units called the
International System (le Système
International in French), or the SI
system.
• This system is based on the metric
system and units derived from the metric
system.
• The fundamental SI units are listed in the
Table below.
 Unit of measurement
The Fundamental SI Units
Physical Quantity Name of Unit Abbreviation
Mass kilogram kg
Length meter m
Time second s
Temperature kelvin K
Electric current ampere A
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd
23
 Unit of measurement

• Because the fundamental units are not

always convenient (expressing the mass
of a pin in kilograms is awkward), prefixes
are used to change the size of the unit.
• These are listed in Table 2.
 Prefixes Used in the SI System
• Prefixes are used to change the size of the unit.

25
 Prefixes Used in the SI System
• Prefixes are used to change the size of the unit.

26
 Unit of measurement
• One physical quantity that is very
important in chemistry is volume, which is
not a fundamental SI unit but is derived
from length.
• A cube that measures 1 meter (m) on
each edge is represented in Fig. R.1.
• This cube has a volume of (1 m)3 = 1 m3.
Because there are 10 decimeters (dm) in
a meter, the volume of this cube is (1 m) 3
= (10 dm) 3 = 1000 dm3.
 Unit of measurement
• A cubic decimeter, that is (1 dm)3, is
commonly called a liter (L), which is a unit
of volume slightly larger than a quart.
• As shown in Fig. R.1, 1000 liters are
contained in a cube with a volume of
1 cubic meter.
• Similarly, since 1 decimeter equals
10 centimeters (cm), the liter can be
divided into 1000 cubes each with a
volume of 1 cubic centimeter:
Also, since 1 cm3 = 1 milliliter (mL),
1 liter = 1000 cm3 = 1000 mL
 Unit of measurement

• Chemical laboratory work frequently

requires measurement of the volumes of
liquids.
• Several devices for the accurate
determination of liquid volume are shown
in Fig. R.2.
Unit of measurement
 Unit of measurement
• An important point concerning
measurements is the relationship between
mass and weight.
• Although these terms are sometimes used
interchangeably, they are not the same.
• Mass is a measure of the resistance of an
object to a change in its state of motion .
• Mass is measured by the force necessary
to give an object a certain acceleration.
 Unit of measurement
• On earth we use the force that gravity
exerts on an object to measure its mass.
• We call this force the object’s weight.
• Since weight is the response of mass to
gravity, it varies with the strength of the
gravitational field.
 Unit of measurement
• Therefore, your body mass is the same
on the earth or on the moon, but your
weight would be much less on the moon
than on earth because of the moon’s
smaller gravitational field.
 Rules for Counting Significant
Figures
• Rule 1
 Digits 1-9 are always significant
 Zero to the right of the significant digit
after a decimal place are significant, e.g.
25.00 - 4 sig. fig.
 Zero to the right of significant digit are
not significant, e.g. 2500 2 sig. fig.
 Zero used merely for placing a decimal
place are not significant, e.g. 0.00250 –
3 sig. fig.
35
 Rules for Counting Significant
Figures
• Rule 2: Adding or subtracting numbers
 Answer must have the least number of
decimal point.
 Example:

2.2 + 4.53 = 6.73 = 6.7 1 dec.plc

36
Significant Figures in Mathematical
Operations

23.445
 7.83
31.275  31.28
Corrected

37
 Rules for Counting Significant
Figures

• Rule 3: Multiplying or dividing numbers

 Answer must have the least number of
significant digits.
 Example

n = 0.033 mol/L x 0.02500 L

= 0.00082500
= 0.00083 mol 2 sig fig

38
 Rules for Counting Significant
Figures
• Rule 4: Conversion factors, molar mass,
physical constants
 Not considered in establishing sig.fig in
the answer.
 Example:

n = 0.2512 g/1.01 g/mol

= 0.2487129 mol
= 0.2487 mol
39
Significant Figures in Mathematical
Operations

1.342 × 5.5 = 7.381  7.4

40
 Rules for Counting Significant
Figures
• Rule 5: Rounding of Rule
 If the digit next to the significant digit
is 5 or greater than 5, increase the
significant digit by one.

41
 Rules for Counting Significant
Figures

• Rule 6: Exact numbers have an infinite

number of significant figures.
– 1 inch = 2.54 cm, exactly.
– 9 pencils (obtained by counting).

42
 Exponential Notation
• Example
– 300. written as 3.00 × 102
– Contains three significant figures.
• Two Advantages
– Number of significant figures can be
easily indicated.
– Fewer zeros are needed to write a
very large or very small number.

43
 Exponential Notation
• The number 300. can be written as:
3.00 × 102
• in exponential notation.
• This type of notation has at least two
advantages:
a) the number of significant figures can
be easily indicated, and
b) fewer zeros are needed to write a
very large or very small number.
 Exponential Notation

• For example, the number 0.000060 is

much more conveniently represented as
6.0 х 10-5.
• (The number has two significant figures.)
 Exercise
Give the number of significant figures for
each of the following results.
a. A student’s extraction procedure on tea
yields 0.0105 g of caffeine.
b. A chemist records a mass of 0.050080 g
in an analysis.
c. In an experiment a span of time is
determined to be 8.050 x 10-3 s.
 Solution
a. The number contains three significant
figures.
 The zeros to the left of the 1 are
leading zeros and are not
significant, but the remaining zero
(a captive zero) is significant.
 Solution
b. The number contains five significant
figures.
 The leading zeros (to the left of
the 5) are not significant.
 The captive zeros between the 5
and the 8 are significant, and
the trailing zero to the right of
the 8 is significant because
the number contains a decimal
point.
 Solution
c. This number has four significant
figures. Both zeros are significant.
 Density
• A property of matter that is often used
by chemists as an “identification tag” for
a substance is density, the mass of
substance per unit volume of the
substance:
 Density
• The density of a liquid can be determined
easily by weighing an accurately known
volume of liquid.
• This procedure is illustrated in the
Example below:
 Density
• A chemist, trying to identify the main
component of a cleaning fluid, finds that
25.00 cm3 of the substance has a mass of
19.625 g at 20°C. The following are the
names and densities of the compounds
that might be the main component:
 Density

• Which of these compounds is the most

likely to be the main component of the
cleaner?
 Solution
• To identify the unknown substance, we
must determine its density. This can be
done by using the definition of density:
 Solution
• This density corresponds exactly to that
of isopropyl alcohol, which is therefore
the most likely main component of the
cleaner.
• However, note that the density of ethanol
is also very close.
• To be sure that the compound is isopropyl
alcohol, we should run several more