[LESSON 01] INTRODUCTION TO CHEMISTRY

GENERAL CHEMISTRY WITH ORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 1st SEM, AY 2023-2024

CHEMISTRY • try: 206,000,000

YPOTHESIS 0.00005109
• study of the composition (make-up) of matter. 2 Terabytes
• the changes that matter undergoes.

5 TRADITIONAL BRANCHES OF CHEMISTRY

Inorganic Chemistry
• study of chemicals that do not contain carbon.
Organic Chemistry
• study of chemicals that contain carbon.
• origin: study of chemicals in living organisms.
Analytical Chemistry
• composition of matter; measurable, identifies
compounds/components.
• example: mass spectrometer, gas chromatograph
Physical Chemistry
• study of the mechanism. SCIENTIFIC NOTATION: ADDITION &
• study of the rate. SUBTRACTION
• study of the energy transfer that happens when matter
undergoes change. • when adding and subtracting numbers written in
• study of the interaction between two elements. scientific notation, all the numbers must have the
• study of properties and changes of matter and energy. same exponents.
• the sum or difference will have the same exponents as
Biochemistry the numbers we are adding or subtracting.
• study of processes that take place in organisms. • examples: (2.2 × 106) + (4.1 × 106) = 6.3 × 106
• understand the structure of matter found in the human (2.2 × 106) − (4.1 × 106) = −1.9 × 106
body and the chemical changes that occur in cells. (5.61 × 106) + (3.25 × 105) > (5.61 × 106) +
(0.325 × 106) = 5.935 × 106
PHYSICAL QUANTITIES AND MEASUREMENTS
YPOTHESIS
Estimated Diameter of Universe – SCIENTIFIC NOTATION: MULTIPLICATION &
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 M DIVISION
Old Man’s Old in Seconds – 1,000,000,000 S
Multiplication – multiply the coefficients and add the
Thickness of a Sheet of Paper – 0.0001 M exponents of ten.
Diameter of an Atom – 0.0000000001 M • examples: (2.1 × 106)(3 × 103) = (2.1 × 3)(106+3)
= 6.3 × 109
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION (1.2 × 10−4)(4 × 10−3)
• a way of writing large numbers as well as small = (1.2 × 3)(10(−3) +(−4)) = 4.8 × 10−7
numbers is to use a shorthand method called
Division – divide the coefficients and subtract the
scientific notation.
exponents of ten.
4.5 × 109
• examples:
9 × 103
= 0.5 × 106 = 5.0 × 105
27 × 1015
= 9 × 10−3
9 × 1018
• it is written in two parts:
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
1. All nonzero digits are significant.
2. Zeros are also significant with two exceptions:
• zeros preceding the decimal point.
• examples: 4 690 000 000 = 4 x 109
• zeros following the decimal point and preceding the
0.00125 = 1.25 x 10-3 m
first nonzero digit.
Write 2.3 mm in meters using scientific
3. Terminal zeros preceding the decimal point in amounts
notation = 2.3 x 10-3 m (milli- is 10-3)
greater than one is an ambiguous case.
Example 1: 200500 = 4 Significant Digits digits.
• the first two zeroes in 200500 (four significant digits) Example 8: Y = 28 x 47.3 = 1300
are significant because they are between two non-
• 28 has 2 significant digits and 47.3 has 3 significant
zero digits, and the last two zeroes are insignificant
digits. The least number of significant digits is 2. Thus,
because they are after the last non-zero digit.
the answer must be rounded to 2 significant digits
Example 2: 5010 = 3 Significant Digits (which is done by keeping 2 significant digits and
• start counting for significant digits on the first non-zero replacing the rest of the digits with insignificant
digit (5). zeroes).
• stop counting for significant digits on the last non-zero
digit (1). RULES FOR SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
• 5 0 1 0 – Key: 0 = significant zero; 0 = insignificant
zero. • any digit that is not zero is significant.
o e.g., 845 has 3 significant figures.
Example 3: 0.058000 = 5 Significant Digits • zero/s between nonzero digits is significant.
• the first two zeroes in 0.058000 (five significant digits) o e.g., 606 has 3 significant figures.
are insignificant because they are before the first non-
• zero/s to the left of the first nonzero digits are not
zero digit, and the last three zeroes are significant
significant. Their purpose is to indicate the placement
because they are after the first non-zero digit.
of the decimal point.
Example 4: 0.70620 = 5 Significant Digits o e.g., 0.08 has 1 significant figure; 0.349 has 3
• start counting for significant digits on the first non-zero significant figures.
digit (7). • if a number before the decimal is greater than 1,
• stop counting for significant digits on the last digit (0). then all zeros written to the right of the decimal
• 0 . 7 0 6 2 0 – Key: 0 = significant zero; 0 = point count as significant figures.
insignificant zero. o e.g., 2.0 has 2 significant figures; 3.40 has 3
significant figures.
Example 5: 1.52 x 106 = 3 Significant Digits
• if the number before the decimal is less than 1,
• disregard the “10b,” and determine the significant digits
then only the zeros that are at the end of the
in “a.”
number and the zeros that are between nonzero
• only determine the number of significant digits in the
digits are significant.
"1.52" part of the scientific notation form.
o e.g, 0.090 has 2 significant figures; 0.3005 has 4
Example 6 (Rounding Significant Digits): Round significant figures.
32445.34 to 2 Significant Digits = 32000 • for numbers that do not contain decimal points,
• when rounding numbers to a significant digit, keep the the trailing zeros (i.e., the zeros after the last nonzero
number of significant digits wished to be kept, and digit) may or may not be significant.
replace the other numbers with insignificant zeroes. o e.g., 400 has ambiguous/unclear significant figures
• be careful when rounding numbers with a decimal (1 sf); 400. has 3 significant figures.
point. any zeroes added after the first non-zero digit is
a significant zero.
• it should not be 32000.00, which has 7 significant [SUMMARY] OPERATIONS WITH SIGNIFICANT
digits. Due to the decimal point, the zeroes after the FIGURES
first non-zero digit become significant. • the rules for addition and subtraction are different from
the rule for multiplication and division.
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES: ADDITION & • for adding and subtracting, the number of decimal
SUBTRACTION places is the important consideration.
• for multiplying and dividing, the number of
• when adding or subtracting numbers, the result significant figures is the important consideration.
should have the same number of decimal places
as the number with the least number of decimal
places. SYSTEM OF MEASUREMENTS

Example 7: Y = 232.234 + 0.27 = 232.50 • Standardized Systems – agreed upon by some

authority, usually a governmental body.
• 232.234 has 3 decimal places and 0.27 has 2 decimal
places. The least number of decimal places is 2. Thus, • Systéme International d’Unites (in short, SI unit) –
the answer must be rounded to the 2nd decimal place agreed to in 1960 by an international committee.
(thousandth).

SIGNIFICANT FIGURES: MULTIPLICATION &

DIVISION
• when multiplying or dividing numbers, the result
should have the same number of significant digits
as the number with the least number of significant
 1000 mg
BASE QUANTITIES / UNITS • 5g( ) = 𝟓𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐦𝐠
1g
Quantity SI Unit
Example 2: Convert 2 cm to km.
Length Meter (m)
• 1 cm = 0.01 m
Mass Kilogram (kg)
• 1 m = 0.001 km
Time Second (s) 0.01 m 0.001 km
Temperature Kelvin (K)
• 2 cm ( )( ) = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟐 𝐤𝐦
1 cm 1m
Electric Current Ampere (A)
Luminous Intensity Candela (sd) METRIC TO ENGLISH SYSTEM
Amount of Substance mole (mol) Length

PREFIXES
• prefixes correspond to powers of 10.
• each prefix has a specific name.
• each prefix has a specific abbreviation.
• the prefixes can be used with any basic units.
• they are multipliers of the basic unit.
• examples: 1 mm = 10-3 m & 1 mg = 10-3 g Mass

Example 1: 15.0 in = 38.1 cm

2.54 cm
• 15.0 in ( ) = 𝟑𝟖. 𝟏 𝐜𝐦
1 in
DERIVED QUANTITIES
Example 2: The highest waterfall in the world is Angel
• can be expressed as a mathematical combination of
Falls in Venezuela, with a total drop of 979.0 m.
fundamental quantities.
Express this drop in feet.
• area – product of two lengths
• 3.281 ft = 1 m
• speed – ratio of a length to a time interval
3.281 ft
• density – ratio of mass to volume • 979.0 m ( ) = 𝟑𝟐𝟏𝟐 𝐟𝐭
1m

CONVERSION OF UNITS

METRIC TO METRIC
• always include units for every quantity, you can carry
the units through the entire calculation.
• multiply the original value by a ratio equal to one.
Example 1: Convert 5 grams to milligrams.
• 1 g = 1000 mg