MODULE NOTES

Chemical & Physical Sciences Department, General Chemistry IA, CH15W1A

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WALTER SISULU UNIVERSITY

LEARNERS’ NOTES

FACULTY: NATURAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT: CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES

QUALIFICATION: BSC

QUALIFICATION CODE: BSC

MODULE: GENERAL CHEMISTRY IA

MODULE CODE: CH15W1A

COMPILED BY:

NGARIVHUME T. Chemistry Educator 2024

Office 311 EXT: 2617

Office Phone: 047 502 2617 e-mail: [email protected]

A scientist does not give the right answers; but asks the right questions.

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Assessment and evaluation of module 3
Unit 1: Introduction to chemistry 4
1. Introduction to Chemistry 4
2. Matter and its Classification 6
3. Basic chemistry theories and laws 7
4. Measurement and SI units 11
5. End of chapter exercises 18

Unit 2: Atoms, Relative Atomic Mass & Electronic Structure 20

1. Atomic theories 20
2. Subatomic particles, Isotopes 20
3. Relative atomic mass 24
4. Electronic Structure of Atoms 26
5. End of chapter exercises 33

Unit 3: The Elements and the Periodic Table 36

1. Periods and groups 36
2. Ion formation and the octet rule 36
3. Trends in the Periodic Table 36
4. End of chapter exercises 46

Unit 4: Basic Concepts of Chemical Bonding 49

1. Introduction 49
2. Types of chemical bonds: ionic compounds 49
3. Lewis Symbols 52
4. Covalent compounds 53
5. End of chapter exercises 58

Unit 5: Stoichiometry and Solution Chemistry 60

1. Introduction 60
2. Relative molecular mass and relative formula mass 60
3. The mole concept 61
4. Writing chemical equations and calculations 70
5. Theoretical and experimental yields 76
6. End of chapter exercises 77

Unit 6: Introduction to Organic Chemistry 80

1. Introduction 82
2. Hydrocarbons 82
3. Alkanes and Cycloalkanes 82
4. Unsaturated hydrocarbons 86
5. End of Chapter Exercises 91

NOTICE: Students are required to be correctly registered for a module before you start
attending any lectures. Make sure this module appears on your proof of
registration slip.

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Assessment and evaluation of the module
The module will be assessed through tests, assignments and practical reports. Students
are expected to have at least one final examination, two tests, two assignments and 4
practical reports per semester. These tasks will be used to calculate the course mark (DP)
and the final mark (FM) as shown below. A student might not be allowed to sit for the
final examination if his/her course mark is less than 40 %.

Course mark calculation

The average marks for tests (T), assignments (A) and practical reports (P) are used to
calculate the course mark or DP. The course mark (DP) will be computed as follows:

DP = (T x 50 %)  ( P x 40 %)  ( A x 10 %)

NB: No student may be allowed to write the final examination with a practical mark of
less than 40 %.

Final mark calculation

The final mark (FM) is calculated from the course mark and final examination mark
(EM) as shown below.

FM = ( DP x 60 %)  ( EM x 40 %)

Decisions
The results from the final mark calculations can lead to three decisions which are pass (P)
(proceed), supplementary (FS) or fail (FR) (repeat the course).

All students with final marks that are equal or greater than 50 % will have passed the
module – Congratulations/Amhlope, they proceed to the second semester. Students with
final marks between 40 – 49 % will qualify for supplementary examination. These
students would have failed to convince the examiners that they understood the basic
course content, and they are given a second chance to do so. All students with final marks
of 39 % or less will have failed the module. These students will repeat the module. In
addition, any student with an examination mark that is less than 40 % (i.e. if you obtain
an examination mark of 39 % or less), even if she/he has an excellent DP, would have
failed the module.

Please, note that you are only allowed to repeat any module ONCE, a third fail might
qualify you for EXCLUSION.

So the choice is YOURS!

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Unit 1: Introduction

What is Science?
The English word science originated from the Latin word "scientia" meaning knowledge.
However, in the strict definition, science is the systematic study of the universe, its
constituents and their interaction through observation and experimentation. Science has
the following 5 characteristics:

It is testable; this means that an explanation for an observation can be proven or

disproven through experimentation.

It is reproducible. Results obtained by one scientist or by one method of testing or

analysis can be duplicated by other scientists or other methods of analysis.
It is explanatory. The observation, event or phenomenon can be described and a tentative
explanation can be formulated and tested or verified through experimentation.
It is predictive. Knowledge obtained from past experiments can be used to forecast
expected results based on similarities or patterns of behavior.
It is tentative. The explanation for the observation can be modified or discarded as more
data are obtained.

How Science Happens- The Scientific Method

When scientists conduct investigations or research, they employ a generally accepted
process known as the scientific method. This process is a logical series of steps that
include the following:

Observation: The scientist describes the observation and attempts to explain it by

developing a hypothesis

Hypotheses: These are tentative or temporary explanations that must be experimentally

tested.

Experimentation: The results of the experiments either confirm or support, or oppose or

reject the hypothesis. The hypothesis can be modified and further experiments are
conducted. The investigator may be able to draw conclusions after repeating the
experiments several times.

Conclusions summarize the data and their significance. The investigator must be able to
communicate the results to other scientists if they show novelty. This is done through
publications in scientific journals.

Submission: The results and conclusions of the experimentation are submitted to

scientific journals depending on the field of study and novelty of the findings. This
submission is called a manuscript.

Peer review: The manuscript is sent to at least two experts in that field of study who then
study the findings and determine if they have scientific merit. This process is called peer

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review. Not all submitted manuscripts are accepted or published. The reviewers may
suggest further experiments before acceptance or may outright reject it.

Publication: If the findings have scientific merit then the manuscript is published in a
journal. The published manuscript is called an article.

Application: Other scientists can then use the new knowledge in their experiments, and
depending on their results they may validate or modify earlier conclusions.

Scientific theory
When a large body of data has been accumulated through the work of numerous scientists
and the explanations for the observation have become generally accepted and supported
by the data, it becomes a scientific theory. You must differentiate a scientific theory from
our everyday use of the word, which implies no proof or evidence is offered. The more
appropriate term for such a case is hypothesis. What are some examples of a scientific
theory? 1) The atomic theory of matter, which we will study in the next two chapters. 2)
The theory of evolution, which explains how the diversity of life arose over a long period
of time. Although a scientific theory is supported by considerable experimental evidence,
it can be modified as more data are obtained, validated and verified.

Scientific law
You must also differentiate a scientific law from a scientific theory. A scientific law is a
brief statement or mathematical equation summarizing a large body of data or
observation or phenomenon. Some examples are the law of conservation of mass, which
states that “the mass of the reactants is equal to the mass of the products” or “matter is
neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions” and Boyle’s law, which states that
“the volume of an ideal gas decreases as pressure is increased if the amount of gas and
the temperature are held constant.” A scientific law describes an observation that is
universally true under specified conditions.

What is Chemistry and why is it important?

Chemistry studies the physical and chemical properties and composition of materials,
through scientific theories, laws and systematic observations from carefully controlled
research experiments. Chemistry also studies the amount of energy that accompanies the
chemical changes. The observations reveal specific behavior, trends, regularities or
periodicities in different types of materials. Hence this module places great emphasis on
the experimental aspects of Chemistry.

Therefore, Chemistry is the study of:

 Elements, their structure and properties,
 Compounds, their compositions, structure and properties, and
 Synthesis of useful substances such as drugs, electrical components, or even new
substances!

As a result, Chemistry provides the essential basic knowledge for Applied Sciences.

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Exercise 1.1
Discuss in your study groups, why it is necessary to study chemistry, even though you
will not be a chemist?

Below are some of the Applied Sciences:

Agricultural Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Geology
Engineering- Civil, Chemical, Electrical or Mechanical engineering
Medical Sciences
Pharmacy
Physiology.

MATTER AND ITS CLASSIFICATION

Matter, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral, is composed of chemical elements, their

compounds or mixtures of the above. It is no longer important to classify matter on the
basis of its origin, because nowadays most substances can be synthesized in the
laboratory. All Chemistry knowledge is based upon careful experimental observations.
Once sufficient descriptive information about different types of matter is collected, trends
emerge that suggest ways of classifying the materials.

There are two principal ways of classifying matter:

Its chemical composition and
Its physical state

Classification of matter using its chemical composition

Elements
Particles making up materials maybe separate identical atoms e.g. the noble gases. In
most cases, these identical atoms are chemically combined e.g. the halogens, oxygen and
nitrogen gases and all metals. Materials that are made up of identical atoms chemically
combined or not, are known as elements or simple substances. Such materials can not be
decomposed into simpler substances by any chemical or physical process. Every element
has a name and a symbol.

Table 1.1 Names of some elements and their symbols

Element Symbol Element Symbol Element Symbol

Aluminium Al Bromine Br Mercury Hg
Copper Cu Carbon C Potassium K
Iron Fe Chlorine Cl Silver Ag
Lead Pb Hydrogen H Sodium Na
Magnesium Mg Nitrogen N Sulphur S
Phosphorus P Oxygen O Silicon Si

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Compounds
However, when different elements chemically combine they produce new substances.
The new substances have different chemical and physical properties from the elements
that form them. For example, magnesium reacts with oxygen gas forming magnesium
oxide.

Magnesium + Oxygen → Magnesium Oxide

Mg(s) + ½O2(g) → MgO(s)

Substances that are made up of two or more types of atoms that are chemically combined
are called compounds. Therefore, magnesium oxide is a compound of oxygen and
magnesium metal. It is very important to note that reacting elements or substances
combine in definite proportions. In the above equations it can be concluded that
magnesium oxide is always made up of one magnesium atom and one oxygen atom or
one atom of magnesium will always react with one half of an oxygen gas molecule. This
observation is generalized as the law of constant composition, which states that a pure
compound, whatever its source, always contains definite or constant proportions of the
elements by mass. Some elements can combine in more than one ration, that is, multiple
combination ratios, e.g. carbon and oxygen can form carbon monoxide, CO, and carbon
dioxide, CO2

The Atomic Theory

Dalton proposed his atomic theory to explain the chemical laws of combination and
stated the following postulates below.

Postulate 1, “all matter is composed of very small particles called atoms,”

Postulate 2, “atoms cannot be made or destroyed”

Postulate 3 “all atoms of a given element are identical (no longer true)”

Postulate 4, “Different elements have different types of atoms”

Postulate 5, “during chemical reactions, atoms are rearranged”

Postulate 6, “compounds are formed from atoms of the constituent elements”

Postulate 7 “each compound is always composed of the same elements in the same
proportions, no matter where it comes from.” explains the law of constant composition.
The work of Joseph Proust provided convincing evidence for this observation. He
demonstrated that when copper carbonate is decomposed into its component elements, it
was always made of 51 % copper, 39 % oxygen and 10 % carbon. He the same
observations with many different compounds, and formulated the law of constant
composition.

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Each molecule of a compound will contain exactly the same types of atoms in the same
numbers. This means that each compound can be represented by a chemical formula that
describes the types and numbers of atoms in the compound. The law of constant
composition is also sometimes called the law of definite proportions.

Postulate 8, “if a chemical reaction is carried out in a closed system, the total mass of the
system remains constant.” This is known as the law of conservation of mass. Antoine
Lavoisier, an 18th century French chemist who did many experiments studying chemical
reactions made the following observation: Atoms are not created or destroyed in a
chemical reaction; the atoms are simply rearranged forming new compounds. The total
mass of products formed in a reaction equals the total mass of the starting materials
(reactants) present before the reaction begun. For example: we write C + O2  CO2
meaning that carbon reacts with oxygen gas to form carbon dioxide. No new atoms were
created; no atoms were destroyed; the carbon and oxygen atoms were rearranged to form
carbon dioxide. Scientists found the same result for many different reactions as long as
the reaction was carried out in a closed system. (Remember that a natural law describes
observations that hold true for many different systems!) The law of conservation of mass
is the basis for balancing chemical reactions.

This postulate also explains why it is not possible to turn lead into gold using a chemical
reaction. To do so would require changing one element into another one; this would
require changing the composition of the nucleus. In an ordinary chemical reaction, this is
not possible, because only the valence electrons are involved.

Law of Multiple Proportions

One consequence of the atomic theory is called the Law of Multiple Proportions.
Understanding this law requires first that we remember that any compound made of two
elements, for example A and B, will have a constant ratio/composition of element A to
element B. For example, in carbon monoxide (a colorless, toxic gas which has the
formula CO,) the mass of oxygen to carbon is always 1.33 g of oxygen to one gram of
carbon. Carbon and oxygen can also form carbon dioxide (also a colorless gas with the
chemical formula CO2 which is formed in the respiration process.) In carbon dioxide, the
ratio of oxygen to carbon is always 2.67 grams of oxygen per 1 gram of carbon. If we
compare the ratios of the mass of oxygen that combines with 1 g of carbon in carbon
dioxide and in carbon monoxide, we get: 2.67: 1.33 which is 2. Ultimately, this led to the
understanding that atoms have to combine with other atoms in whole numbers. In other
words, you can combine one oxygen atom with one carbon atom or two oxygen atoms to
one carbon atom, but you can never make a compound that will have 1.6 oxygen atoms to
one carbon atom.

When you are comparing compounds to investigate the ratios of the elements, it is very
important to remember that you must have the same elements present. Thus, you can
compare NO, NO2, and N2O4, but you can’t compare NO2 with NH3 and you can’t
compare NO2 with HNO2.

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Exercise 1.2
1.0 g of magnesium oxide always contains 0.60 g of magnesium and 0.40 g of oxygen
chemically combined or magnesium and oxygen are always combined in a mass
ratio of 3:2 in magnesium oxide.

(a) Determine the mass of pure magnesium oxide that is produced, if 0.90 g of pure
oxygen gas (O2 (g)) reacts with sufficient magnesium metal.

(b) Calculate the mass of magnesium in 30 g of pure magnesium oxide.

(c) Suggest one chemical and one physical property that differentiate:
(i) Magnesium from Magnesium oxide (ii) Oxygen gas from magnesium oxide.

Mixtures
In nature, most materials, both elements and compounds, are not pure. They contain other
substances in varying quantities. Such materials are known as mixtures. Each substance
forming part of the mixtures is called a component. Mixtures can be separated into
individual components by physical processes e.g. decanting, filtration, distillation and
chromatography.

Mixtures are classified into heterogeneous and homogeneous. Heterogeneous mixtures

are made up of physically distinct components, each with different physical properties.
For example, a mixture of curry powder and white sugar, iron filings and sulphur or
white sugar and salt. A homogeneous mixture, also known as a solution, is uniform in its
physical properties, e.g. aqueous salt solution.

Exercise 1.3
1. Briefly describe the physical processes stated below: decanting, filtration, distillation
and chromatography.

2. A laboratory technician poured a given volume of aqueous sodium chloride solution

into a beaker and an equal volume of distilled water into another beaker. The two beakers
were not labeled and were given to a student to identify each of the “liquids.”

(a) State any physical property that can be used to correctly identify each “liquid.”

(b) If the student was to carry out a simple experiment, state the important observations
that would allow her to make conclusions. (Remember you are not allowed to taste
anything in the laboratory)

(c) Briefly explain the expected observations.

(d) Can you suggest a chemical property that can allow correct identification of these
“liquids?”

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 Classification of matter by physical states
All matter is made up of atoms, ions or molecules which are very small particles. These
particles are in constant vibration and interact between themselves. The interactions are
electrostatic in nature and of varying attractive strengths.

Depending on the conditions of temperature and pressure, the particles’ vibrations may
be weak thereby allowing stronger attractive interactions or there could be stronger
vibrations which separate the particles further apart and weakening the inter-particle
attractions. The balance between the strength of particle vibrations and inter-particle
attractions determine the three states of matter and its properties. The three states of
matter are solid, liquid and vapour. Vapour is known as gas if, at a given temperature, it
can no longer be liquefied by increasing pressure at constant temperature. The melting of
ice and the boiling of water at a given pressure demonstrate the effect of temperature on
the physical states of matter.

Figure 1.1 Effect of temperature on water

Heat Heat energy at

Energy boiling point

Ice: Strong Interactions Water: Moderate interactions Gas: No interactions

Weak vibration Stronger Vibrations Strongest vibrations
Orderly particles Less orderly particles No order

NOTE: There is a fourth state of matter known as plasma that has properties
intermediate those of liquids and solids. In some special fields, e.g. in electronics, this
state is usually known as liquid-crystals.

Figure 1.2 Classification of matter by its composition

Matter
(Material)

Physical processes Mixtures

Substance

Chemical
Homogeneous
Elements Compounds Mixtures Heterogeneous
Processes Mixtures
(Solutions)

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SI Units and Measurement

SI Units
Observing and recording measurements of the properties and chemical behavior of matter
is the foundation of chemistry. Scientists have developed various methods to observe
matter. These methods involve measuring physical quantities with instruments such as
rulers, balances, stethoscopes, thermometers and spectrometers. The result of measuring a
quantity is expressed by a numerical value together with a unit of measurement.

To avoid the use of ambiguous physical terms such as room temperature, atmospheric
pressure or freezing point of water, an international system of units was developed. This
is known as the “Systema Internacional de Unidades,” abbreviated as SI Units. The SI
Units standardize observations during the study of matter, allowing uniformity of
reporting observations and experimental conditions, as illustrated in Box 1.1 below.

BOX 1.1 The importance of being consistent with units

In 1999, NASA lost the spacecraft “Mars Climate Orbiter”. A preliminary investigation into its loss
revealed that one team of scientists had been working in units of inches, feet and pounds, while their
international collaborators had been using metric units. Combined information from the two teams was
transferred to the Mars Orbiter. The result of providing the flight information in data sets with different
units was that the spacecraft was unable to manoeuvre into the correct orbit about Mars, and was
consequently lost in space.

SI base Units
Physical quantities are of two types: basic quantities and derived quantities. A basic
physical quantity is independent of any other quantity. Each basic physical quantity has a
standard unit. Table 1 below shows the base standard units.

Table 1.2 Base quantities of the SI Units

Physical quantity Quantity Base unit Unit

symbol symbol
Mass M kilogram Kg
Length l meter m
Time t second s
Electrical current l ampere A
Temperature T kelvin K
Amount of substance N mole mol
Luminous intensity Iv candela cd

All other SI Units are derived from the base SI Units.

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Table 1.3 Some derived units in SI units

Unit Name of unit Symbol Relation to

base units
Energy Joule J kgm2s-2
Frequency hertz Hz s-1
Force newton N kgms-2
Pressure pascal Pa kgm-1s-2
Electric charge coulomb C As
Electromotive force volt V kgm2s-3A-1

It is important to be consistent with units during scientific calculations. Failure to do so

results in serious distortions of observations or instructions.

Worked Example
Calculate the volume occupied by 10.0 g of mercury if the density of mercury is 1.36x 10 4
Kgm-3 at 298 K.

The equation that relates mass (m), volume (V) and density (ρ) is: ρ = m/V, making V
subject of expression: V = m/ρ.

Before substituting in the given numbers, convert the mass units to SI Units i.e. to kg (or
grams).

10.0 g = 10.0 g/(1000 g/kg) = 1.00 x 10 -2 kg

Then substitute: V = (1.00 x10-2 kg)/(1.36 x 104 kgm-3) = 7.35 x 10-7 m3

To check whether your units are correct, substitute only the units of given data into the
formula or equation.

V = m/ρ = kg/kgm-3 = m3

SI prefixes and Scientific notations

In case of very small or very large values of physical quantities, SI prefixes are used. For
example, one thousand meters (1 000 m) becomes one kilometer (1 km), kilo is the prefix
to meter and means one thousand. For more examples of prefixes see Table 1.4.

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Table 1.4 SI prefixes
Multiple Prefix Symbol Examples
1012 Tera Ƭ Tb (Terabite)
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10 Giga G Gb (gigabite),
106 mega M Mb (megabite)
3
10 kilo K km (kilometer), kg (kilogram)
10-1 deci d dm (decimeter), dg (decigram)
-2
10 centi c cm (centimeter), cg (centigram)
10-3 mili m mm (millimeter), mg (milligram)
-6
10 micro µ µm (micrometer), µg (microgram)
10-9 nano n nm (nanometer), ng (nanogram)
10-12 pico p pm (picometer), pg (picogram)
-15
10 femto f
10-18 atto a

These prefixes are useful when expressing very small physical properties, such as bond
lengths, mass of an electron or very large quantities such as avogadro’s number. In
addition, very large or very small numbers are often written in the form A x 10±n. For
example, one gram of pure carbon contains 50 150 000 000 000 000 000 000 carbon
atoms and can be written as 5.015 x 10 22 atoms, the carbon to carbon bond length in
alkanes is 0.000 000 000 154 m, which is more conveniently written as 1.54 x 10-10 m or
0.154 nm. This way of writing numbers is known as the scientific notation. It can also be
called exponential notation.

Conversion of commonly used units to SI units

Temperature
The SI unit for temperature is Kelvin but it is commonly measured in degrees Celsius.
The Kelvin scale is based on the lowest possible kinetic energy of molecules, known as
the absolute zero, while the degree Celsius scale is based on the temperature at which all
the three states of water are at equilibrium at a pressure of one atmosphere, known as the
triple point of water. The triple point of water corresponds to 0 ºC and 273.15 K on the
degrees Celsius and Kelvin scales respectively.

Temperature in degrees Celsius is converted to Kelvin by the following formula:

Temperature in Kelvin = temperature in degrees Celsius + 273.15

For example, 25 ºC is 298.15 K, and 300 K is 26.85 ºC.

Pressure
Pascal is the SI unit for pressure. However, pressure is commonly quoted in atmosphere
(atm), Newton per square meter (N/m2) or millimeters of mercury (mmHg). All these
units are inter-convertible.

1.0 atm = 760 mmHg = 1.013 x 105 Pa = 1.013 x 105 N/m2= 1.013 x 105 kgm-1s-2.

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Exercise 1.4
1. Which of the following have derived units and state the base SI Units:
area, weight, speed, height, amount of matter and pressure?

2. What is 0.0006 m in a) mm, b) pm, c) cm, d) nm

3. Convert the following to the SI Units: a) 0.64 atm b) 16 μm c) 60 Km/h d) 27 0C

Measurement

Every measurement has an error margin. The skills of the experimenter, nature of
equipment and method used can either reduce or increase the error margin. Under any set
of conditions, though, there is a limit beyond which finer measurements cannot be made!
Consequently, it should be understood that measurements are never exact because they
have a level of uncertainty.

Accuracy and Precision

So to what extent are measurements close to reality? When can we accept these
measurements? Scientists use the terms accuracy and precision, to answer these
questions.

Accuracy refers to the extent that a measurement agrees with a true, known value. It
expresses the validity of a measurement or result. Accuracy is greatly improved by
correct choice of method and equipment. The experimental errors that affect accuracy are
called systematic or determinate errors. These affect the measurements in a consistent
way, no matter how many times the measurement is repeated, e.g. it can be a result of
using defective equipment

Precision refers to the extent that a measurement deviates from the average of many
measurements. In other words, it expresses the closeness of your measurements. In
statistical analysis, precision is given by the standard deviation (σ). Precision measures
reproducibility or repeatability of a result. A low standard deviation reflects a higher
reproducibility or higher precision. Experimental errors that affect precision are called
random or indeterminate errors. These errors are mainly due to inconsistent equipment
and/or observations. They can be minimized by carefully taking measurements,
experience of the experimenter, use of improved apparatus and repeating measurements.

The dartboard analogy

When playing darts, the target is the central red region. The distribution of the darts can
be used to illustrate the concepts of precision and accuracy.

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 dartboard analogy

 Precision Accuracy

A measurement with high precision is not necessarily accurate!!

Number of significant figures

A scientific statement of a measured quantity should clearly convey only what is known.
The use of significant figures inclusively expresses the uncertainty in a measured value.

Significant figures are those that are known for certain, plus one more digit that is
uncertain. For example, the mass of an object is reported as 10.1 g. There are three
significant figures. The first two digits are known with certainty but the third one is
uncertain. This value informs us that the balance that was used could only measure down
to 0.1 g, which must be its smallest division. Therefore, the uncertainty is ±0.1, indicating
that the true value is between 10.0 and 10.2 g. While a value of 10.17 g indicates an
uncertainty of ±0.01 and a true value in between 10.16 and 10.18 g.

When using reported data that does not specify uncertainty, it is assumed that the
uncertainty lies only in the last digit to the right as ±1.

Finding the number of significant figures

To find the significant figures in a number, you count the digits from left to right,
beginning with the first nonzero digit and ending with the digit that has the uncertain
value. If the last digit is zero e.g. in 1520, it may or may not be significant. The
uncertainty therefore could be ±10 or ±1. This ambiguity in a terminal zero can be
eliminated by giving the number in scientific notation or using a decimal point. A zero
after the decimal point is significant.

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The rules to determine the significant figures can be summarized as follows:

 All nonzero digits are significant

 Zeros that are before the first nonzero digit are not significant

 Zeros are significant when they appear:

 in between nonzero digits and
 at the end of any number that includes a decimal point.

 Zeros at the end of a number without a decimal point are ambiguous. Addition of
a decimal point indicates their significance.

Exercise 1.5
1. Choose the number with the greatest uncertainty: a) 210 b) 3.10 c) 0.9

2. How many significant figures are in the following numbers?

a) 234.7 b) 0.0300 c) 630 d) 700. e) 1036

Significant figures in calculations

The results of calculations involving physical quantities should not have lower
uncertainty than any of the original quantities. In other words, the level of uncertainty of
the original quantities determines that of the results. This depends on the type of
operation under consideration. It is important to know how to determine the correct
significant figures, especially when working with calculators, where the results on the
display are often with much smaller uncertainties. For example, dividing 7.8 by 7 gives
1.114285714, where the uncertainty in the original quantities is ±0.1 which is much
greater than that in the displayed result (Which is ±0.000000001 or ±1 x 10-9). Therefore,
not all displayed digits are significant!

Determination of significant figures in calculations is summarized as follows:

An exact number does not limit the significant figures in calculations. Significant figures
are, therefore, determined by the inexact number.

Addition and Subtraction

To maintain the correct number of significant figures in additions and subtractions, round
the answer to the digit of greatest uncertainty in the starting numbers.

Worked example
Perform the following operations, giving the answer in correct significant figures.
(i) 0.71 + 81.8 + 1.047 (ii) 423.1 + 0.256 + 100

Solution for i)
0.71 + 81.8 + 1.047 = 83.557

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In the starting numbers, the greatest uncertainty is ±0.1 in 81.8. Therefore, the answer
must be rounded off to the nearest tenth. The correct answer is 83.6.
In ii) the greatest uncertainty is ±0.1 in 423.1. Therefore, the answer must be rounded off
to the nearest tenth as well.

Multiplication and division

To maintain the correct number of significant figures in multiplication and division,
round off the answer to the same significant figures as in the original number with the
fewest significant figures.

Worked example
Perform the following operations, giving the answer in correct significant figures.

i) 8.71 x 0.0301/0.056 ii) 2.93 x 14.7 x 1203 x 0.0296 x 9.38 x 5.2

Solution for i)
8.71 x 0.0301/0.056 = 8.71 x (0.54) = 4.7034 = 4.7

Multiple operations
In a problem that includes addition or subtraction, as well as multiplication or division,
each problem must be analyzed individually. The common practice is to complete the
operations without rounding off, and then analyze each step to determine the significant
figures. When doing multiple operations, remember to follow the BODMAS rule.

In the case of divisions involving exact number but giving inexact answers, three
significant figures are generally adopted. For example, 1/298 = 0.003355705, where the
answer to correct significant figures is 0.00336.

Exercise 1.6
Perform the following operations, giving the answer in correct significant figures.

(i) (2.93)(14.7) + (1203)(0.0296) + (9.38)(5.2)

(ii) (6.35 + 2.9 + 163)(7.5 + 6.3) (iii) (3.2)(454)/8.6214

It can easily be deduced that rounding off is a procedure of dropping non significant
figures and adjusting the last digits in calculated results.

18
End of Unit exercises

Structured Response Questions

1. a) Express the following in scientific notation
i) 6100 ii) 0.00873 iii) 64.00057

………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

b) Write the following numbers in full

i) 4.33 x 100 ii) 19.3 x 10-5 iii) 1.453 x 103
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

2. a) Write the equation and the derived SI units for the following physical quantities
i) pressure ii) volume iii) force iv) molar concentration
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

b) Derive the equations for calculating the quantities whose units are given below
i) gm-3 ii) Pam3K-1mol-1 iii) mol/s
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………....

3. Convert the following quantities as indicated below

a) 500 mg to g b) 4.6 x 10-11 nm to km c) 300 oC to K
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

4. Briefly describe how you would determine the volume of a small stone.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

Free Response Questions

5. For each of the following, decide whether a physical or a chemical change is involved.
i) dissolving of sugar in water
ii) rusting of iron
iii) burning of wood
iv) evaporation of alcohol

19
6. Solid iodine, contaminated with salt, was heated until the iodine vaporized. The violet
vapour of iodine was then cooled to give pure solid iodine. Solid iodine and zinc metal
powder were mixed and ignited to give a white powder. a) Which physical property
allowed the separation of iodine from zinc? b) Identify each physical change and
chemical change.

7. In what ways does the structure of a gas differ from the structure of a liquid?

8. The oxygen molecule consists of two oxygen atoms at a distance of 121 pm apart. How
many millimeters is this distance?

9. How many significant figures are there in each of the following measurements?
a) 73.0000 g b) 0.0503 kg c) 6.300 cm d) 0.80090 m e) 5.10 x 10-7 m f) 2.001 s

10. A colourless liquid, used as a solvent is believed to be one of the following:

Substance 1-butanol Ethylene glycol 2-methylpropanol Toluene

Density/g/mL 0.810 1.114 0.785 0.866

To identify the substance, a chemist determined its density by pouring a sample of the
liquid into a graduated cylinder. She found that the volume was 35.1 mL. She also found
that the sample weighed 30.5 g.

i) What was the density of the liquid? ii) What was the substance?

11. A red orange solid contains only mercury and oxygen. Analyses of three different
samples gave the following results.

Sample Mass of
Sample/g Mercury/g Oxygen/g
A 1.0410 0.9641 0.0769
B 1.5434 1.4293 0.1141
C 1.2183 1.1283 0.0900

Are the data consistent with the hypothesis that the material is a compound? Show all
working.

12. The following measurements were made by a group of students using the same
balance and a 25.00 g reference weight. 23.96 g, 24.01 g, 23.98 g, 23.97 g
It can be concluded that the data:
a) is accurate and precise, b) is accurate but not precise c) is precise but not accurate
d) is neither precise nor accurate e) has evidence of systematic errors
f) has evidence of random errors

End of Unit

20
Unit 2: Atoms, Relative Atomic Mass and Electronic Structure

Atomic theories
The fact that all matter is made up of atoms was known much earlier in history. However,
the nature of these atoms was established over a long period of experimental work. In this
chapter, we look at the structure of atoms.

The main points of the early atomic theory were (See p7 as well):
 All matter is composed of “indivisible” atoms.
 Atoms retain their identity during chemical reactions. Mass is one such property,
therefore, atoms of a given element have a characteristic mass.
 A compound is composed of atoms of two or more elements chemically combined
in definite proportions.
 Atoms of the reacting substances are re-arranged during chemical reactions giving
new chemical combinations.

The atomic theory consistently summarizes the discoveries that had been made then. In
particular, these are:

Every atom has a definite mass and these atoms are re-arranged during a chemical
reaction. Therefore, atoms are not created nor destroyed. As a result, the total mass
remains constant during a chemical reaction. This is known as the law of conservation of
mass.

Sub atomic particles

Although the atom was thought to be indivisible, experimental evidence showed that it is
composed of even smaller particles. These particles are electrons, protons and neutrons
and they are collectively known as subatomic particles. The presence of these particles
was revealed from a series of experiments by various scientists in different parts of the
world and over many years. Figure 2.1 shows the common equipment that was used in
experiments that revealed the particles’ existence and their characteristics.

Figure 2.1: Determination of mass-charge ratio of the electron

21
Table 2.1: Characteristics of subatomic particles

Subatomic particle 1 Charge/C

Mass/kg
Electron 9.094 x 10-31 - 1.6022 x 10-19
Proton 1.6726 x 10-27 + 1.6022 x 10-19
Neutron 1.6749 x 10-27 0

1
These are rest masses

Comparing the mass of the electron to other subatomic particles reflects that the proton
and the neutron have practically equal masses, and are more than 1 800 times heavier
than the electron. Repeating the above process with charges of the subatomic particles,
gives a set of relative values as summarized in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2: Masses and charges of subatomic particles relative to the electron

Subatomic particle Subatomic particle Property relative to electron

symbol Charge Mass
Proton p +1 1 830
Neutron n 0 1 839

Nuclear model of the atom

After identifying the subatomic particles and studying their characteristics, scientists
wanted to know how these particles are arranged within the atom. Several scientists
studied the effect of bombarding thin metal sheets with 2alpha particles from radioactive
substances, such as uranium. Figure 2.2 represent the experimental set up and
observations.
2
alpha particles are He2+ ions

Figure 2.2: Alpha particle scattering from metal sheets

22
They found that most of the alpha particles passed through the metal foil, but a few
(about 1 in 8 000) were scattered at large angles and sometimes almost backward. Fig 2.3
shows these observations.

Figure 2.3: Interpretation of the scattering of alpha particles by gold sheet

Their findings can be summarized as follows

 Most of the mass of the atom (greater than 99.95 %) is concentrated in the nucleus
which contains the protons and neutrons.
 The nucleus is very small and
 It is surrounded by moving negatively charged electrons.

This is graphically represented in Fig 2.4 below.

Figure 2.4: Nuclear model of an atom

Rationale of conclusions:
Alpha particles are much lighter than any metal atom nucleus. Most of the alpha particles
pass through the metal atoms of the sheet undeflected by the light weight electrons.

23
 Nucleus composition
The nucleus is composed of the protons and neutrons. Every nucleus is characterized by
an atomic number (Z) and a mass number (A).

Atomic number (Z)

The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is known as the atomic number (Z).
This is the most important property of any element. It is similar to your national identity
number. There are no two elements whose atoms have the same number of protons! For
example, only oxygen atoms have 8 protons in their nuclei. Elements are arranged
according to their atomic numbers on the Periodic Table.

; The number of protons and electrons in an atom are equal therefore an atom is
electrically neutral.

Mass number (A)

The mass number of an atom is the sum of the number of neutrons and protons. This is
mathematically expressed as:

A = Z + number of neutrons.

For instance, in a sodium atom, A = 23, Z = 11, then the number of neutrons is given by

Z = 23 – 11 = 12.

This information is summarized in a nuclide. A nuclide is a particular nucleus

characterized by its atomic and mass numbers, e.g. AZX, where X is the symbol for the
element.

Naturally occurring atoms of the same element have the same atomic number (Z) but may
have different mass number. Such atoms are known as isotopes. Isotopes are atoms of the
same element with different numbers of neutrons. Examples are 3517Cl and 3717Cl, 126C,
13 14
6C and 6C.

Exercise 2.1
1. a) Name the particles that make up an atom.
b) Which particle has i) a positive charge, ii) zero charge and iii) almost no mass?

2. a) Use the Periodic Table to find the symbol for the element that has five protons and
six neutrons.
b) What is the nuclide symbol for this element?

24
Relative atomic mass (Ar)
SI Units of mass, the kilogram, is inconvenient to express masses of atoms and other
small particles. The masses of single atoms are very small, e.g. the atom of bismuth (Bi),
one of the heaviest elements, is 3.470 x 10-22 g and that of hydrogen (H), the lightest
element, is 1. 674 x 10-24 g. These numbers are not quite easy to work with, so scientists
came up with an easier way to express the mass of an atom.

They chose a standard element against which they can compare all the other elements.
The first standard was the hydrogen -1, and then the oxygen-16, but its isotopic
composition is variable. It is slightly variable even in different samples of water from the
same lake! Carbon-12 is now the standard in preference to oxygen-16. Naturally
occurring carbon has a consistent isotopic composition of 98.89 % C-12, 1.11 % C-13
and C-14 forms an insignificant percentage. In addition, it is a solid that can be
transported and stored in a stable and pure state.

In the procedure, the mass of a C-12 atom is fixed at 12 units. Therefore, the apparatus
used to measure atomic masses, the mass spectrometer, is calibrated (graduated) with
smallest divisions of 1/12 of C-12. Remembering that C-12 has six protons and six
neutrons, then 1/12 of C-12 is 1.6604x10-27 kg, which is approximately equal to mass of a
proton or that of a neutron. The unit for atomic mass becomes atomic mass unit (amu).

The mass of an atom found by comparing it with the C-12 atom is called the relative
atomic mass and its symbol is Ar. In fact, the relative atomic mass of an element is the
average mass of its isotopes and it is closer to the value of the mass number of the most
abundant isotope.

Exercise 2.2
The isotopic compositions of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen are given below.

Species Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen

C-12 C-13 H-1 H-2 O-16 O-17 O-18
% 98.89 1.11 99.985 0.015 99.76 0.04 0.20
abundances

The atomic mass of carbon is taken as exactly 12 for purposes of comparing the atomic
masses of the rest of other elements.

a) i) Why would it be better to use hydrogen -1 as a standard?

ii) State some of the major inconveniences of using hydrogen as a standard.
iii) What type of error is introduced by fixing the mass of carbon at 12?

b) State three reasons why it is more convenient to use carbon other than oxygen as an
atomic standard.

25
Determination of relative atomic mass
The gaseous element is introduced through an inlet tube into a chamber where its atoms
collide with high energy electrons. The force of the collision knocks electrons from the
element’s atoms, forming positive ions. The positive ions are accelerated by an electric
field into a magnetic field. The magnetic field deflects the ions according to their mass to
charge ratio. The ions are, therefore, grouped depending on the mass to charge ratios,
where each group of ions is made up of one isotope and the quantity, known as the
relative abundances.

Figure 2.5 Mass spectrometer and the neon spectrum

The relative atomic mass of an element is equal to the sum of the products of each
isotope and its relative abundance. For example, the relative abundances of neon isotopes
are neon-20, 0.9051; neon-21, 0.0027; and neon-22, 0.0922. The relative atomic mass
(Ar) for neon is:

Ar = [(20 x 0.9051) + (21 x 0.0027) + (22 x 0.0922)]

= [(18.102) + (0.0567) + (2.0284)]
= [20.18671]

Note the relative abundances can either be expressed as fractions or percentages, so the
sum of the relative abundances adds up to one or 100.

26
Exercise 2.3
Chromium, Cr, has the following isotopic masses and fractional abundances.

Mass Isotopic Fractional

Number Mass (amu) Abundances
50 49.9461 0.0435
52 51.9405 0.8379
53 52.9407 0.0950
54 53.9389 0.0236

What is the relative atomic mass of chromium?

Electronic structure of an atom

The nuclear model (Figure 2.4) had established that electrons move around the nucleus,
but do they have a specific order? What keeps the electrons away from the nucleus
despite the attraction? Why are electrons in the same region despite their repulsive
interactions?

When atoms are heated, its electrons absorb energy and move into shells of higher
energy; and when they are cooled, the electrons emit energy and move into lower energy
shells. There are instruments that can measure the absorbed or emitted energies. A careful
study of emissions or absorptions reveals that each element has a characteristic emission
or absorption pattern, suggesting that electrons in each element’s atom have a different
arrangement. These observations led to the following proposals:

 An electron moves about the nucleus only in fixed circular orbits.

 An electron can have only specific energy values in an atom, which are called energy
levels. Therefore, an atom has a specific total energy.

 An electron in an atom can change orbits when it absorbs or emits energy.

For example, an electron in a higher energy level (Ei) looses some of its energy
(emission) and moves into lower energy levels (Ef). The lost energy (El) has a specific
frequency (v), therefore, the equation below relates these energy terms.

Ei = Ef + hv, where h is Planck’s constant (h = 6.626 x 10-34 Js).

Re-arranging the equation gives hv = Ei - Ef = ∆E, where ∆E stands for the energy
difference between the initial energy level (Ei) and the final energy level (Ef).

The proposal fully explained the emission spectrum of hydrogen. In addition, the
proposal firmly established the concept of energy levels as separated by definite amount
of energy (∆E), and it confirmed the concept of energy existing in discrete amounts, i.e.
as “particles” or pockets whose energy value E = hv. These pockets are known as
photons. However, it failed to explain the helium spectrum and those of other

27
multielectron atoms. It did not give the three dimension of the structure of atoms, but
gave a wrong impression that electrons move in circular trajectories or orbits.

Further improvements on the structure of an atom were based on the following

considerations:

Light has wave properties that are characterized by frequency and wavelength and
particle-like properties that are characterized by its energy (E = hv) and momentum (mc),
where m = mass, c = velocity. Small moving particles such as electrons and protons have
wave-like properties, where their momenta are related to corresponding wavelength, (mc
= h / λ), where λ = wavelength.

This behaviour of matter is known as wave-particle duality, that is, matter can behave as
a wave or particle. This way of looking at matter developed a new branch of Physics
called Quantum Physics or Wave Mechanics.

Usually wave properties are significant for particles of very small mass and moving at
high speed. For such particles it becomes impossible to determine simultaneously their
position and velocity with precision. This is known as the uncertainty principle.

An electron in an atom can, therefore, be regarded as moving rapidly in the three

dimensional volume around the nucleus. The space of highest probability of finding an
electron is called an orbital. Alternatively, an electron can be considered as a diffuse
cloud with an overall charge of -1 and the electron density (ρ) that varies with the
distance (r) from the nucleus. (Fig 2.6)

Figure 2.6: Electron density plot in an atom

Summary of quantum mechanical model of the atom

 The energy of electrons in atoms is quantized, i.e. each shell has a definite energy
range. Energy of the shells increases with the atomic radius.
 The exact position and velocity of an electron can not be determined simultaneously
with certainty.

As a result, the presence of an electron in an atom is best described by spatial regions of

high probability of locating it, which are called atomic orbitals.

28
Exercise 2.4
The atom is sometimes said to be similar to a miniature planetary system, with electrons
orbiting the nucleus. Discuss this analogy.

Atomic orbitals
The full description of an electron in an atom requires four quantum numbers. Three of
these numbers (n, l and ml) refer to the spatial coordinates, and are also used to determine
the probability of locating the electron around the nucleus, that is the atomic orbital. The
fourth quantum number (ms) refers to a magnetic property of the electron called spin.
Every orbital in an atom has a different set of n, l and ml and each electron in an atom has
a different set of four quantum numbers (n, l, ml and ms). The general significance of each
of the four quantum numbers of an electron are given below.

Principal quantum number (n) is the main energy level, commonly referred to as the
“shell”. It can take the value of any positive whole number, that is, from 1, 2, 3…….∞.
The smaller n is, the lower the energy of that energy level and closer to the nucleus it is.
The size of an orbital also depends on n. The main energy level is composed of subshells
or sublevels.

Angular momentum quantum number (l) describes the shapes of orbitals in different
subshells in the main energy level or shell. It is also known as the orbital quantum
number. The possible values of l depend on n. l can only take values from zero up to n-1,
that is, 0, 1, 2, …n-1. For example, an electron with a principal quantum number, n = 3,
the possible values of l are 0, 1 and 2. Therefore, the total number of subshells is equal to
n, that is, 3, in the above example. Each value of l is associated with a letter that describes
the shape of orbitals in the subshell or sublevel, as illustrated below.

Value of l 0 1 2 3
Subshell s p d f
Number of orbitals 1 3 5 7
Maximum electrons 2 6 10 14

Shapes of orbitals in s, p and d-subshells are illustrated below.

s-orbital

29
 p-orbitals

d-orbitals

The energy of subshells or sublevels in a particular shell/level increases in the following

order:

s<p<d<f

Magnetic quantum number (ml) describes the orientations and numbers of orbitals in each
subshell. The possible values of ml are integers from –l to +l, e.g. for l = 1, ml values are -
1, 0 and +1. Each ml value corresponds to a spatial orientation of the orbital.

Spin quantum number (ms) refers to the two possible orientations of the spin axis of an
electron. The possible values of ms are + ½ and - ½. Electrons are charged particles with
a circular motion (spin) and their movement is associated with a magnetic field. The
mobile electrons, therefore, behave like small magnets, that is, with north and south
poles. This is known as spin magnetism. When the electrons are close enough to each
other, the interaction of their magnetic fields cause them to spin in opposite directions
such that the magnetic fields oppose each other and the electrons attract each other. The
attractive interaction between the two electrons lowers the total energy of the pair.
However, the pair is more energetic than two unpaired electrons in separate orbitals.

30
Exercise 2.5
1. State whether each of the following sets of quantum numbers is permissible for an
electron in an atom. If the set is not permissible, explain why.
a) n = 1, l = 1, ml = 0, ms = +½ b) n = 3, l = 1, ml = - 2, ms = -½
c) n = 2, l = 1, ml = 0, ms = + ½ d) n = 2, l = 0, ml = 0, ms = 1

2. a) If n of an atomic orbital is 4, what are the possible values of l?

b) If the l quantum number is 3, what are the possible values of ml?
c) Give the possible values of l, ml and ms for an electron in n = 1.

Electron configurations
The atomic models described above indicate that electrons are located in energy levels
around the nucleus. These energy levels or shells are defined by quantum numbers n, l
and ml, while the fourth quantum number defines the direction of spin of each electron.
The numbers of orbitals and electrons are also defined by these quantum numbers.

An electron configuration is the distribution of electrons in the available energy levels or

shells in a particular atom. The electron configuration informs us which shells and
subshells are occupied and by how many electrons. The electron configurations are
abbreviated by the nlx notation, where n is the principal quantum number, l is the orbital
quantum number (represents the subshell) and x is the number of electrons in the l
subshell. For example, in a lithium atom Z = 3, where two electrons are in the 1s subshell
and one electron in the 2s subshell, is written as 1s2 2s1.

However, the electron spin, ms, is not reflected in the above notation. This is more
evident in orbital diagrams, where each orbital, i.e. ml and the ms are indicated. For
example, in the boron atom, Z = 5, the orbital diagram and electron configuration are
shown below. Each box represents an orbital and by convention ↑ represents +½ while ↓
represents -½.
Orbital diagram ↑↓ ↑↓ ↑
Electron configuration 1s2 2s2 2px1 2py 2pz

Pauli Exclusion Principle

The principle states that no two electrons in an orbital can have the same spin quantum
number ms. The principle, therefore, indicates that an orbital can hold a maximum of two
electrons. In addition, it determines the number of electrons in a subshell as well as for
the complete shell.

Subshell Number of Maximum number

(l value) Orbitals Of electrons
s (l = 0) 1 2
p (l = 1) 3 6
d (l = 2) 5 10
f (l = 3) 7 14

31
Furthermore, the principle determines which electron configurations are physically
possible, that is, not all possible electron arrangements have real existence.

Exercise 2.6
According to Pauli Exclusion Principle, which of the following orbital diagrams or
electron configurations are possible and which ones are not possible? Explain.

1s 2s 2px 2py 2pz

a ↑↓ ↑↓ ↑
b ↑ ↓↑↓ ↑
c ↓ ↑↓ ↑↓

d) 1s3 2s1 e) 1s2 2s1 2p7 f) 1s2 1p6 2s1 g) 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d8 4s2

The building up principle (Aufbau Principle)

The building up principle provides the rules for predicting the order of filling atomic
orbitals, giving the ground state configuration. The ground state configuration is the most
stable arrangement of electrons, i.e. one with the lowest energy possible and therefore,
the naturally occurring configuration.

Before considering the building up principle, it must be noted that the energy of shells
increases with n. Energies of orbitals with the same n value, increase with l, while
orbitals with the same l value have the same energy and are said to be degenerate. In
addition, the total energy of an atom also depends on the energies of interaction among
the different subshells of an atom.

The building up principle is used together with Pauli Exclusion Principle and Hundi’s
rule and is summarized as follows:

 The electrons occupy the available orbitals in order of increasing energy level.
The orbital of lowest energy is always filled first.
 In a subshell, single electrons occupy each orbital with parallel spin before they
start pairing up. This is Hund’s rule.
 No two electrons in an atom can have exactly the same set of n, l, ml and ms
quantum numbers. This is Pauli Exclusion Principle.

For instance, carbon has Z = 6 and its electron configuration is: 1s2 2s2 2p2. There are
many possible orbital diagrams for this electron configuration. Three of them are:

Orbital 1s 2s 2px 2py 2pz

Diagram 1 ↑↓ ↑↓ ↑ ↑
Diagram 2 ↑↓ ↑↓ ↑ ↓
Diagram 3 ↑↓ ↑↓ ↑↓

32
None of the above diagrams violets Pauli Exclusion Principle, but not all of them obey
the building up principle. Each diagram has a different total energy. Which one is correct
according to the building up principle?

The first four electrons go into the 1s and 2s orbitals. The subshell p has three orbitals
which are equal in energy, that is, they are degenerate, and so the next two electrons
separately occupy two orbitals and with parallel spin (Hund’s rule).

Figures 2.7 below indicate the order in which electrons occupy the atomic orbitals in the
ground state.

Figure 2.7: Order of filling atomic orbitals at ground state

In summary, the building principle gives the most stable configuration, the ground state
by usually filling the lowest energy level first as shown below:

1s < 2s < 2p < 3s < 3p < 4s < 3d < 4p < 5s < 4d < 5p < 6s < 4f < 5d……..

The building up principle predicts most of the ground states of atoms. There are however,
exceptions. When adjacent subshells have small energy differences between them, the
building-up order is not strictly determined by the order of subshell energies. As the
energy of the subshells increases, the energy differences between successive subshells
decreases (See Figure 2.7). These exceptions are commonly justified by extra stability of
half filled or completely filled subshells. This is evident in copper and chromium
configurations.

33
End of Unit Exercises

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Which of the following will not be affected by an electric field?
a) alpha particles b) beta particles c) neutrons
d) protons e) electrons

2. If we consider 1 atomic mass unit to be equal to 1.660540 x 10-27 g, calculate the

average mass in grams of one argon atom, Z = 18 and A = 40.
a) 2.989 x 10-23 g b) 1.084 x 10-25 g c) 6.634 x 10-23 g
d) 2.406 x 10-23 g e) 2.406 x 10-25 g

3. The early atomic theory is based on several assumptions which are listed below. Which
of these assumptions is strictly correct?
I All atoms of the same element are identical
II Atoms are indivisible and unchangeable.
III Chemical changes are the result of the combination, separation and rearrangement
of atoms

a) I, II and III are correct b) I and III are correct c) II and III are correct
d) I and II are correct e) None of these answers

4. The total numbers of neutrons, protons and electrons in 3115P -3 are:

a) 15 neutrons, 31 protons, 15 electrons b) 16 neutrons, 15 protons, 18 electrons
c) 31 neutrons, 15 protons, 18 electrons d) 15 neutrons, 16 protons, 12 electrons
e) 16 neutrons, 16 protons, 18 electrons

5. An atom has 45 neutrons and 36 electrons. If it is an anion with a -1 charge, which is

its correct nuclide?
a) 4535Br- b) 8035Br- c) 9045Rh- d) 8135Kr- e) 8045Br-

6. Choose the correct statement:

a) neutrons have no charge and no mass
b) an electron has 1/1837 the mass of a proton
c) the relative atomic mass is the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus
d) the charge of a proton is 1837 times the charge of an electron
e) electrons and protons have about the same mass

7. An orbital is reference to
a) a region of high electron density
b) a region in an atom where an electron is likely to be found
c) a wave function resulting from specific values assigned to quantum numbers in
wave equation
d) a spherical region around a nucleus where an electron can be found

a) b only b) a and b c) b and c d) a, b and c e) all of the above

34
8. Which of the following statements concerning quantum numbers in NOT correct?
a) “n” relates the most probable distance from the nucleus
b) “l” denotes geometric shape
c) “m” denotes orientation of an orbital with respect to the others
d) the fourth quantum number refers to electron spin
e) the four quantum numbers are derived from wave mechanics

9. Write the appropriate values of n and l for the orbital designation 3s.
a) n = 3, l = 1 b) n = 0, l = 3 c) n = 3, l = 3
d) n = 3, l = 2 e) n = 3, l = 0

10. Write the electron configurations for elements with atomic number 1 to 20.

Structured Response Questions

11. The following table gives the number of protons and neutrons in the nuclei of various
atoms.
Atom Protons Neutrons
A 17 18
B 16 19
C 17 19
D 18 22

a) Which atom is an isotope of atom A? ……….., because ……………………………

b) Which atom has the same mass number as atom A? …………
Show the calculations.
…………………………………………………………………………………………….

c) Write the electron configuration for atom D. ……………………………………….

12. An element has naturally occurring isotopes with the following masses and
abundances.

Isotopic mass/amu Fractional abundance

27.977 0.9221
27.976 0.0470
27.974 0.0309

a) Calculate the percentage abundance for each isotope.

i) % abundance of isotope 27.977: ……………………………………………….
ii) % abundance of isotope 27.976: ……………………………………………….
iii) % abundance of isotope 27.974: ……………………………………………….

b) What is the relative atomic mass for this element?

………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………...

35
13. Hydrogen, deuterium and tritium are isotopes. Their structures are shown below.

a) Copy and complete the following key:

i) • represents ……………….. (ii) о represents ……………….
(iii) represents ……………….
b) What are the mass numbers of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium?
………………………………………………………………………………………

c) Copy and complete this statement: Atoms of isotopes always contain the same number
of ………. and ………… but different numbers of …….......

Free Response Questions

14. State the mass and charge of a) electron, b) neutron, and c) proton

15. Calculate the number of protons, neutrons and electrons in each of the following
atoms
a) 11H b) 199F c) 3216S d) 24494Pu

16. a) What is an isotope?

b) What is the major difference among isotopes of an element?
c) What is the major similarity among isotopes of an element?
d) Describe the similarities and differences among 12C, 13C, and 14C.

17. How does an orbital differ from an orbit?

18. a) Distinguish between a principal energy level and a sublevel. Give examples.
b) Distinguish between a sublevel and an orbital. Give examples.
c) What is the notation for the subshell in which n = 4 and l = 3?

19. In any one principal energy level, what is the maximum number of electrons in:
a) s subshell b) p subshell c) d subshell d) f subshell?

End of Unit

36
 Unit 3: The Elements and the Periodic Table

In the previous chapter we discussed the existence of fundamental particles, (protons,

neutrons and electrons) and their relationship. We also made use of the building-up
principle, in conjunction with Hund’s rule and Pauli’s Exclusion Principle, to deduce the
electron configurations of atoms. In this chapter we are going to look at the effects of the
electron configuration on chemical and physical properties of elements and their
compounds. This relationship between electronic structure and properties of elements is
generalized in the Periodic Table.

Periods and groups/families

If elements are arranged in order of increasing atomic numbers such that in each row a
single energy level is filled, the properties of elements recur periodically. This is known
as the periodic law, and the result is the Periodic Table of elements. The rows are called
periods, while the columns are known as groups or families. The Periodic Table was
deduced before the electron configurations were known. The first Periodic Table was
suggested by Dmitry Mendeleev when he arranged the elements according to similarities
of valencies.

Figure 3.1: Part of the Periodic Table

1 2 13 14 15 16 17 18
1H 2He
1s1 1s2
3Li 4Be 3-12 5B 6C 7N 8O 9F 10Ne
(He)2s1 (He)2s2 (He)2s22p1 (He)2s22p2 (He)2s22p3 (He)2s22p4 (He)2s22p5 (He)2s22p6
11Na 12Mg 13Al 14Si 15P 16S 17Cl 18Ar
(Ne)3s1 (Ne)3s2 (Ne)3s23p1 (Ne)3s23p2 (Ne)3s23p3 (Ne)3s23p4 (Ne)3s23p5 (Ne)3s23p6
19K 20Ca 31Ga 32Ge 33As 34Se 35Br 36Kr
(Ar)4s1 (Ar)4s2
37Rb 38Sr 49In 50Sn 51Sb 52Te 53I 54Xe

The outermost shell of an electron configuration is known as the valence shell and the
electrons are called valence electrons. The number of valence electrons reflects the
group/family of the element and defines the combining power or ability of the element.
The valence electrons are the ones involved in chemical reactions. Therefore, elements
with the same number of electrons in the valence shell have similar chemical properties.

Ion formation and the octet rule

During chemical reactions, elements attain the configurations of the noble gases in the
previous period or at the end of their period. That is, they attain full outermost shells.
Such configurations are very stable. This explains why the group 18 elements naturally
exist as separate atoms.

Atoms can attain full outermost shells by either loosing the valence electrons, that is
shedding off the incomplete valence shell or gaining electrons so as to complete the
valence shell. The loosing or gaining of electrons decreases or increases the number of

37
electrons in the atom. Therefore, the electrons will no longer be equal to the protons and
the particle becomes charged. Charged particles are called ions.

When atoms loose electrons they become positively charged ions because protons will be
more than electrons. Positively charged ions are called cations. For example, Sodium
atom (Na) has Z = 11 and an electron configuration 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s1. The valence shell is 3
and it has one valence electron, therefore it belongs to group 1 and period 3. Loosing the
valence electron gives Na+1 with a configuration 1s2 2s2 2p6. The electron configuration
of Na+1 has lost the n = 3 shell and is the same as the configuration of neon Z = 10. Na 1+
and neon are said to be isoelectronic. Therefore, the formation of a cation gives the same
electron configuration of the noble gas in the previous period.

If electrons are gained, then the ion will have more electrons than protons, therefore
becomes negatively charged. Negatively charged ions are called anions. For example,
fluorine atom Z = 9 has a configuration 1s2 2s2 2p5. This element is in group 17 and
period 2 and has 7 valence electrons. Gaining one electron completes the valence shell
giving the same configuration as that of neon (Z = 10).

When does an atom form an anion or a cation? An atom will loose its valence electrons if
it has fewer than four valence electrons. Consequently, groups 1 up to 13 elements form
cations. Furthermore, loosing an electron requires an energy input. It will require a lot of
energy to loose more than three electrons because the nucleus will strongly attract the
remaining electrons, and cations with charges greater than three are very unstable.

Elements with more than four valence electrons, that is, groups 15 to 17, gain electrons
thereby filling their valence shells. Anions with charges greater than three are equally
unstable because the outermost shell is strongly repelled by the inner or core shells (This
is known as shielding effect.). Group 14 elements neither loose nor gain electrons but
they complete their valence shells by sharing them. These concepts will be dealt with
again in chapter 4.

The octet rule states that in chemical reactions, an element gains, looses or shares the
minimum number of electrons necessary to attain a noble gas configuration.

Exercise 3.1
Predict the ions that are mostly likely formed by:
a) 73Li b) 147N c) 3517Cl d) 4020X

Trends in the Periodic Table

The chemical and physical properties of an element are determined by the electron
configuration of its atoms. In particular, it is the configuration of the valence shell or
valence orbitals that is important. Electrons in the inner shells (or core shells), which are
often full; do not participate in chemical reactions. The valence electrons are sometimes
called the bonding electrons. Therefore, when the atoms are arranged in order of
increasing atomic number their physical and chemical properties show a periodic
variation or periodicity.

38
Atomic size
The size of an atom is taken as the distance between the center of the nucleus and the
boundary of the region where the valence electrons are located. This distance is known as
the atomic radius. The above statement assumes the atom is spherical. Therefore, the size
of an atom can be measured in terms of its atomic radius or atomic volume.

The size of the atom is affected by two factors:

 The energy level (n) in which the valence electrons are located. In addition, n is also
the period number. Therefore, the number of shells in an atom increases down the
group as more energy levels are occupied. Therefore, the atomic size increases from
top to bottom in a group.

 The positive charge of the nucleus is known as the nuclear charge and is equal to the
number of protons in the nucleus or Z of the element. Along a period, the nuclear
charge increases from left to right, but the number of shells remains the same. As a
result, the attractive effect of the nucleus on all electrons increases and electrons are
drawn closer to the nucleus. This results in a decrease in the atomic size from left to
right.

Figure 3.2: Variation of atomic size in periods and groups of the Periodic Table

Ion size
Cations have more protons than electrons. The greater nuclear charge has a stronger
attractive effect on the remaining electrons in the cation. Therefore, the cation is smaller
than its parent atom. Cations with higher charges are even smaller. For example, Cu +2
ions are smaller than Cu+1ions.

Anions are larger than their parent atoms. The anions have more electrons than protons
and the valence electrons are less attracted by the nucleus in the anion. Anions with

39
higher charges are much larger than those with lower charges. For example, O-2 is larger
than O-1.

Figure 3.3: Relative size of ions and their parent atoms

Ionization Energy
The first ionization energy of an atom is the minimum energy required to remove the
highest energy electron from a neutral atom in the gaseous state. For example, the
ionization process of lithium can be represented as:

Li (g) (1s2 2s1) + energy (ionization energy) → Li+1(g) (1s2) + e-.

The size of the ionization energy of an element is determined by the nuclear charge,
atomic radius and the shielding effect of core shells. The ionization energy in part
indicates the tendency of an atom to react. A high value for ionization energy means that
it is difficult to remove electrons from the atom. The reactivity of the element can not be
concluded only from the ionization energy. Other factors, such as electron affinity, lattice
energy and hydration energy, need to be considered.

40
Figure 3.4: Ionization energy variation with atomic number

Across the period, the ionization energy increases because the nuclear charge increases
from left to right. The lowest value of ionization energies are for the group 1 elements.
The largest ionization energies in any period occur for the noble gas elements. In other
words, a noble gas atom looses electrons with difficulty, which partly explains the
stability of noble gas configurations and the unreactivity of the noble gas elements.

However, there are deviations between groups 2 and 13 elements and in between groups
15 and 16. The preceding groups have higher ionization energies. This is due to greater
shielding effect of the s subshell and the greater stability associated with half filled
electron configurations, respectively.

The ionization energy decreases down the group as valence electrons are further away
from the nucleus (See Fig 3.4).

Electrons in an atom can be removed successively. The energies required at each step are
known as the first, second ionization energies and so on. Table 3.1 lists the successive
energies of the first ten elements. Note that the ionization of an element increases as more
electrons are removed because the successive electrons are removed from a more positive
ion, which strongly attracts the electrons. There is a larger difference when electrons are
removed from inner shells. For example, the difference between the second and third
ionization energies for beryllium, Be.

41
Table 3.2: Successive ionization energies of the first ten elements (kJ/mol)

The line in Table 3.2 separates the energies needed to remove valence electrons from
those needed to remove core electrons. Figure 3.5 shows a graph of the logarithm of
successive ionization energies of potassium.

Figure 3.5: Graph of logarithm of successive ionization energies of a Potassium atom

42
Exercise 3.2
Using the Periodic Table only, arrange the following elements in order of increasing
ionization energy: Ar, Se and S.

Electron Affinity
Electron affinity is the energy change that occurs when a gaseous atom gains an electron.
For example, a chlorine atom gains an electron forming a gaseous chloride ion.

Cl ((Ne)3s23p5) + e- → Cl- ((Ne)3s23p6) + energy (electron affinity)

The electron affinity is a measure of the ease with which an atom forms an anion. A large
electron affinity indicates that a very stable anion is formed.

Table 3.3: Electron affinities of main group elements (kJ/mol)

The value of the electron affinity depends on factors such as nuclear charge, electron
configuration and atomic radius. The variation of the electron affinity is not quite regular,
mostly because of the effect of electron configurations. Consider the second period, if an
electron is added to lithium, 60 kJmol- are released.

Li (1s22s1) + e- → Li-1 (1s22s2) + 60 000 J (Electron affinity = -60 000J)

Note that the negative sign means that energy is released or lost.

This is because lithium attains a filled up 2s orbital. But on doing the same on
magnesium, energy is absorbed instead.

Mg ((Ne) 3s2) + e- → Mg-1 ((Ne) 3s23p1) – energy (electron affinity > 0)

Note that the electron affinity is positive, therefore greater than zero.

43
From the above equation, it can be seen that the added electron goes into a higher energy
subshell, therefore, the absorption of energy. A similar trend is observed in groups 13, 15
and 18. Figure 3.5 below shows the variation of electron affinity for the first 50 elements.

Figure 3.6: The periodic variation of electron affinity

The electron affinity decreases down the group because the added electrons are further
away from the nucleus and are, therefore, weakly attracted by it. In a period, the electron
affinity generally increases from left to right. Group 16 and 17 elements have the highest
electron affinities. These elements form very stable negatively charged ions such as F-
and O-2. The noble gases have very low electron affinities. Therefore, these elements do
not form stable negatively charged ions.

Exercise 3.3
Arrange the following elements: i) Be, N and F; ii) Cl, Br, I, and F; (iii) Cl, N, F, I and
Br in order of increasing

a) atomic size b) ionization energy c) electron affinity.

Electrical and thermal conductivity

Electrical and thermal conductivities are a result of the presence of mobile electrons, that
is, electrons that are loosely attracted by the nucleus. Therefore, elements with low
ionization energies and electron affinities are expected to be good conductors of both heat
and electricity.

44
Across a period, the electric conductivity increases up to group 13 for representative
elements, then starts decreasing. This can be explained in terms of increasing number of
valence electrons. For instance, sodium ((Ne)3s1) contributes one electron from the 3s
orbital to the conduction electrons; magnesium ((Ne)3s2) contributes two 3s electrons
while aluminum ((Ne)3s23p1) will contribute three electrons. Therefore, not only the size
of ionization energy is important. Silicon is a semiconductor and phosphorus to argon are
nonconductors. In addition, note that the transition elements are excluded from the above
analysis. Furthermore, carbon has two allotropes, that is, graphite and diamond. In the
above analysis graphite is not considered. At this level, it is sufficient to know that
graphite is a good electrical and thermal conductor, while diamond is a nonconductor.

The electrical and thermal conductivities increase down a group. This is explained in
terms of increasing atomic radius (See Figure 3.2).

Type of element
Elements can be classified as metals, metalloids/semimetals and nonmetals. This
classification was initially based on the extent of their ability to conduct electricity.

Metals, metalloids and nonmetals

Metals easily conduct electrical and heat energy in solid and molten states. This
behaviour can be explained in terms of the presence of mobile electrons. Metals have low
ionization energies and electron affinities. Their valence electrons can break away
relatively easily from the nuclear attraction. The two properties are mostly affected by the
nuclear charge. Figure 3.2 shows that groups 1 and 2 elements have the largest atoms
because they have the smallest nuclear charges in their corresponding periods. Similar
trends are observed in Figures 3.4 and 3.5.

In conclusion metallic nature decreases across the period. Group 1 elements are most
metallic and group 18 elements are least metallic in a period. On the Periodic Table there
is a bold zigzag line from boron (B) to astatine (At) (See Figure 3.1). Most elements
bordering this line are metalloid or semimetals. These elements have properties
intermediate to those of metals and nonmetals and they are sometimes called
semiconductors. The elements to the right of this line are nonmetals and these are
nonconductors of electricity and heat. The metallic nature increases down the group.

Types of oxygen compounds

Most elements react with oxygen forming oxygen compounds, called oxides. Metal
oxides are basic. Aqueous solutions of basic substances turn red litmus paper blue.
Oxides of nonmetals are acidic. Aqueous solutions of acidic substances turn blue litmus
paper red. Oxides of elements around group thirteen (close to the zigzag bold line on the
Periodic Table) tend to have both acidic and basic properties. These are called
amphoteric oxides. Examples are oxides of aluminum, gallium, zinc, lead, and tin.

45
Figure 3.7: Summary of trends across period 3

NOTE: You are strongly encouraged to refer to the Periodic Table for information such
as atomic numbers, groups and periods of elements and to deduce most probable ions
and type of bonds formed by various elements on the basis of their location on the
Periodic Table.

46
End of Unit exercises

Multiple Choice Questions

1. An atom which differs in charge from another atom of the same element.
a) is called an isotope b) has more or less neutrons
c) has lost or gained electrons d) is called an ion
e) has the same number of protons

Choose all the correct descriptions of this atom:

a) a and b b) a and c c) b and d d) c and d e) c, d and e

2. Which comparison of atomic and/or ionic radii is correct?

a) K+ > K b) Ca+ > K+ c) Si > S d) Kr > Xe e) Cl > Cl-

3. Chemical properties of elements are a periodic function of all the following EXCEPT:
a) number of protons in the nucleus b) atomic number c) relative atomic mass
d) total number of electrons in the atom e) place on the Periodic Table

4. All of the following are trends in the chemical behaviour of the elements EXCEPT:
a) atomic size within a period of the Periodic Table decreases from left to right
b) metallic character increases within a period from right to left
c) basic oxides are formed by the elements near the right end of each period
d) the ability to form anions is greater among the elements of group I than in group II
e) ionization energy increases as the atomic size decreases.

5. Which ground state electron configuration will most readily produce an ion with a
charge of 2+?
a) 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s2 b) 1s22s22p63s23p64s1 c) 1s22s22p63s23p4
d) 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p2 e) 1s22s22p63s23p63d104s24p6

Structured Response Questions

6. a) Write down the electron configuration for:
i) aluminum (Al): ………………………………………………………….................
ii) boron (B): …………………………………………………………………….
iii) nitrogen (N): …………………………………………………………………….
iv) oxygen (O): …………………………………………………………………….
v) phosphorus (P): …………………………………………………………………….
vi) sulphur (S): …………………………………………………………………….

b) State the period of each one of these elements. Justify your answers.
i) Al …………… Reason: ……………………………………………………………...
ii) B …………… Reason: ……………………………………………………………...
iii) N …………… Reason: ……………………………………………………………...
iv) O …………… Reason: ……………………………………………………………...
v) P …………… Reason: ………………………………………………………………
vi) S …………… Reason: ………………………………………………………………

47
c) State elements that are in the same group. Justify your answers.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

d) Which of the above elements would you expect to:

i) have the smallest atom? ………………………………………………………
ii) have lowest ionization energy? ………………………………………………....
iii)have the highest ionization energy? …………………………………………….
iv) be most metallic? ………………………………………………………..……..
v) have the heaviest atom? …………………………………………………………
vi) have the greatest tendency to form an anion? ………………………………….
vii) have the greatest electrical conductivity? …………………………………….

Justify your answers in each case.

Free Response Questions

7. a) Why are noble gas atoms unreactive?
b) Explain why all other atoms are reactive?

8. a) Draw orbital diagrams to show how a sodium atom achieves a full outer shell.
b) Explain why the sodium ion has a charge of +1. c) What is the valency of sodium?

9. a) Write the electron configuration for chlorine, Z = 17.

b) What is the valency of chlorine?

10. In your on words, describe what an ion is.

11. What subshell is being filled in group: i) 1 ii) 2 iii) 13 to 18?

12. The ions Na+ and Mg2+ occur in chemical compounds, but the ions Na2+ and Mg3+ do
not. Explain this observation.

13. Astatine is in group 17, what is the electron configuration of its valence shell using
the nlx notation?

14. Give the most probable ion formed from each of the following elements:
i) a) Li b) O c) Ca d) Br e) S f) Al
ii) Write electron configuration of each of the ions formed by these elements.

15. Which of the following pairs of atoms and/or ions are isoelectronic with one another?
a) O2-, Ne b) S2-, Cl- c) F-, Cl- d) K+, Ar

16. Which species in each of the following groups would you expect to find in nature?
a) Na, Na+, Na- b) S2-, S-, S+ c) Cl, Cl-, Cl+ d) K, K+, K-

48
17. a) Explain why a positive ion is always smaller than its parent atom.
b) Explain why a negative ion is always larger than its parent atom.

18. The element titanium is now being used as a structural material for bone and socket
replacement (shoulders, knees). Suggest properties that would allow these elements to be
suitable for such applications.

19. Imagine you have gone to another planet, where you find a collection of elements
quite different from the ones on earth. You wish to organize them as Mendeleev did on
the Periodic Table. State the properties you would use to organize them.

End of Unit

49
Unit 4: Basic concepts of chemical bonding

Introduction
In the previous chapter we saw that atoms are stable when they have a noble gas electron
configuration. In noble gas electron configurations all electrons are paired. All species
that have one or more unpaired electrons in their electron configurations are called
radicals and are unstable.

The valence electron bond theory explains how atoms bond to one another. According to
the valence electron theory, there are three fundamental principles that are:

i) an atom always attempts to achieve a stable electron configuration when it reacts with
other atoms. This is known as the octet rule.

ii) some atoms achieve stable electron configuration by loosing or gaining one or more
valence electrons. The tendency to achieve noble gas configuration by electron transfer is
known as electrovalency.

iii) other atoms achieve stable electron configurations by sharing one or more pairs of
valence electrons between one or more atoms. This tendency is known as covalency.

When atoms are at certain distances from each other strong attractive forces between
them occur because of the valence electrons and nuclei interactions. The attractive force
between these atoms is called a chemical bond. There are many types of chemical
bonding, for example covalent bonding, ionic (electrovalent) bonding, metallic bonding
and dative (co-ordinate) bonding. The type of bond in a substance determines the way
atoms are arranged and its physical and chemical properties.

Types of chemical bonds

There are two main types of chemical bonds, which are the ionic (electrovalent) and
covalent bonds.

Ionic bond
Consider the reaction between sodium and chlorine atoms producing sodium chloride.

Na(g) + Cl(g) → NaCl(s)

This reaction can be considered to occur in two steps. The ionization of sodium atoms
forming the sodium cations:

Na(g) ((Ne) 3s1) + energy → Na+1(g) (Ne) + 1e-.

The first step is the ionization of gaseous sodium atoms and the energy in the equation is
the first ionization energy. You recall that sodium has (i) low ionization energy and (ii)
low electron affinity? These two properties explain why sodium atoms and atoms of other
metals, especially groups 1 and 2 elements tend to form stable ions by loosing their

50
valence electrons. In other words, it requires less energy to convert a sodium atom to a
sodium cation.

The second step is the gain of an electron by chlorine atoms.

Cl(g) ((Ne) 3s2 3p5) + e- →Cl-1(g) (Ar)+ energy

The energy in the second step is the electron affinity of chlorine. You recall that chlorine,
like all group 16 and 17 elements, has high electron affinity and ionization energy?

In the reaction mixture there will be gaseous sodium cations and gaseous chloride anions.
These ions have opposite charges and are close to each other in the reaction container.
The oppositely charged ions attract each other, forming sodium chloride. The attractive
electrostatic force holds the two ions together and constitutes the ionic bond. Therefore,
sodium chloride is an ionic compound. The compound is neutral because the opposite
charges neutralize each other. In addition, the compound is stable because each of its ions
has a noble gas electron configuration.

From the above example it can be concluded that sodium and chlorine atoms react in the
ratio 1:1 because each one of them has a valency of 1. Therefore, the formulae for ionic
compounds are determined by the valencies of the elements that make them up. For
instance, magnesium reacts with chlorine producing magnesium chloride. How many
chloride ions bond with one magnesium ion? The answer is found by considering the
number of valence electrons lost by the magnesium atom and the number of chlorine
atoms that are required to accept the lost electrons and attaining noble gas configurations.

Mg(g) ((Ne) 3s2) + energy → Mg+2(g) (Ne) + 2e-

As observed above, a chlorine atom requires one electron to achieve a noble gas
configuration. Each of the two electrons lost by the magnesium atom will be received by
a chlorine atom, forming chloride ions with noble gas configuration. Therefore, two
chloride ions are formed and required to neutralize the positive charge on every
magnesium cation.

51
Naming of ionic compounds
Ionic compounds are made up of cations and anions. These ions could be simple or
compound (See Figure 4.1 for compound ions). The names of ionic compounds are based
on their formulae. That is, the name of an ionic compound is made up of name of cation
plus name of anion. The name of the cation is the same as that of its parent atom, but
anions’ names have part of the parent atoms, known as the stem, and end with –ide,
which is the suffix. See Table 4.1 for examples.

Table 4.1: Writing names of ionic compounds

Formula Name of
Cation Anion Compound
Anion stem Suffix
Na2O Sodium Ox- -ide Sodium oxide
Li3N Lithium Nitr- -ide Litium nitride
AlBr3 Aluminum Brom- -ide Aluminum bromide

Exercise 4.1
1. a) Describe an ionic bond in your own words. Give two examples of ionic compounds
that are different from those stated in this chapter.
b) Justify the formula for your examples.

2. Predict the formulae of ionic compounds formed from the reaction of:
a) i)Lithium and bromine ii) Sodium and sulphur iii) aluminum and oxygen.
b) Write balanced equations representing the formation of the above compounds from
their natural elements.

3. Write the formulae for the following compounds.

a) lithium fluoride b) aluminum sulphide c) calcium nitride

4. a) State two groups whose elements tend to form: i) cations and ii) anions. Explain.
b) Explain how the tendency to form ionic compounds varies in groups and periods.

Compound ions
Some ions are formed from groups of atoms. These are called compound or polyatomic
ions. The most common ones are shown in Fig 4.1 below.

52
Fig 4.1: Common polyatomic ions

How can the formulae for compounds containing polyatomic ions be deduced? To find
out the formula for a compound, e.g. potassium carbonate, we need to know the charges
of potassium and that of the carbonate ion. Then determine the number of positively
charged ions that are required to neutralize the negative charge on the anion. The
carbonate ion has a charge of -2 and potassium has +1. It follows that two potassium ions
are necessary to neutralize the charge of one carbonate ion. Therefore, the formula for
potassium carbonate is made up of two potassium ions and one carbonate ion, K2CO3.

This can be written as an ionic equation: 2K+ + CO3 → K2CO3

Exercise 4.2
1) Write the formulae for the following ionic compounds (Make use of ionic equations):
a) sodium hydroxide b) potassium nitrate c) aluminum nitrate d) ammonium
carbonate

2.Name the following compounds.

a) NH4Br b) (NH4)2S c) (Al)2(SO4)3

Lewis symbols
Symbols of elements and their electron configurations can be represented using Lewis
symbols. In Lewis symbols, elements are represented by their normal symbols and their
electrons are represented by either dots (•) or crosses (x). Usually only the valence
electrons are shown in Lewis symbols. For example, the reaction between sodium and
chlorine atoms giving sodium chloride is represented by Lewis symbols below.

53
The above representation shows that the sodium valence electron was transferred to the
chlorine atom. In addition, this representation reflects that sodium chloride is made up of
ions and that there are no electrons between these ions. Therefore, the ions are held
together by strong attractive electrostatic forces. Similar representations can be used for
covalent compounds, see below.

Exercise 4.3
Using the Lewis symbols, write an equation predicting the product of the reaction of:

a) Li + Br → b) Cs + O → c) Mg + F → d) Ba + N →

Covalent bond
When nonmetal elements react, they achieve noble gas configurations by sharing some of
their valence shell electrons. This is because nonmetals have more than three valence
electrons and high ionization energies (except for hydrogen). As a result, it would require
very large amounts of energy to achieve noble gas configuration by electron transfer.

For instance, if two hydrogen atoms react, they share their single valence electrons. Each
hydrogen atom in the molecule will have two electrons in its valence shell. This electron
configuration is similar to that of helium, a noble gas. The reaction is represented below
using the Lewis symbols.

The two atoms sharing valence electrons will experience a strong force of attraction
between them. This force is called a covalent bond. Each shared pair of valence electrons
is a covalent bond. The bonded atoms, each with a filled valence shell, constitute a
molecule. The valence electrons that are not involved in bonding are called lone pair
electrons.

If identical atoms form a molecule, the produced substance is known as a molecular

element or a simple substance. Examples of simple substances are from group 17
elements which exist as diatomic molecules. If atoms of different elements form a
molecule, then it is known as a covalent compound or a molecular compound.

A molecule is similar to the formula unit in ionic compounds, in that they are both
simplest repeating units and show the elements forming the compound and their ratios.
The difference is that molecules exist as separate or individual particles in solid, liquid
and gas states, that is, the covalent bonds are only within the molecules. While in ionic
compounds, a three-dimension network of ionic bonds is established so that a giant ionic
structure is formed.

54
How is the formula of a covalent substance or compound derived? A nonmetal atom will
share its valence electrons with as many other atoms necessary to achieve a noble gas
configuration. What is the product when hydrogen and nitrogen atoms react? Each
nitrogen atom has five valence electrons, while every hydrogen atom has one. Therefore,
each hydrogen atom requires one more electron and each nitrogen atom requires three
more electrons to achieve noble gas configurations. This information is represented
below in Lewis symbols.

Therefore, the molecular formula for ammonia is NH3, that is, each nitrogen atom is
bonded to three hydrogen atoms. In other words, in ammonia, nitrogen and hydrogen
atoms combine in the ratio one as to three.

Note that hydrogen is an exceptional case because of its small nuclear charge. Therefore,
it can easily form ions or share its valence electrons, depending on the other element it is
combined with. The hydrogen anion (H- (1s2)) is called a hydride ion.

In a molecule, the shared pair of electrons is attracted by both nuclei because the bonded
pair now “belongs” to each nucleus. Remember that the attractive force between
electrons and the nucleus in an atom depends on the nuclear charge and the distance
between the electron and that nucleus. The attractive force of a nucleus on a shared pair
of electrons is called Electronegativity. Electronegativity is a measure of the ability of an
atom in a molecule to attract bonding electrons to it.

Bonding electrons in homonuclear molecules, i.e. molecules made up of identical atoms,

e.g. Cl2, are attracted equally by the nuclei. Such covalent bonds are called nonpolar.
This means that the bonding pair is equally shared between the bonded atoms, and there
is no positive or negative end.

In heteronuclear molecules, i.e. molecules made of different atoms, e.g. HCl, are
attracted differently by the nuclei of hydrogen and chlorine because the two elements
have different nuclear charges. The bonding pair is therefore not shared equally between
the bonded atoms. The bonding pair will be closer to the chlorine atom because chlorine
has a higher nuclear charge than hydrogen. The chlorine end will therefore have a small
excess of negative charge because more electrons are now associated with its nucleus.
Therefore, the chlorine atom will have a partial negative charge. The hydrogen atom
becomes electron deficient because one of its electrons is now further away from it.

55
Therefore, the hydrogen atom will have a partial positive charge. Such covalent bonds
are called polar.

Some heteronuclear molecules are nonpolar because the molecular symmetry cancels off
the polarity of the individual bonds in the molecule e. g. carbon dioxide is a 1linear
molecule. Analyze the Lewis structure of carbon dioxide below.
1
In this module, the determination of molecular shapes is not considered.

Lewis structure for carbon dioxide

Exercise 4.4
a) Write the Lewis structure for the fluorine atom.
b) Fluorine naturally exists as diatomic molecules. Draw the Lewis structure for the
fluorine molecule.
c) What type of a bond has fluorine molecules?
d) Fluorine forms hydrogen fluoride with hydrogen.
i) What type of a bond is in hydrogen fluoride? Justify your answer.
ii) Draw the Lewis structure for hydrogen fluoride.

Naming of covalent compounds

The rules for naming covalent compounds are as follow:

1. The names of the elements are written in the order they appear in the formula.
2. A prefix (See Table 4.2 below) indicating the number of each kind of atom found
in the formula is placed before the name of the element.
3. If only one atom of a particular element is present in the molecule, the prefix
mono- is usually omitted for the first element.
4. The stem of the name of the last element is used with the suffix –ide.

For example, naming the compound N2O4 is done as follows:

Rule 1. Identify present elements i.e. two nitrogen atoms and four oxygen atoms
Rule 2. Use the prefixes to indicate numbers of atoms of each element, i.e. two-di and
four- tetra

Rule 3. Does not apply in this case.

Rule 4. Use the suffix -ide for oxygen, in the final step, i.e. dinitrogen tetra-oxide

More examples are given below.

56
Formula Name
N2O dinitrogen monoxide
NO2 nitrogen dioxide (applying the third rule)
CO carbon monoxide

Table 4.2: Prefixes used to indicate numbers of atoms in compounds

Prefix Mono- Di- Tri- tetra- Penta- Hexa- Hepta- Octa-

Number of atoms 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Exercise 4.4
1. Name the following compounds:
a) NO b) H2S c) PCl5 d) P2O5

2. a) Write the formulae for the following compounds:

i) dihydrogen monoxide ii) phosphorus trichloride iii) nitrogen trihydride

b) Draw the Lewis structures for all the compounds in 2(a).

Comparing ionic and covalent compounds

The type of bonding in a substance determines the physical properties of that substance.
In other words, the physical properties of compounds, such as melting point, boiling
point, solubility, and electrical conductivity, can be predicted if the type of bonding in the
compound is known.

Melting and boiling points

In ionic compounds, there is a three-dimension network of equally strong attractive
forces through out the solid ionic compound. Converting the solid into liquid requires
breaking up many of these strong bonds, therefore, it requires very high temperatures.
The melt contains the cations and anions with high kinetic energy and the electrostatic
forces are still present between them. The melting points for ionic compounds are high,
generally above 500 0C. This is why all ionic compounds are solids at room temperature.

In molecular compounds there are strong bonds within the molecules. These are known as
intramolecular bonds. In the solid state the molecules can be orderly arranged and there
are intermolecular forces between adjacent molecules. However, the intermolecular
forces are several times weaker than the intramolecular bonds, and even much weaker
than ionic bonds. During melting, the intermolecular forces are broken and not the
intramolecular bonds. The molecules break away during melting. The melt contains
molecules that have high kinetic energy but electrically neutral. It requires therefore less
energy to separate the weakly held molecules. As a result, the melting points for
molecular compounds are generally lower than those of ionic compounds. See Table 4.3
below.

57
Table 4.3: Melting and boiling points of ionic and covalent compounds

Substance Melting Boiling

Type of compound Name of compound point/0C point/0C
Nonpolar covalent substances Oxygen -219 -183
Chlorine -101 -35
Polar covalent compounds Water 0 100
Ionic compounds Sodium chloride 801 1413
Potassium chloride 767
Rubidium chloride 715
Magnesium oxide 2852 3600
Aluminum oxide 2072 2980

Solubility
Most ionic compounds are soluble in water and other polar solvents, such as ethanol. On
dissolving, they form positive and negative ions, which are stabilized by polar solvent
molecules. The solvent molecules surround the ions in such a way that the positive ends
of the solvent molecules interact with the anions of the ionic compound. The negative
ends of solvent molecules interact with the cations. An illustration of water molecules
surrounding sodium chloride ions is given below.

Nonpolar molecular solids do not dissolve in water. They dissolve in solvents such as
petrol and benzene, which are also nonpolar. However, polar molecular solids ionize and
then dissolve in water, forming positive and negative ions. Polar molecules, such as HCl,
form electrolytes when dissolved in water.

Electrical conductivity
Mobile ions and electrons enable the conduction of electricity in different substances.
Solid ionic compounds do not conduct electricity because the ions are held in fixed
positions by electrostatic forces. However, when dissolved or molten the ions are free to
move. Consequently, solutions and liquids of ionic compounds are strong electrolytes.

Molecular solids can either be polar or nonpolar. In the solid and liquid (molten) states
molecular solids do not conduct electricity because there are no ions present. Aqueous
solutions of polar molecular compounds conduct electricity because they form ions.
Nonpolar molecular compounds do not conduct electricity even when dissolved in
nonpolar solvents because they exist as neutral molecules.

58
End of Unit Exercises

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Can metal atoms form negative ions in the gaseous state? Explain.
a) No, an electron can not be added
b) No, only a nonmetal can form negative ions
c) Yes, electrons can be added to a Li half-filled 2s orbital.
d) Yes, electrons can be removed from a Li half-filled 2s orbital.
e) No, the metal 2s orbital is always completely filled.

2. With the representations of “I” for ionic bond, “PC” for polar covalent bond, and “NP”
for nonpolar covalent bond, which substance is correctly matched with its bond type?
a) CsF/PC b) F2/I c) NO/NP d) HCl/PC e) BrCl/NP

3. Which of the following molecules contains polar bonds but is overall nonpolar?
a) N2 b) NH3 c) CO2 d) H2O e) BrCl

4. Which chloride should exhibit the most covalent type of bond?

a) NaCl b) BeCl2 c) KCl d) BaCl2 e) CaCl2
5. Which of the following exhibits covalent bonding?
a) NaF b) SrO c) LiH d) OF2 e) none of these

6. Which of the following exhibits ionic bonding?

a) C2H6 b) Na2S c) H2CO d) SiCl4 e) none of these

7. Choose the incorrect statement

a) Bonds between like atoms are nonpolar bonds.
b) Polar bonds are caused by the bonding pair of electrons being attracted more to one
atom than the other.
c) Electronegativity is the attraction of electrons in a bond to an atom
d) A difference in Electronegativity between two atoms causes a polar bond
e) All molecules made up of different elements are polar.

8. Write the Lewis structure for barium fluoride

Structured Response Questions

9. The correct chemical formula for a compound is SrCl2.
a) The elements forming this compound are ………………and………………….
b) The compound is made of ……….…… bonds.
c) The name of the compound is ………………………………………………….

59
10. Thalium has a ground state configuration [Xe]4f145d106s26p1.
a) Thalium belongs to group …… and period ……. of the Periodic Table.
b) Determine the atomic number for thalium.
c) Use the Periodic Table to identify the symbol for thalium. ………………..…..
d) State the ion thalium is most likely to form. Indicate the size of its charge……
e) Predict the chemical formula for thalium sulphate, SO42-. …………………….

Free Response Questions

11. A molecule of a certain gas can be represented by the diagram below.

a) What is the formula of the gas?

b) What type of bonding holds the atoms together?
c) Name another compound with the same type of bonding.
d) What do the symbols • and x represent?

12. The table below gives information about some properties of substances A to G.

Substance M.p Electrical Solubility

(0C) conductivity in water
Solid liquid
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A -112 poor poor insoluble
B 680 poor good soluble
C -70 poor poor insoluble
D 1495 good good insoluble
E 610 poor good soluble
F 1610 poor poor insoluble
G 660 good good insoluble
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a) Which of the substances are metals? Explain

b) Which of the substances are ionic compounds? Give reasons for your choice.
c) Two of the substances have very low melting points, compared with the rest. Explain
why these could not be ionic compounds.
d) Two of the substances are molecular. Which ones?
e) Which substances do you expect to be soluble in tetrachloromethane?
f) Which substances are liquids at room temperature (25 0C)?

End of Unit

60
Unit 5: Stoichiometry and Solution Chemistry

Introduction
In previous chapters, it was observed that each element has a relative atomic mass, which
is an average of all the isotopes of that element compared to 1/12 of 126C. In addition,
most elements gain stability when they react with others forming covalent or ionic
compounds. The elements react in definite ratios determined by their valencies. It is very
important for a chemist to know the quantities of products from a chemical reaction and
quantities of reactants needed to produce the required amount of products.

In this chapter, you are going to learn more about the unit for amount of substances, the
mole, the chemical equation and calculations based on chemical equations. This
knowledge is central to the study of quantitative chemistry.

Relative molecular mass and relative formula mass

When atoms of elements react, they combine in ratios that are determined by their
valences. Nonmetals form molecules. This information is reflected in the molecular
formula of the covalent compounds. For example, the molecular formula for water is
H2O, that is, each molecule of water contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
Therefore, the relative molecular mass of water is the sum of the relative atomic masses
of the atoms that form it.

Worked example
Calculating the relative molecular mass of water:

Elements that form water molecules = hydrogen and oxygen

Number of hydrogen atoms in one water molecule = 2
Number of oxygen atoms in one water molecule = 1
∴ Mr = [2 x Ar(H)] + [1x Ar(O)] = [2 x 1.01] + [1 x 16.00] = 18.01 amu

In ionic compounds there are no molecules and the chemical formula indicates the
simplest ratio of the ions. Therefore, the relative mass calculated from the chemical
formula is known as the relative formula mass. The steps to calculate the relative formula
mass are identical to those used for relative molecular mass. That is, determine the
elements composing the compound, the numbers of each element and then their relative
atomic masses.

Worked example
Calculating the relative formula mass of aluminum sulphate, (Al)2(SO4)3:

Elements forming the compound = Aluminum, sulphur and oxygen

Number of atoms of each element in one formula unit: Al = 2; S = 3; O = 12
∴ Mr = [2 x Ar(Al)] + [3 x Ar(S)] + [12 x Ar(O)]
= [2 x 26.98] + [3 x 32.06] + [12 x 16.00]
= [53.96] + [96.18] + [192.00]
= 342.14 amu

61
The units for relative atomic mass, relative formula mass and relative molecular mass are
the same.

Exercise 5.1
1. Determine the relative molecular masses of the following substances:
a) NH3 b) CH4 c) NH4+1 d) C6H12O6

2. Calculate the relative formula masses of the following substances:

a) NaCl b) MgCl2 c) Na3N d) Fe2(SO4)3 e) CuSO4.8H2O

3. Find the charges of the ions in compounds in question 2.

The mole concept

In everyday practical work chemists do not work with single molecules, ions or formula
units because these are too small. In chapter two we observed the introduction of relative
atomic mass, and then relative molecular mass in this chapter. This was done so that the
numerical figures are reasonably large and therefore, easier to work with. However, the
relative molecular, formula or atomic masses are only ratios and not real masses! The
relative masses are multiplied by 1.660 x 10-24 g (the approximate value of 1 amu or of
1/12 of 126C) to convert them to mass in grammes (see exercise 5.3). The masses will be
in the ranges of 10-23 g, which can not be measured on common balances, not even on the
analytical balances.

How can chemists determine the number of atoms, ions, molecules or formula units of a
substance in a given mass? A scientist by the name of Avogadro found out that in 12 g of
12
C there are 6.022 x 1023 atoms of carbon. He went on to propose that any amount of
substance containing 6.022 x 1023 particles is equivalent to one mole, and its symbol is
“n”. The number is now known as Avogadro’s number, NA. The mole (mol) is the SI unit
for amount of substance.

The mole is defined as the quantity of a substance that contains as many particles as in
12 g of 12C. Note that the particles can be ions, atoms, molecules, formula units, protons,
electrons, neutrons or any other particles. It is therefore important to specify the nature of
the particles, for example, one mole of chlorine atoms (with the formula Cl) or one mole
of chlorine molecules (with the formula Cl2). A mole of chlorine molecules contains
6.022 x 1023 molecules or 2 x 6.022 x 1023 atoms of chlorine.

The molar mass

The molar mass is the mass, in grammes, of Avogadro’s number of particles of a
substance.

What is the molar mass of sodium atoms?

Data: Ar(Na) = 22.99 amu; No. of Na atoms in 1 mol = 6.022 x 1023 atoms;
Mass of 1/12 of 12C = 1.66 x 10-24 g

62
∴ mass of 1 mol of Na atoms = 22.99 amu x 1.66 x10-24 g x 6.022 x 1023 atom
atom amu mol

= 22.98 gmol-1

Therefore, the molar mass of an element is its relative atomic mass expressed in
grammes. The molar mass of a compound is its relative molecular or formula mass
expressed in grammes. The symbol for molar mass for atomic substances is Ar, and Mr
for molecular or ionic compounds.

The above relationship between relative molecular mass and molar mass is the
fundamental link between abstract and practical Chemistry.

Worked examples
1. How many moles are in 1.56 x 1022 atoms of lithium?
2. a) Calculate the molar mass of ammonium sulphate.
b) i) How many moles of ammonium sulphate are in 198 g?
ii) How many moles of nitrogen atoms are in 198 g of ammonium sulphate?
iii) Calculate the mass of nitrogen in 198 g of ammonium sulphate.
Solutions
1. Number of atoms in 1 mol = 6.022 x 1023
∴ n(Li) atoms in 1.56 x1022 = 1.56x1022 atoms/6.022x1023 atoms/mol
= 0.0251 mol (to three significant figures)

2. a) Molar mass of ammonium sulphate

i) write the chemical formula for ammonium sulphate
Chemical formula for ammonium sulphate is (NH4)2SO4

ii) molar mass is equal to relative formula mass expressed in grammes

Mr(NH4)2SO4 = [2xAr(N)] + [8xAr(H)] + [1xAr(S)] + [4xAr(O)]
= 132.1 g (to four significant figures)

b) i) mole of ammonium sulphate in 198 g

n((NH4)2SO4) in 198 g = m((NH4)2SO4)/ Mr((NH4)2SO4)
= 198 g/132.1g/mol
= 1.50 mol (to 3 significant figures)

ii) 1 mol of (NH4)2SO4 contains 2 mol of nitrogen atoms.

∴ n(N) in 1.50 mol of (NH4)2SO4 = 2 x 1.50 mol = 3.00 mol

iii) mass of substance = n(substance) x Mr(substance) in grammes

or = n(substance) x molar mass
m(N) in 198 g of (NH4)2SO4 = n(N) in 198 g (NH4)2SO4 x Ar(N)
= 3.00 mol x 14.01 g/mol
= 42.0 g (to three significant figures)

63
Exercise 5.2
1. Define the term molar mass in your on words.

2. Calculate the molar masses for the following substances:

a) hydrogen atoms b) hydrogen molecules c) ammonia d) Sodium hydroxide

3. Calculate the number of moles in the following:

a) 9.03x1023 sodium atoms b) 40.0 g of oxygen gas c) 1.42 g of CoCl2

4. Determine the number of hydrogen atoms in the following substances:

a) 1 mol of hydrogen molecules b) 36 g of water c) 1.26 g of glucose,
C6H12O6. d) 1.80 x 1022 molecules of ethanol, C2H5OH

5. A student weighs 3.00 g of water on a balance. Calculate:

a) the molar mass of water b) number of moles of water in 3.00 g
c) number of moles of oxygen atoms in 3.00 g of water
d) number of oxygen atoms in 3.00 g of water
e) mass of 9.00 x 1023 water molecules.

6. Calculate the number of moles of electrons lost by 55.91 g of magnesium metal,

when it forms Mg+2 ions.

Percentage composition of compounds

The mass of an element in a formula unit can be expressed as a percentage. The
percentage composition is when the mass of each element forming the compound is
expressed as a percentage of the formula mass.

Worked example
What is the percentage composition of (Al)2(SO4)3?

Relative atomic masses for: Al = 26.98; S = 32.06; O = 16.00

Mass of each element in the formula unit: Al = 53.96; S = 96.18; O = 192.00, therefore,
Mr ((Al)2(SO4)3) = 342.14

Mass of each element as a percentage:

% m(Al) = (53.96/342.14)x 100 = 15.77 %
% m(S) = (96.18/342.14)x100 = 28.11 %
% m(O) = (192.00/342.14) = 56.12 %

The sum of the percentage masses of all the elements in the formula is always 100.

64
The procedure to calculate the percentage composition of an element in a compound is:

 Write down the formula of the compound

 Work out the formula mass of the compound
 Work out the mass of each element in the formula mass
 Write the mass of each element as a fraction of the formula mass
 Multiply the fractions by 100, to get the percentage.

The Mathematical formula used to calculate the percentage mass of element A in a

compound with chemical formula AxByCz is:

% m(A) = m(A)/Mr(AxByCz)x100 or % m(A) = (x.Ar(A))/ Mr(AxByCz)x100

The formula of a compound can be determined from its percentage composition.

Exercise 5.3
Calculate the percentage masses of the elements in:

a) formaldehyde, CH2O b) ammonium sulphate c) dinitrogen tetroxide

Empirical formula
The relative molecular mass of a compound can be determined by various methods, such
as combustion, vaporization, colligative properties and mass spectrometer. Molecular
formulae indicate the actual numbers and types of atoms forming the compound. The
masses of each element and then the percentage composition of the compound can be
calculated. The simplest ratio in which atoms combine in a compound is known as the
empirical formula. The subscripts in an empirical formula are always the smallest
possible whole-number ratios. The molecular formula for hydrogen peroxide is H2O2,
and its empirical formula is HO.

Exercise 5.4
1) Find the empirical formulae for the following compounds:
a) H2O b) C4H10 c) C6H12O6 d) B2H6 e) C6H6

Finding the empirical formula

The empirical formula is one of the steps in the calculation of the molecular formula of a
compound. The empirical formula can be determined from the percentage composition.

Worked out examples

a) An experiment shows that 32 g of sulphur combine with 32 g of oxygen gas forming an
oxide of sulphur. What is the empirical formula for this sulphur oxide?

Calculate the moles of atoms of each element from their masses

Ar(O) = 16.0 and Ar(S) = 32.0

65
 m(O) 32 g
n(O)    2.0 mol of oxygen atoms
Ar (O) 16.0 g / mol

m( S ) 32 g
n( S )    1.0 mol of sulphur atoms
Ar ( S ) 32.0 g / mol

∴ 1 mol of sulphur atoms combines with 2 mol of oxygen atoms.

The empirical formula is SO2.

b) Sodium dichromate is a bright orange, crystalline substance. An analysis of sodium

dichromate gives the following mass percentages: 17.5 % Na; 39.7 % Cr; and 42.8 % O.
What is the empirical formula of this compound?

Step i) If the percentage composition is given and mass of substance is not, it is assumed
that the mass is 100 g (This allows to directly convert the percentages to masses.)
∴ m(Na) = 17.5 g; m(Cr) = 39.7 g and m(O) = 42.8 g

Step ii) Calculate the moles of atoms of each element in the compound as in example a)

17.5 g
n( Na)   0.761 mol of Na atoms
23.0 g / mol

39.7 g
n(Cr )   0.763 mol of Cr atoms
52.0 g / mol

42.8 g
n(O)   2.68 mol of O atoms
16.0 g / mol

Step iii) Divide all the mole numbers by the smallest one

Na Cr O
0.761 mol 0.763 mol 2.68 mol
0.761 mol 0.761 mol 0.761 mol

1.00 1.00 3.52

Step iv) Simplify the subscripts

Remember atoms do not exist as fractions, therefore convert the molar ratios to smallest
possible integers by multiplying with an appropriate number. If the above answers are
multiplied by 2, the subscripts become: Na2.00Cr2.00O7.00. Thus the empirical formula
becomes: Na2Cr2O7.

66
Exercise 5.5
Benzoic acid is a white, crystalline powder used as a food preservative. The compound
contains 68.8 % C; 5.0 % H; and 26.2 % O, by mass. What is its empirical formula?

Calculating the molecular formula from the empirical formula

The molecular formula of a compound is a multiple of its empirical formula. For
example, the empirical formula for hydrogen peroxide is HO, therefore, its molecular
formula is (HO)2 which gives H2O2. It follows that the molecular mass of a compound is
a multiple of its empirical mass. Mathematically:

Molecular mass = (empirical formula) x

Where x is the number of empirical formula units in the molecule, that is,

molecular mass
x
empirical formula mass

Once the empirical formula is determined, to calculate the molecular formula the
molecular mass is needed. The molecular mass is usually determined from various
methods as stated before.

Worked example
A compound of nitrogen and oxygen is analyzed, and a sample weighing 1.587 g is found
to contain 0.483 g N and 1.104 g O. The relative molecular mass of the compound is 92
amu. What is the molecular formula for this compound?

Given masses of elements, calculate the number of moles.

0.483 g
n( N )   0.0345 mol of N
14.0 g / mol

1.104 g
n(O)   0.0690 mol of O
16.0 g / mol

Empirical formula = NO2

Empirical formula mass = (1 x 14.0 amu) + (2 x 16.0 amu) = 46 amu

molecular mass 92.0 amu

x  2
empirical formula mass 46.0 amu

Molecular formula = (empirical formula) x = (NO2)2 = N2O4

67
Exercise 5.6
The percentage composition of acetaldehyde is 54.5 % C, 9.2 % H, and 36.3 O, and its
molecular mass is 44 amu. Determine the molecular formula of acetaldehyde.

Ways of expressing concentrations of solution (c)

The amount of solute dissolved in a given volume of solution is defined as the
concentration of that solute. The concentration of a solute is defined as amount of solute
dissolved in a unit volume of solution. Therefore, concentration can be expressed in
various units depending on the units used to define amount of solute.
The mathematical expression for concentration is:

Concentration = amount of solute/volume of solution in dm3.

Therefore, if the amount of solute is defined as number of moles, the concentration units
is moldm-3. This concentration is mathematically expressed as:

Concentration (moldm-3) = n(solute)/V(solution) (in dm-3).

= [m(solute)/Mr(solute)]/V(solution)

The concentration expressed in moldm-3 was sometimes referred to as molarity and its
symbol M.

And if amount of solute is defined as mass, then the concentration units are gdm-3,
mathematically expressed as:

Concentration = m(solute)/V(solution).
= [n(solute) x Mr(solute)]/V(solution)

It can also be expressed as a percentage mass of solution by multiplying the mass ratio of
solute to solution by 100.

% concentration = m(solute)/m(solution) x 100

= [n(solute) x Mr(solute)]/[ρ(solution) x V(solution)] x 100
Worked examples
1. 1.500 g of pure sodium chloride is dissolved in water to make 250 cm3 of
solution.
Calculate the concentration of sodium chloride in:
a) gdm-3 b) moldm-3

2. a) Calculate the mass of anhydrous sodium carbonate required to prepare 250 cm3
of 0.050 M?
b) What is the concentration of the solution in gdm-3?

68
Solutions
1. Data: m(NaCl) = 1.500 g
V(solution) = 250 cm3
1dm3 = 1 L = 1 000 cm3 = 1000mL
∴ 250 cm3 = 250 cm3/1000 cm3/dm3 = 0.25 dm3

a) c(NaCl) in g/dm3 = 1.500 g/0.25 dm3

= 6.0 g/dm3 = 6.0 gdm-3 (to 2 significant figures)

b) c(NaCl) in mol/dm3 = n(NaCl)/V(solution)

n(NaCl) = m(NaCl)/Mr(NaCl)
Mr(NaCl) = (1 x Ar(Na)) + (1 x Ar(Cl))
= 22.99 g/mol + 35.45 g/mol
= 58.44 g/mol = 58.44 gmol-1

n(NaCl) in 1.500 g = 1.500 g/58.44 gmol-1

= 0.0257 mol

∴ c(NaCl) in moldm-3 = 0.0257 mol/0.25 dm3

= 0.10 moldm-3

2. Data: c(Na2CO3) = 0.050 moldm-3

V(solution) = 250 cm3

a) m(Na2CO3) = n(Na2CO3) x Mr(Na2CO3)

Mr(Na2CO3) = [2 x Ar(Na)] + [1 x Ar(C)] + [3 x Ar(O)]
= 106.0 gmol-1

n(Na2CO3) in sol = c(Na2CO3)V(solution)

= 0.050 moldm-3 x 0.25 dm3
= 0.0125 mol

∴ m(Na2CO3) = 0.0125 mol x 106.0 gmol-1

= 1.3 g
Molar gas volume
The concentration of a gas is calculated from the number of moles or mass of the gas in
the volume of the container because gases fill up all space available to them. In other
words, the volume of a gas is always the same as the volume of its container.

One mole of gaseous particles occupies 24 dm3 at room temperature and atmospheric
pressure (rtp), that is, at 25 0C and 1 atm. This is known as the molar gas volume. The
molar gas volume is 22.4 dm3 at standard temperature and pressure (stp), that is at 0 0C
(273 K) and 1 atm.

69
Worked example
i) Calculate the number of moles of the gases in the following volumes at rtp:

a) 36 dm3 of O2 b) 1.8 x 104 cm3 of NH3

ii) Calculate the volume at rtp of: a) 2.2 g of CO2 b) 70 g of N2

Diluting solutions
A concentrated solution is one with a large number of moles of the solute per unit
volume. Several commercial aqueous solutions are sold as concentrated solutions, e.g.
sunlight liquid soap, most acids (Hydrochloric, Sulphuric, nitric, acetic acids etc), and
ammonia. These solutions are often not used at these high concentrations. They are
diluted. Dilution is a process in which the amount of solvent is increased and the amount
of solute per unit volume of solution decreases.

In Chemistry, usually concentrated solutions are diluted to specific concentrations. For

example, commercial aqueous ammonia (28.0 %) has a concentration of 14.8 M. If you
want to dilute this solution to 1.00 M, you would have to add a specific amount of water.
For this purpose, you must know the initial concentration, ci, and volume, Vi, and the
final concentration, cf, and volume, Vf, and then use the mathematical expression for
calculating molar concentration. Note that in most dilutions, the amount of solute is
constant.

ci(solute) = n(solute)/Vi(solution)

∴ n(solute) = ci(solute) x Vi(solution) (For the initial solution)

If this solution is diluted to Vf and cf, then

n(solute) = cf(solute) x Vf(solution).

Therefore, ci(solute) x Vi(solution) = cf(solute) x Vf(solution),

since n(solute) is the same in the initial and final solutions. This equation is known as the
dilution law.

70
Worked example
You are given a solution of 14.8 M NH3. How many millimeters of this solution do you
require to give 100.0 mL of 1.00 M NH3?

Data: Initial concentration (ci) = 14.8 M

Final volume (Vf) = 100.0 mL.
Final concentration (cf) = 1.00 M
Volume of initial solution required, (Vi)?

Dilution equation: ci(solute) x Vi(solution) = cf(solute) x Vf(solution), from now on this

equation is abbreviated as ci x Vi = cf x Vf.

Making Vi subject of expression, we get: Vi = (cf x Vf)/ci, then substitution

Vi = 1.00 M x 100.0 mL/14.8 M

= 6.76 mL (to 3 significant figures)

Exercise 5.7
You have a solution that is 1.5 M H2SO4 (Sulphuric acid). How many milliliters of this
acid do you need to prepare 150 mL of 0.18 M H2SO4?

Writing chemical equations

An important achievement of the atomic theory is the explanation of chemical reactions
as rearrangement of atoms of substances. Such rearrangements of atoms are represented
by chemical equations using the chemical formulae to represent substances involved. For
example, the burning of sodium in chlorine producing sodium chloride is written as:

2Na + Cl2 = 2NaCl

The formulae on the left side of the equal sign represent the reactants. Reactants are the
starting substances in a chemical reaction. The equal sign (sometimes represented by an
arrow) has two meaning: i) It means “react to form” or “yield,” and ii) it means that the
mass of reactants is equal to the mass of the products. This is derived from the atomic
theory that in a chemical reaction, atoms are simply rearranged but not created nor
destroyed. The formulae on the right side of the equal sign are the products. Products are
substances that are a result of the reaction.

In many cases, it is useful to indicate the physical states or phases of the substances in an
equation. The following symbols are used to indicate the physical states of chemicals in
an equation: (g) = gas; (l) = liquid; (aq) = aqueous and (s) = solid. Therefore, the above
equation becomes:

2Na(s) + Cl2(g) = 2NaCl(s)

71
Interpreting chemical equations
A chemical equation informs us of the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the
chemical reaction. The qualitative aspect reflects the changes that occurred on the
reactants as they form the products. In the above equation, the sodium atoms and chlorine
molecules became ions, that is, sodium ions and chloride ions.

The quantitative aspect indicates quantities of reactants that reacted and quantities of
products formed. The quantitative aspect can be interpreted either in terms of molecules
(atoms, ions or formula units), mass or moles. The numbers of molecules or moles of
each element should be the same on either side of the equal sign. The equation is then
said to be balanced. This is because matter is neither destroyed nor created during a
chemical reaction. Each and every chemical equation must always be balanced.

Interpreting chemical equations in terms of molecules/atoms

Taking the sodium and chlorine equation, the digit two before the sodium symbol and
sodium chloride formula, indicates that two sodium atoms react with one chlorine
molecule producing two sodium chloride formula units. Usually the balancing factor of
one is omitted. These digits or balancing factors are known as stoichiometric coefficients.
Note the use of the terms molecule and formula unit to indicate the type of bonding in the
corresponding substances.

2Na(s) + Cl2 (g) = 2NaCl(s)

two sodium one chlorine two sodium chloride
atoms gas molecule formula units

Consider the following example, in which nitrogen gas reacts with hydrogen gas forming
ammonia gas.

N2(g) + 3H2(g) = 2NH3(g)

one molecule + three molecules = two molecules
of nitrogen gas of hydrogen gas of ammonia gas

The interpretation in words is known as the word equation.

Interpreting chemical equations in terms of moles

Instead of considering single atoms, ions, molecules or formula units, chemical equations
can be interpreted in terms of moles. This is a question of scale because a mole is made
up of 6.022 x 1023 particles. For example, the reaction between aluminum metal and
hydrogen chloride gas, as represented below, can be interpreted as two moles of
aluminum atoms reacting with six moles of hydrogen chloride gas molecules forming two
moles of aluminum chloride formula units and three moles of hydrogen gas molecules.

2Al(s) + 6HCl(g) = 2AlCl3(s) + 3H2(g)

72
Balancing of chemical equations
The chemical formulae for common substances were experimentally determined. You
should know the chemical formulae for the reactants and products involved in the
reaction. To balance the chemical equation, you find coefficients that make the numbers
of atoms or moles of each element equal on both sides of the equation. For example, the
reaction between propane gas and oxygen gas producing carbon dioxide and water.
Knowing the formulae for each reactant and product, the unbalanced equation can be
written.

C3H8(g) + O2(g) = CO2(g) + H2O(l)

There are three carbon atoms on the left side of the equation (in C3H8), there must be the
same number of carbon atoms on the right side as well. Then introduce three before
carbon dioxide.

C3H8(g) + O2(g) = 3CO2(g) + H2O(l)

Similarly, there are eight hydrogen atoms on the left side and only two on the right side,
then write four before water.

C3H8(g) + O2(g) = 3CO2(g) + 4H2O(l)

The coefficients on the right side are determined, and there are ten oxygen atoms (six
from three carbon dioxide molecules and four from four water molecules). Therefore,
introduce five before oxygen molecules on the left side.

C3H8(g) + 5O2(g) = 3CO2(g) + 4H2O(l)

The coefficients must be in their simplest proportions. Always check if each element is
balanced. This method is known as the inspection method and is used for simple
chemical equations. More complex equations are balanced by other methods.

Exercise 5.8
Balance the following simple equations

a) H3PO3 → H3PO4 + PH3 b) Ca + H2O → Ca(OH)2 + H2

c) Fe2(SO4)3 + NH3 + H2O → Fe(OH)3 + (NH4)2SO4

d) P4 + N2O → P4O6 + N2 e) Ca3(PO4)2 + H3PO4 → Ca(H2PO4)2

Calculations based on chemical equations

A chemist wants to prepare 100.0 g of magnesium hydroxide, which is used as an
antacid, from magnesium metal and water. What mass of magnesium is necessary to
produce 100.0 g of magnesium hydroxide? The chemist must first know the ratios in
which i) magnesium react with water, that is the reactants ratio, ii) magnesium or water

73
yield magnesium hydroxide, that is conversion ratio, and magnesium and hydrogen are
produced, that is products ratio. This information is derived from a balanced chemical
equation.

Mg(s) + 2H2O(l) → Mg(OH)2(s) + H2(g)

Interpretation of this equation gives the following quantitative information:

Magnesium and water react in the molar ratio 1:2
1 mol Mg reacts with 2 mol H2O forming 1 mol Mg(OH)2 and 1 mol H2
1 mol Mg reacts with sufficient or excess H2O forming 1 mol Mg(OH)2 and 1 mol H2 etc.

The stated molar ratios can be converted to mass ratios using formula masses or
molecular masses. The mass ratios can then be used to determine the quantities of
reactants necessary to produce required amounts of products.

Molar and mass interpretation of an equation:

Mg(s) + 2H2O(l) → Mg(OH)2(s) + H2(g)

1 mol/24.3 g 2 mol/36.0 g 1 mol/62.3 g 1 mol/2.0 g

Knowing the quantity of at least one of reactants or products, the quantities of all other
substances in the balanced equation can be determined using simple proportions.

To answer the question posed earlier on, use simple proportions.

a) Using the mass interpretation:

24.3 g Mg reacts with sufficient water producing 62.3 g Mg(OH)2

∴ X of Mg produce 100.0 g Mg(OH)2

24.3 g/62.3 g = X/100.0 g

Making x subject of expression:

X = (24.3 g x 100.0 g)/62.3 g = 39.0 g

∴ 39.0 g of Mg is required to produce 100.0 g of Mg(OH)2.

b) Using the molar interpretation:

1 mol Mg reacts with sufficient water producing 1 mol Mg(OH)2

Mr(Mg(OH)2) = 62.3 gmol-1

n(Mg(OH)2 in 100.0 g = 100.0 g / 62.3 gmol-1

= 1.61 mol

74
Since the n(Mg) to n(Mg(OH)2) conversion ratio is 1:1, the n(Mg) required to produce
100.0 g Mg(OH)2 is 1.61 mol. Then convert the molar quantity to mass by multiplying it
by the Ar(Mg):

m(Mg) = 1.61 mol x Ar(Mg)

= 1.61 mol x 24.3 gmol-1

= 39.0 g

The same answer as in a) is found.

Exercise 5.9
Magnesium carbonate decomposes when heated: MgCO2(s) → MgO(s) + CO2(g)

a) Write the word equation for the reaction.

b) Find the molar mass of each substance in the reaction. (Use the Periodic Table to find
out the relative atomic masses of the elements in the reaction)

c) When 28.1 g of magnesium carbonate is used:

i) how many grammes of carbon dioxide is produced?

ii) what volume would this amount of carbon dioxide occupy at rtp?

iii) what mass of solid remains after heating?

Theoretical and experimental yields

Limiting reactant;
A balanced chemical equation states the proportions in which reactants combine and in
which the products are formed. However, in practice reactants are not mixed in their
stoichiometric proportions. As a result, one of the reactants is often in short supply, or
some reactants are in excess. The reaction stops when the reactant in short supply is
completely used up or consumed. The limiting reactant or the limiting reagent is the
reactant that is completely consumed during a chemical reaction. The reactant that is not
completely consumed is often referred to as the excess reactant. The limiting reactant
determines the amount of products formed.

Considering the combustion of hydrogen gas in oxygen gas, the chemical equation is as
follows:

2H2 (g) + O2 (g) → 2H2O (g).

Suppose 1 mol of H2 gas and 1 mol of oxygen gas are placed into a reaction vessel.
Which reactant is in excess? How many moles of H2O will be produced?

75
Solution:
From the equation H2 and O2 react in the molar ratio 2:1, therefore oxygen is in excess or
hydrogen is the limiting reactant. To calculate the amount of H2O formed, use the H2 to
H2O ratio, which is 1:1 (or 2:2). Since the 1 mol of H2 is available, only 1 mol of H2O is
formed.

Worked examples
Zinc reacts with hydrochloric acid as follows: Zn (s) + 2HCl (aq) → ZnCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

If 0.30 mol Zn is added to hydrochloric acid containing 0.52 mol HCl, how many moles
of H2 are produced?

Step i) Determine the limiting reactant

Option 1: Calculate the H2 moles that would be produced, if each of the reactants was
totally consumed. The reactant that gives the smaller amount of product is the limiting
reactant.

Use the balanced equation to find the Zn – H2 conversion ratio, which is 1:1 (1 mol Zn
produces 1 mol H2).

Therefore, from Zn

1 mol Zn → 1 mol H2
0.30 mol Zn → x

x 1 mol H 2

0.30 mol Zn 1 mol Zn

1 mol H 2 x 0.30 mol Zn

x  0.30 mol of H 2
1 mol Zn

From HCl:

2 mol HCl → 1 mol H2

0.52 mol → x

x 1 mol H 2

0.52 mol HCl 2 mol HCl

1 mol H 2 x 0.52 mol HCl

x  0.26 mol H 2
2 mol HCl

HCl gives less H2, therefore, it is the limiting reactant.

76
Option 2) By analysis. The equation states that Zn: HCl ratio is 1:2, therefore 0.30 mol of
Zn require 0.60 mol of HCl, which is more than 0.52 mol of HCl supplied. (Or dividing
moles of Zn (0.52) by 2, gives 0.26 mol of HCl required to completely react with 0.52
mol of Zn. Therefore, HCl is the limiting reactant.

Step ii) Use the limiting reactant to calculate H2 produced.

This step is the same as the calculation of H2 from HCl above.

Exercise 5.10
Aluminum chloride, AlCl3 is used as a catalyst in various industrial reactions. It is
prepared from hydrogen chloride gas and aluminum metal shavings. The reaction is as
follows:

2Al (s) + 6HCl (g) → 2AlCl3 (s) + 3H2 (g).

Suppose a reaction vessel contains 0.15 mol Al and 0.35 mol HCl, how many moles of
AlCl3 can be prepared from this mixture?

Theoretical and experimental yields

The stoichiometric equation allows the calculation of mass of products that can be
produced from starting quantities of reactants. The theoretical yield is the maximum mass
of product that can be produced by a reaction from the starting amounts of reactants
according to the balanced equation. When the reaction is carried out, usually the product
obtained is less than the expected (theoretical) yield. The experimental yield or actual
yield is the mass of the product obtained from a given reaction. This is usually expressed
as a percentage of the theoretical yield as follows:

exp erimental yield

% yield  x 100
theoretical yield

77
End of Unit exercises

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The formula mass of aradridic acid, CH3(CH2)18COOH, a fatty acid found in peanut
oil, is
a) 176.00 amu b) 312.54 amu c) 92.08 amu d) 306.13 amu e) 352.00 amu

2. Aspartame, C14H18N2O5, a low calorie sweetener, is about 200 times sweeter than
sugar. How many molecules of aspartame are there in a packet of sweeter containing
36 mg aspartame?
a) 2.0 x 1018 b) 4.0 x 1020 c) 7.2 x 1025 d) 1.4 x 1022 e) 7.2 x 1019

3. Fumaric acid, C4H4O4, can be extracted from plants and can be used as a substitute for
citrus acid in fruit drinks. The percentage composition of fumaric acid is
a) C 33.33%; H 33.33%; O 33.33% b) C 39.80%; H 6.68%; O 53.52%
c) 40.00%; H 6.67%; O 53.33% d) C 41.39%; H 3.47%; O 55.14%
e) C 0.25%; H 0.25%; O 0.50%

4. Maprotiline, a tetracyclic drug prescribed for the treatment of depression, has the
following mass composition: C 86.59%; H 8.35%; N 5.05% and relative molecular
mass 560 amu. What is the molecular formula of maprotiline?

a) C7H8N3 b) C20H23N c) C3H3NN d) C87H8N e) C40H46N2

Structured Response Questions

5. Find the formula masses of the following substances
a) i) CH3OH ii) PCl3 iii) Ni3(PO4)2 iv) K2CO3
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

b). Calculate the percentage composition of each of the compounds in 1 above.

………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

c) What is the difference between molar mass and relative molecular mass? Use
the compounds in a) as examples to illustrate your answers.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

78
6. A sample of 27.0 g of aluminum reacts with bromine yielding 266.74 g of
aluminum bromide. What mass of bromine react with 15.07 g of aluminum?
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

7. A sample of 0.0341 mol iron (III) chloride, FeCl3, was dissolved in water giving
25.0 mL of solution.
a) Calculate the molar concentration of FeCl3 of the solution.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
b) Deduce the molar concentration of each ion.
………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………..……………………………….
c) Determine moles of ions of each element in a 20.5 mL sample of this solution.
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………
8. Potassium superoxide, KO2, is used in breathing gas masks to generate oxygen,
according to the unbalanced equation below:

KO2 (s) + H2O (l) → KOH (s) + O2 (g).

a) Balance the equation. ………………………………………………………….

b) If a reaction vessel contains 0.15 mol KO2 and 0.10 mol H2O.
Which reactant is in excess?
……………………………………………………….
Reason. ……………………………………………………………………………..

c) How many moles of oxygen can be produced?

………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………

Free Response Questions

9. You heat 2.53 g of metallic mercury in air to give 2.73 g of a red-orange residue.
Assume that the chemical change is the reaction of the metal with oxygen in air.
a) What is the mass of the oxygen that reacts?
b) Determine the empirical formula for the product.
c) Predict one the likely physical properties of this product. Give a reason.

10. a) One mole of nitrogen gas contains how many

i) molecules of nitrogen gas? ii) atoms of N?

b) One mole of iron(III) sulphate, Fe2(SO4)3, contains how many moles of

i) SO4-2 ions? ii) O atoms? iii) Fe+3 ions?

79
11. Calculate the mass in grammes of the following

a) 0.205 mol Fe b) 48.1 mol K2CrO4

c) 84 dm3 N2 gas at rtp d) 3.2 x 1023 F2 molecules.

12. Which sample contains more sulphur, 40.8 g of calcium sulphate, CaSO4, or 35.2 g of
sodium sulphite, Na2SO3?

13. Acetic acid contains only C, H, and O. A 4.24 mg sample of acetic acid is completely
burned. It gives 6.21 mg of carbon dioxide and 2.54 mg of water. The relative
molecular mass of acetic acid is 60.0 amu.

a) What is the percentage composition by mass of acetic acid?

b) Calculate the empirical formula of acetic acid.
c) Determine the molecular formula of acetic acid.

14. Balance the following equations:

a) N2O5(s) → NO2(g) + O2(g) b) NH3(g) + O2(g) → NO(g) + H2O(g)

c) NaOH(aq) + Cl2(g) →NaCl(aq) + NaClO(aq) + H2O(l)

15. When calcium carbonate is heated strongly, the following chemical change
occurs:

CaCO3(s) → CaO(s) + CO2(g)

a) How many moles of CaCO3 are there in 50 g?

b) i) What mass of calcium oxide is obtained from heating 50 g of calcium
carbonate?
ii) What volume of carbon dioxide would be given off at rtp on heating 50 g of
calcium carbonate?

16. Carbon disulphide, CS2, burns in oxygen, according to the reaction below:

CS2 (g) + 3O2 (g) → CO2 (g) + 2SO2 (g).

15.0 g of carbon disulphide and 35.0 g of oxygen gas react.

Calculate the mass of

a) the reactant that remains in excess.

b) sulphur dioxide produced.

End of Unit

80
Unit 6: Introduction to Organic Chemistry

Introduction
The study of carbon compounds constitutes a separate branch of Chemistry known as
Organic Chemistry. The term came from the belief that compounds that contain carbon
were from living systems only. Nowadays many carbon containing compounds can be
synthesized from inorganic compounds, e.g. urea was synthesized from ammonium
cyanate, NH4OCN.

The unique feature of carbon is its ability to form strong bonds to other carbon atoms
forming chains and rings of various lengths. Carbon has a valence of four making
possible the branching of chains and the fusion of several rings. The chains and rings
might be saturated or unsaturated. In addition, atoms of other elements such as hydrogen,
oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur may be attached to the carbon atoms by single or multiple
bonds. Therefore, carbon can form millions of compounds of various classes.

Carbon
Carbon naturally exists in two allotropic forms, diamond and graphite. At ordinary
temperatures, graphite is the more stable allotrope.

C(diamond) → C(graphite) ∆Hθ = -1.9 kJmol1-

Figure 6.1: The structures of allotropes of carbon

Carbon belongs to group 14 and in period 2 of the Periodic Table of elements. Carbon
atoms have four valence electrons. The ground state electron configuration of carbon is
shown below.

1S2 2S2 2px1 2py1 2pz0

81
In the excited state, one of the 2S electrons is promoted to 2pz orbital, giving four
unpaired valence electrons.

1S2 2S1 2px1 2py1 2pz1

The four valence orbitals, the 2s and three 2p atomic orbitals, can form different hybrid
orbitals, such as the sp3, sp2, or sp hybrid orbitals. Carbon atoms with sp3 hybrid orbitals
can only form simple or sigma (σ) bonds. These bonds have enthalpies of 348 kJmol-1
(for C-C bonds) and 413 kJmol-1 (for C-H bonds). In sp2 and sp hybrid orbitals some of
the 2p orbitals remain unmixed or pure p orbitals. The pure p orbitals can form one or
two additional bonds to the one formed by the hybrid orbitals. Each additional bond is
called pi (π) bond and has an average enthalpy of 264 kJmol1-. Therefore, the hybrid
orbitals determine the number of adjacent atoms and of bonds between adjacent atoms,
giving rise to saturated and unsaturated carbon compounds of different kinetic and
thermodynamic stabilities.

Figure 6.2: Molecular geometries showing different hybridized carbon atoms

Classification
Organic compounds can be classified into different families on the basis of their
composition. This classification gives rise to families such as hydrocarbons, oxygen
containing compounds, sulphur containing compounds, etc. Within these broad families,
further classification is done on the basis of the functional groups. Functional groups are
also known as the reactive groups because they determine the chemical properties of each
class of organic compounds. The physical properties of organic compounds are also
determined by the functional groups, but increase in molecular mass and surface area of
contact have significant contributions in larger molecules.

82
In this chapter focus will be on hydrocarbons. The main outcomes for this chapter are:

 Identify functional groups of hydrocarbons

 Systematic naming of hydrocarbons
 Describe structural and geometric isomerism
 Identify types of isomerism
 Predicting major products of each family of hydrocarbons
 Write balanced equations for the reactions
 Describe some of the reaction mechanisms
 Describe simple experiments to differentiate simple organic compounds.

Hydrocarbons
Hydrocarbons are the simplest organic compounds which are made up of carbon and
hydrogen only. These can be classified into two main types: saturated and unsaturated
hydrocarbons. Figure 5.3 below shows the general classification of hydrocarbons.

Figure 6.3: Classification of hydrocarbons

Alkanes and cycloalkanes

The functional group in the alkane family is the simple carbon-carbon bond (C-C) and
the carbon atom is sp3 hybridized. Figure 6.2 (a) above illustrates the geometry of sp3
carbon centre. Carbon compounds with sp3 hybridized carbons are surrounded by four
other atoms. The molecular geometry about an sp3 carbon atom is tetrahedral. These
compounds have the valence capacity of carbon fully utilized, and are said to be
saturated.

Figure 6.4: The Lewis structure for methane and ethane and their geometry

83
Alkanes can be further divided into aliphatic and cycloalkanes. The general formula for
aliphatic alkanes is CnH2n+2 and for cyclic alkanes is CnH2n. (See Figure 6.3 above)

Alkane homologous series

A homologous series is a group of organic compounds with the same functional group
but have different numbers of CH2 groups. Members of a homologous series have the
same general formula (except where functional isomers exist, e. g. alcohols and ethers).

Table 6.1: The first 10 members of the straight chain alkane series

Nomenclature
Compounds are named according to the International Union of Pure and Applied
Chemistry (IUPAC). Systematic names of straight chain (without branches) organic
compounds is divided into prefix and suffix, where the prefix indicates the number of
carbon atoms in the chain and suffix indicates functional group or homologous series.
The suffix for alkanes is –ane, therefore, the remainder of the names in Table 6.1 above
constitutes the prefix.

In naming branched alkanes, the principle chain is the longest carbon chain, and any
branches are named as alkyl groups and their positions indicated. Alkyl groups are
alkanes that are one hydrogen atom less, e.g. CH3-, CH3-CH2-, etc. The branches should
be assigned the lowest positions possible.

The steps to be followed when naming alkanes can be summarized as:

1. Determine the longest chain (principle chain). This gives the prefix.
2. Name any branch (also known as side chains) as an alkyl.
3. Number the carbon atoms in the principle chain, such that the positions of
branches are indicated by smallest numbers possible.
4. Use di-, tri-, tetra- etc, to indicate number of identical branches
5. Alphabetically arrange the branches.

84
The naming procedure is illustrated below.

Draw structures of 2-methylbutane, 2,2 dimethylpropane, 3,4 dimethylheptane, 3,3

dimethylheptane and 2-ethyl 2-methylhexane

Exercise 6.1
a) Name the following compounds:

ii)
i)

b) Give the formulae for the following compounds:

i) 4-ethyl-3-methylheptane ii) 3-ethyl- 2, 2, 3-trimethylpentane

Isomerism
Alkanes with four or more carbon atoms can show different arrangements of their carbon
atoms. Molecules with the same molecular formula but have different structural formulae
are called structural isomers. Structural isomerism is sometimes called positional
isomerism. Alkanes only show structural isomerism. For instance, there are two
compounds with a general formula C4H10, that is, butane and 2-methylpropane.

butane 2-methylpropane

Exercise 6.2
Identify any isomers in exercise 6.1

Cycloalkanes
Alkanes can also form rings or cycles which are called cycloalkanes. Cycloalkanes are
saturated hydrocarbons in which the carbon atoms form a ring. Their general formula is
CnH2n. The two hydrogen atoms difference with straight chain alkanes are lost during
cyclization. Cycloalkanes containing fewer than five carbon atoms are strained because
the C-C-C bond angle in the smaller rings is less than 109.50. As a result, they are less
stable compared to their straight chain analogues. For example, cyclopropane is much
more reactive compared to propane. The chemical and physical properties are similar to
unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Nomenclature of cycloalkanes
A procedure similar to the one used in naming straight and branched alkanes is followed
when naming cycloalkanes. The number of carbon atoms making the ring are counted
and the appropriate prefix and suffix used. However, the word “cyclo” is added before

85
the name corresponding to the straight chain alkane. The first three cycloalkanes are
given below.

Physical properties of alkanes

Physical properties of compounds reflect the nature of intermolecular interactions. The
type of bonding in compounds determines the type of intermolecular forces in a given
compound or between different compounds. The bonding in hydrocarbons is simple
molecular and the bonds are essentially nonpolar. Intermolecular forces in hydrocarbons
are Van der Waals forces or London forces of dispersion. Therefore, hydrocarbons are
insoluble in water, have low densities, melting and boiling points (generally liquids and
gases or volatile solids at room temperature).

The physical properties regularly change through a homologous series. This is because
they are affected by surface area of contact (length of chain) and mass of molecules.
Observe the trends for the melting and boiling points in Table 6.1.

Chemical properties of alkanes

The functional groups determine the chemical properties of organic compounds.
Therefore, members of a homologous series have similar chemical properties. Alkanes
are generally unreactive and are sometimes called paraffins because the C-C and C-H
bonds have high enthalpies of 348 kJmol-1 and 413 kJmol-1 respectively. In addition,
these compounds are saturated and their bonds have low polarity.

Alkanes undergo reactions such as substitution, cracking and oxidation (burning).

Cracking is an industrial process used to shorten long carbon chains by breaking the C-C
bonds and producing unsaturated molecules by loss of hydrogen atoms.

Oxidation
All hydrocarbons burn in sufficient oxygen forming carbon dioxide and water (complete
combustion), and in limited oxygen they form carbon, carbon monoxide and water
(incomplete combustion).

C2H6 (g) + 7/2 O2 (g) → 2 CO2 (g) + 3H2O (l) ∆Hθ = - 1 560 kJmol-1

C2H6 (g) + 5O2 (g) → CO2 (g) + H2O (l) + C(s) + CO (g)

86
The large negative ∆H explains why hydrocarbons are used as fuels.

Substitution reactions of alkanes

Alkanes react with halogens, fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine, in the presence of
sunlight or UV light forming haloalkanes.

hv
CH4 (g) + Cl2 (g) → CH3Cl (g) + HCl (g)

The product, CH3Cl, might undergo further substitution by chlorine forming CH2Cl2,
CHCl3 and CCl4. If CH4 is in excess, then CH3Cl would be the predominant product. In
addition, the reaction is fastest with fluorine and slowest with iodine.

This type of substitution is known as free radical substitution because it is started by free
radicals. The sunlight or uv light breaks the chlorine molecules homolytically forming
two chlorine radicals, Cl•.

Cl2 → Cl• + Cl•

This is the initiation step.

The free radicals react with methane molecules forming HCl (part of products) and a new
free radical, CH3•. The methyl radical reacts with chlorine molecules forming CH3Cl (the
other product) and Cl•.

Cl• + CH4 → HCl + CH3•

CH3• + Cl2 → CH3Cl + Cl•

These two reactions would continue as long as there are molecules of reactants and
radicals. They allow the overall reaction to continue and are called propagation
reactions.

When the reactants molecules are used up the radicals react between themselves.

CH3• + Cl• → CH3Cl

CH3• + CH3• → CH3-CH3

The above reactions conclude the overall reaction and are called termination reactions.
The presence of ethane in the products is one of the experimental evidence for the free
radical substitution mechanism.

Unsaturated hydrocarbons
Unsaturated hydrocarbons have at least one multiple bond. A multiple bond is the sharing
of more than one pair of bonding electrons. Unsaturated hydrocarbons are made up of the

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alkene and alkyne homologous series. The presence of the multiple bonds makes the
unsaturated hydrocarbons more reactive than the saturated hydrocarbons.

Alkene homologous series

The functional group for alkene homologous series is the carbon-carbon double bond
(C=C) and the general formula of straight chain alkenes is CnH2n, and CnH2n-2 for
cycloalkenes. The two carbon atoms forming the double bond have sp2 hybridization,
therefore, the geometry about these carbon atoms is trigonal planar. The pure p carbon
orbitals form electron clouds above and beneath the plane of the molecule. Figure 6.2 (b)
above illustrates the trigonal geometry about sp2 carbon atoms. Figure 6.5 shows the
Lewis structure for and the spatial bond orientations of ethene- the simplest alkene.

Figure 6.5: The Lewis structure for ethene and its geometry

Nomenclature of alkenes
The IUPAC names for alkenes are deduced as follows:
 Find the longest chain containing the double bond-principle chain, and derive the
prefix corresponding to the number of carbon atoms. The suffix is –ene.
 Name any branch (also known as side chains) as an alkyl.
 Number the carbon atoms in the principle chain, starting from the end closer to
the double bond.
 Use di-, tri-, tetra- etc, to indicate number of identical branches
 Alphabetically arrange the branches.

Isomerism
The carbon atoms held together by the double bond can not rotate about the double bond.
Therefore, the groups or atoms bonded to these two carbon atoms are fixed relative to
each other. This gives rise to geometric isomerism, also known as cis-trans isomerism.
For example, 2-butene can have two different spatial orientations:

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Chemical properties of alkenes
Alkenes are more reactive than the alkanes because of the presence of the weaker π bond
which is a centre of high electron density. Each carbon atom forming the double is
bonded to three other atoms. More atoms can still be added to these carbon atoms.

Alkenes undergo a considerable number of addition reactions across the double bond
giving saturated products. In addition, reactions, reagents are added to each carbon atom
of the carbon-carbon multiple bond, which then becomes saturated. The addition
reactions are said to occur by three possible mechanisms, namely: (i) Electrophilic
addition, radical addition, and nucleophilic addition. Only Electrophilic addition will be
discussed in this module. In addition, alkenes undergo polymerization reactions. Alkenes
are generally the starting materials for various industrial processes e.g. petroleum, plastic,
and food.

Hydrogenation reaction
Hydrogenation is the addition of hydrogen atoms across the double bond in the presence
of a nickel or platinum catalyst.

Ni
CH2=CH2 (g) + H2 (g) → CH3CH3 (g)

This is an example of a radical addition.

Electrophilic addition
Electrophilic addition reactions are initiated by attacks on high electron density centres,
such as the C=C bond. Therefore, the added reactants must be polar, that is should have a
positive and negative end or easily polarized. The general reaction mechanism for the
electrophilic addition reaction is shown in figure 6.6.

Figure 6.6: The electrophilic attack on the C=C forming the carbocation

The formation of the carbocation ion (also known as the carbonium) is the slowest step of
the mechanism.

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Halogenation of alkenes
Halogens add to alkenes forming haloalkanes. Solutions of bromine or iodine in carbon
tetrachloride are used to test for unsaturation. The solutions lose the red-brown or purple
colour in the presence of alkenes.

CH2=CH2 + Br2 → BrCH2CH2Br

Bromine and chlorine molecules can act as electrophiles because: (i) they can be
polarized, (ii) they can easily accept a pair of electrons from the alkene and (iii) they
form strong bonds with carbon.

Hydrohalogenation of alkenes
The addition of hydrogen halides (HX where X = F, Cl, Br and I) to alkenes are examples
of electrophilic addition reactions. The reactions follow the general mechanism shown
below.

δ+ δ- slow fast
CH2=CH2 + H – X → CH3-CH2 + X → CH3-CH2X
+ -

The order of reactivity of hydrogen halides towards alkenes is HI> HBr >HCl > HF,
which is the order of the H-X bond and acid strength.

Addition of HX to unsymmetrical alkenes forms two addition products. For example, the
reaction between HBr and propene:

CH3CH2CH2Br (Br- adds to carbon 1)

CH3CH=CH2 + HBr
CH3CHBrCH3 (Br- adds to carbon 2)

In practice, the products mixture is richer in the second product, where Br- adds to carbon
2. This is known as the Markovnikov’s rule. The rule state that the predominant product
of electrophilic addition of HX to an unsymmetrical alkene is obtained when the H adds
to the carbon atom of the multiple bonds that already has more hydrogen atoms attached
to it. The explanation for this observation lies in the effect of alkyl groups on the electron
density of the carbocation-the intermediate complex. Alkyl groups partially donate their
electrons to the positively charged carbon atom in the intermediate, thereby reducing the
activation energy associated with its formation. This is known as positive inductive effect.
Hydrogen atoms are electron deficient. The carbocation is more stable when surrounded
by a greater number of alkyl groups.

Addition polymerization of alkenes

In polymerization reactions small molecules repeatedly combine forming large
molecules. In polymerization of ethene, the molecule adds to itself producing a saturated
hydrocarbon chain consisting of –CH2CH2- repeating units. The product is called a
polymer and the building units are called monomers. The hydrogen atoms in ethene may
be substituted before polymerization. This will result in different types of plastics

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(polymers). The polymerization process proceeds by a radical mechanism under high
pressure.

Polymerization of ethene under high-pressure.

ROOR
nCH2=CH2 → -[CH2-CH2]n-

The mechanism of ethene under high-pressure is given below.

Ethene polyethene

Alkynes homologous series

Alkynes are unsaturated and their functional group is -C≡C- and the general formula is
CnH2n-2. The functional group of alkynes is formed by sp hybrid orbitals and two π bonds
from pure carbon p orbitals. Figure 6.2 (c) illustrates the geometry of an sp carbon centre.
Therefore, alkynes chemically behave as alkenes because their reactivity is due to the
presence of weaker π bonds.

Nomenclature of alkynes
The suffix for alkynes is –yne and the naming procedure is similar to that for alkenes. For
example, the simplest alkyne compound is called ethyne, the second one propyne and so
on.

Alkynes present structural isomerism but no geometric isomerism.

Chemical properties of alkynes

Alkynes undergo electrophilic addition reactions, although in most cases they are less
reactive than alkenes.

Halogenation of alkynes
In alkynes the addition can continue until saturated products are formed.

HC≡CH + X2 → HCX=CHX + X2 → HCX2CHX2

When unsymmetrical electrophiles such as HX are added to unsymmetrical alkynes the

Markovnikov’s rule is also obeyed.

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End of Unit exercises

Multiple choice questions

1. What is the IUPAC name for the following molecule?
a) 2-bromo-4isopropyl -3-methylbutane b) 2-bromo-3,5-dimethylhexane
c) 3,5-dimethyl-2-bromohexane d) 2-bromo-3-methyl-4-propylbutane
e) 2-bromo-5,5,3-trimethylpentane

2. How many isomers for C6H14 can be drawn?

a) 6 b) 3 c) 8 d) 5 e) 2

3. If an ethyl group is substituted for one hydrogen of cyclohexane, what would be the
type of reaction?
a) elimination b) substitution c) addition d) oxidation e) reduction

4. What is the complete systematic name for the following molecule?

a) 3-pentene b) 3-hexene c) cis-3-hexene d) trans-3-hexene e) cis-3-hexyne

5. Markovnkov’s rule predicts that when HBr is added to an unsymmetrical alkene, the
H atom will add to which carbon atom?

a) The carbon with the fewest attached hydrogen atoms. b) The carbon with the Br.
c) The carbon with the most attached hydrogen atoms
d) The carbon with the double or triple bond.
e) HBr does not react with unsymmetrical alkenes.

6. What is the main product of the following reaction?

10 % H2SO4

?
HBr

a) 1-bromopropane b) 2-bromopropane c) propyl alcohol

d) 2-bromopropene e) 1-bromo-2-methylethane

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7. Why does benzene have a much higher boiling point (80 oC) than hexane (69 oC),
even though they have the same number of carbons.

a) Benzene has fewer hydrogens than hexane.

b) Benzene is much more polar than hexane which enhances the attractive forces
between molecules and raised the boiling point.
c) Benzene is planar and has delocalized electron density which increases the
attractive forces between molecules and raises the boiling point.
d) Hexane has more Kekule structures than benzene.
e) Benzene can covalently bond to another benzene molecule which increases its
boiling point.

8. The formation of isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) through the following hydrolysis is

known as what type of general reaction?
a) oxidation b) aromatic substitution c) addition reaction
d) elimination e) substitution reaction

9. What are the three characteristic steps in a chain-reaction polymerization?

a) initiation, elongation and termination b) initiation, propagation and termination
c) racemization, propagation and quenching d) propagation, formation and termination
e) breaking, elongation and quenching

10) Give the product(s) of the reaction: CH2=CHCH3 +HCI→ products(s)

a) none of this b) CH2CICHCICH3 + H2 c) CH3CHCICH3
d) CH2CICH2CH3 e) CH3CH2CH3= + H2

11. In a homologous series of hydrocarbons all of the following increase with a larger
number of carbons EXCEPT:
a) chain branching b) boiling point c) number of structural isomers
d) molecular weight e) none of these answers

12. Draw the structures of the products of the following reaction: CH3C≡≡CH +2HBr→
a) CH3CBr2CH3 b) CH3CH2CHBr2 C) CH3CHBrCH2Br
d) CH3=CBrCH2Br e) no reaction

13. Which of the following has the greatest boiling point: butane, propane, hexane
a) butane b) propane c) hexane d) All have the same boiling point.
e) not enough information to determine

14. 2-methyl-2-pentene + HC1→

a) no reaction b) (CH3)2CH CHCICH2CH3 c) CH2=C(CH3)CHCICH2CH3
d) (CH3)2CCI CC1=CHCH3 e) (CH3) 2CC1 CH2CH2CH3

15. Give the name for CH3CH2CH2CH3

a) hexane b) propane c) butane d) methylpropane e) alkane

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16. Give the name for CH3CH=CHCH3
a) 3-butene b) 2-butene c) 2-propene d) 2-pentene e) 2-butane

17. C4H8 has how many isomers, including geometric isomers?

(a) 1 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 4 (e) 5

18. Choose the condensed structural formula for 3-methyl-3-hexene:

a) CH3CH2CH(CH3)CH=CHCH3 b) CH3CH2C(CH3)2CH=CHCH3
c) (CH3)3CCH=CHCH3 d) CH3CH2C(CH3)=CHCH2CH3
e) (CH3)3CCH2CH=CH2

19. Choose the condensed structural formula for 2-pentyne:

a) CH2=CHCH2CH2CH3 b) CH3C≡CCH2CH3
c) CH3CH=CHCH2CH3 d) CH3C≡CCH3 e) CH3CH ≡CCCH2CH2CH3

20. Choose the incorrect statement:

a) Latin prefixes relate the numbers of C atoms in a chain.
b) An alkane group used as a side chain group is called an alkyl group.
c) Di, tri, tetra are used to designate the number of side chain groups.
d) Positional isomers differ in the position on the main chain of the side chain group.
e) Functional groups are distinctive groupings of atoms.

Free response questions

21. Give the molecular formula of an alkane with 30 carbon atoms.

22. Why would you expect the melting points of the alkanes to increase in the series
methane, ethane, propane and so on?

23. Draw structural formulas of the five isomers of C6H14.

24. Draw structural formulae of an alkane, a cycloalkane, an alkene, and an aromatic

hydrocarbon, each with seven carbon atoms.

25. Explain why there are two isomers of 2-butene. Draw their structural formulas and
name the isomers.
26. Draw structural formulas for the isomers of ethyl-methylbenzene.

27. What would you expect to be the major product when two molecules of HC1 add
successively to acetylene? Explain.

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28. Give the IUPAC name for each of the following hydrocarbons.

a) b)

d)
c)

29. Write the condensed structural formula for each of the following compounds.
a) 2, 3-dimethylhexane b) 3-ethylhexane c) 2-methyl-4-((2-methyl)propyl)heptane
d) 2, 2, 3, 4-tetramethylpentane

30. Give the condensed structural formula for each of the following compounds.
a) 3-ethyl-2-pentene b) 4-ethyl-2-methyl-2-hexene

31. If there are geometric isomers for the following, draw structural formulas showing the
isomers. Label the isomers with their IUPAC names, including cis and trans
designations.

a) CH3CH2CH=CHCH2CH3 b)

32. Complete and balance the following equations. Note any catalyst used.
a) CH2=CH2 + Br2→ b) CH2=CH2 + HBr→

33. Complete and balance the following equations. Note any catalyst used.

34. Write an equation for a possible substitution reaction of propane, C3H8, with Br2.

35. Give the IUPAC name of each of the following compounds.

a) b)

End of Unit

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