Dambi Dollo University

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

First year

Semester III

Course: General Chemistry (Chem1012)

 1. Essential ideas in chemistry

1.1. Chemistry in Context

Throughout human history, people have tried to convert matter into more

useful forms. Such as:

They chipped pieces of flint into useful tools and carved wood into statues

and toys. But they change the shape of a substance without changing the

substance itself.
But as our knowledge increased, humans began to change the composition of

the substances as well clay was converted into pottery, hides were cured to

make garments, copper ores were transformed into copper tools and

weapons, and grain was made into bread. 2

Humans began to practice chemistry when they learned to control

fire and use it to cook, make pottery, and smelt metals.

A variety of drugs such as aloe, myrrh, and opium were isolated

from plants.
Dyes, such as indigo and Tyrian purple, were extracted from plant

and animal matter.

Metals were combined to form alloys.

Example, Cu and Sn were mixed together to make bronze and more

elaborate smelting techniques produced iron.
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Alkali were extracted from ashes, and soaps were prepared by
combining these alkalis with fats.

Alcohol was produced by fermentation and purified by distillation.

From alchemy came the historical progressions that led to modern

chemistry: the isolation of drugs from natural sources, metallurgy,
and the dye industry.

Today, chemistry continues to deepen our understanding and

improve our ability to harness and control the behavior of matter.

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1.1.1. Chemistry as the Central Science

Chemistry is sometimes referred to as “the central science” due to its

interconnectedness with other STEM disciplines.

STEM stands for areas of study in the science, technology, engineering,

and math fields.

Chemistry and the language of chemists play vital roles in biology,

medicine, materials science, forensics, environmental science, and
many other fields (Figure 1.1).

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Figure 1.1: The interrelationships between chemistry and other fields.
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1.1.2. The Scientific Method
 Chemistry is a science based on observation and experimentation.
 The path of discovery that leads from question and observation to law
or hypothesis to theory, combined with experimental verification of the
hypothesis and any necessary modification of the theory is called the
scientific method.

 A hypothesis is a tentative explanation of observations that acts as a

guide for gathering and checking information.
 A hypothesis is tested by experimentation, calculation, and comparison
with the experiments of others and then refined as needed.
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 Scientific theories are well substantiated, comprehensive, testable
explanations of particular aspects of nature.
 Theories are accepted because they provide satisfactory explanations,
but they can be modified if new data become available.

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1.1.3. The Domains of Chemistry
Chemists study and describe the behavior of matter and energy in three different
domains: macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic.

The macroscopic domain is familiar to us: It is the realm of everyday things

that are large enough to be sensed directly by human sight or touch.

Example:
o In daily life, these includes the food you eat and the breeze you feel on your
face,
o observing and measuring physical and chemical properties such as density,
solubility, and flammability in chemistry laboratory. 9
Some aspects of the microscopic domain are visible through standard optical
microscopes, for example, many biological cells.

More sophisticated instruments are capable of imaging even smaller entities

such as molecules and atoms.

Other components of the microscopic include ions and electrons, protons and
neutrons, and chemical bonds, each of which is far too small to see.

 The symbolic domain contains the specialized language used to represent

components of the macroscopic and microscopic domains.

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Chemical symbols, chemical formulas, and chemical equations are part of the
symbolic domain, as are graphs, drawings, and calculations.

They help to interpret the behavior of the macroscopic domain in terms of the
components of the microscopic domain.

One of the challenges for students learning chemistry is recognizing that the same
symbols can represent different things in the macroscopic and microscopic
domains,

 one of the features that make chemistry fascinating is the use of a domain that
must be imagined to explain behavior in a domain that can be observed.
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 H2O is a liquid at moderate temperatures will freeze to form a solid at

lower temperatures, and boil to form a gas at higher temperatures

(Figure 1.3) are macroscopic observations.

But some properties of water fall into the microscopic domain, what
cannot be observed with the naked eye.

The description of water as comprising two H atoms and one O atom,

and the explanation of freezing and boiling in terms of attractions
between these molecule is within the microscopic arena.

The formula H2O, which can describe water at either the macroscopic or

microscopic levels, is an example of the symbolic domain. 12

Figure 1.3: (a) Moisture in the air, icebergs, and the ocean represent water in the macroscopic
domain. (b) At the molecular level (microscopic domain), gas molecules are far apart and
disorganized, solid water molecules are close together and organized, and liquid molecules are
close together and disorganized. (c) The formula H2O symbolizes water, and (g), (s), and (l)
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symbolize its phases.
1.2. State and Classification of Matter

Matter is defined as anything that occupies space and has mass.

Solids and liquids are more obviously matter: We can see that they take up
space, and their weight tells us that they have mass.

Gases are also matter; if gases did not take up space, a balloon would not
inflate (increase its volume) when filled with gas.

A solid is rigid and possesses a definite shape. A liquid flows and takes the
shape of its container, except that it forms a flat or slightly curved upper
surface when acted upon by gravity.

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Figure 1.4: The three most common states or phases of matter are
solid, liquid, and gas.

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A fourth state of matter, plasma occurs naturally in the interiors of stars.

Plasma is a gaseous state of matter that contains appreciable numbers of

electrically charged particles (Figure 1.5).

The presence of these charged particles imparts unique properties to plasma

that justify their classification as a state of matter distinct from gases.

In addition to stars, plasma are found in high-temperature environments,

such as lightning strikes, certain TV screens, and specialized analytical
instruments used to detect trace amounts of metals.

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 Figure 1.5: A plasma torch can be used to cut metal.
 In a tiny cell in a plasma TV, the plasma emits UV light, which in turn
causes the display at that location to appear a specific color.
 The composite of these tiny dots of color makes up the image that you
see.
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 Matter can also have properties of more than one state when it is a
mixture, such as with clouds.

Clouds appear to behave somewhat like gases, but they are actually
mixtures of air (gas) and tiny particles of water (liquid or solid).

 The mass of an object is a measure of the amount of matter in it.

A more common way to determine the mass of an object is to use a

balance to compare its mass with a standard mass.

Although weight is related to mass, it is not the same thing.

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Weight refers to the force that gravity exerts on an object. This force is
directly proportional to the mass of the object.

The weight of an object changes as the force of gravity changes, but its
mass does not.

 An astronaut’s mass does not change just because she/he goes to the moon.
But her/his weight on the moon is only one-sixth her/his earth-bound
weight because the moon’s gravity is only one-sixth that of the earth’s.

She/he may feel “weightless” during her/his trip when she/he experiences
negligible external forces (gravitational or any other), although she/he is, of
course, never “massless.”
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The law of conservation of matter summarizes many scientific observations
about matter:

“It states that there is no detectable change in the total quantity of matter
present when matter converts from one type to another (a chemical change)
or changes among solid, liquid, or gaseous states (a physical change)”.

 Brewing beer and the operation of batteries provide examples of the

conservation of matter (Figure 1.6).

During the brewing of beer, the ingredients (water, yeast, grains, malt,
hops, and sugar) are converted into beer (water, alcohol, carbonation, and
flavoring substances) with no actual loss of substance.
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When glucose turns into ethanol and carbon dioxide, and the total mass of the
substances does not change.

In a lead-acid car battery: The original substances (lead, lead oxide, and
sulfuric acid), which are capable of producing electricity, are changed into
other substances (lead sulfate and water) that do not produce electricity, with
no change in the actual amount of matter.

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Matter can be classified into mixtures and pure substances. A pure substance has a
constant composition.

All specimens of a pure substance have exactly the same makeup and properties.
Any sample of sucrose consists of 42.1% carbon, 6.5% hydrogen, and 51.4%
oxygen by mass.

Any sample of sucrose also has the same physical properties, such as melting
point, color, and sweetness, regardless of the source from which it is isolated.

Pure substances may be divided into two classes: elements and compounds.

 Pure substances that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical
changes are called elements.
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Fe, Ag, Au, Al, S, O, and Cu are examples of the more than 100 known
elements, of which about 90 occur naturally on the earth, and two dozen or so
have been created in laboratories.

Pure substances that can be broken down by chemical changes are called
compounds.

o Mercury (II) oxide, an orange, crystalline solid, can be broken down by heat into the
elements mercury and oxygen.

o When heated in the absence of air, the compound sucrose is broken down into the
element carbon and the compound water.

o Silver (I) chloride is a white solid that can be broken down into its elements, silver
and chlorine, by absorption of light. 23
A mixture is composed of two or more types of matter that can be
present in varying amounts and can be separated by physical changes,
such as evaporation.

A mixture with a composition that varies from point to point is called a

heterogeneous mixture.

Examples:
chocolate chip cookies (we can see the separate bits of chocolate,
nuts, and cookie dough) and
granite (quartz, mica, feldspar, and more).

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A homogeneous mixture, also called a solution, exhibits a uniform
composition and appears visually the same throughout.

Example:
a sports drink, consisting of water, sugar, coloring, flavoring, and
electrolytes mixed together uniformly (Figure 1.7).
air, maple syrup, gasoline, and a solution of salt in water.

Each drop of a sports drink tastes the same because each drop
contains the same amounts of water, sugar, and other components.

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Note that the composition of a sports drink can vary. It could be
made with somewhat more or less sugar, flavoring, or other
components, and still be a sports drink.

Figure 1.7: (a) Oil and vinegar salad dressing is a heterogeneous mixture because
its composition is not uniform throughout. (b) A commercial sports drink is a
homogeneous mixture because its composition is uniform throughout.
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Figure 1.8: Depending on its properties, a given substance classified as a
homogeneous mixture, a heterogeneous mixture, a compound, or an element.
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1.3. Physical and Chemical Properties
The characteristics that distinguish one substance from another are
called properties.

A physical property is a characteristic of matter that is not associated

with a change in its chemical composition.
Examples: density, color, hardness, melting and boiling points, and
electrical conductivity.

o density and color, may be observed without changing the physical

state of the matter.

o the melting temperature of iron or the freezing temperature of water,

can only be observed as matter undergoes a physical change. 29
A physical change is a change in the state or properties of matter
without any accompanying change in the chemical identities of the
substances contained in the matter.

Examples of physical changes include:

 magnetizing and demagnetizing metals and

grinding solids into powder.

It observed when wax melts, when sugar dissolves in coffee, and

when steam condenses into liquid water (Figure 1.9).

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In each of these examples, there is a change in the physical state.
but no change in its chemical composition.

Figure 1.9: (a) Wax undergoes a physical change when solid wax is heated and forms
liquid wax. (b) Steam condensing inside a cooking pot is a physical change, as water
vapor is changed into liquid water.
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The change of one type of matter into another type (or the inability to change) is
a chemical property.

Example: flammability, toxicity, acidity, and many other types of reactivity.

Iron, for example, combines with oxygen in the presence of water to form rust;
chromium does not oxidize (Figure 1.10).

 A chemical change always produces one or more types of matter that differ
from the matter present before the change.

Examples:
o Nitroglycerin is very dangerous because it explodes easily; neon poses
almost no hazard because it is very unreactive. 32
 Figure 1.10: (a) One of the chemical properties of iron is that it rusts; (b)
one of the chemical properties of chromium is that it does not.

Figure (a), is a metal machinery that is now mostly covered with reddish orange rust.
Figure (b), shows the silver colored chrome parts of a motorcycle. One of the parts is
so shiny that you can see a reflection of the surrounding street and buildings.
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Figure 1.11: (a) Copper and nitric acids
undergo a chemical change to form copper
nitrate and brown, gaseous nitrogen
dioxide. (b) During the combustion of a
match, cellulose in the match and oxygen
from the air undergo a chemical change to
form carbon dioxide and water vapor. (c)
Cooking red meat causes a number of
chemical changes, including the oxidation
of iron in myoglobin that results in the
familiar red-to-brown color change. (d) A
banana turning brown is a chemical
change as new, darker substances form.
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 1.4. Extensive and intensive property
Extensive Property Intensive Property
 depends on the amount of  does not depend on the
matter present amount of matter present
 Examples: mass and volume  Temperature is intensive ppty.
of a substance. o If the gallon and cup of milk
o for instance, a gallon of are each at 20°C, when they
milk has a larger mass are combined, temperature
than a cup of milk. remains at 20°C.

A drop of hot cooking oil spattered on your arm causes brief, minor
discomfort, whereas a pot of hot oil yields severe burns.
Both the drop and the pot of oil are at the same temperature
(intensive), but the pot clearly contains much more heat (extensive
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property).
1.5. Measurements and Units
Measurements provide much of the information that informs the

hypotheses, theories, and laws describing the behavior of matter and

energy in both the macroscopic and microscopic domains of chemistry.

Every measurement provides three kinds of information:

 the size or magnitude of the measurement (a number);

 a standard of comparison for the measurement (a unit); and
 an indication of the uncertainty of the measurement.

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The number in the measurement can be represented in different ways,
including decimal form and scientific notation. Scientific notation is also
known as exponential notation.
Example: the maximum takeoff weight of a Boeing 777-200ER airliner
is 298,000 kilograms, which can also be written as 2.98× 105 kg.

 Units, such as liters, gram, and centimeters, are standards of comparison

for measurements.

 The standards for these units are fixed by international agreement, and
they are called the International System of Units or SI Units:

 Units for other properties may be derived from these seven base units.
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Table 1.2: Base Units of the SI System

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Table 1.3: Common Unit Prefixes

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1.5.1. SI Base Units
 Length

The SI unit of length is the meter (m).

A meter was originally specified as 1/10,000,000 of the distance from the

North Pole to the equator.

1 km = 1000 m = 103m), (1 cm = 0.01 m = 10-2m), (1 mm = 0.001 m = 10-3m).

Mass

The standard unit of mass in the SI system is the kilogram (kg). The kg was
previously defined by the IUPAC as the mass of a specific reference object.

One kilogram is about 2.2 pounds. The gram (g) is exactly equal to 1/1000 of
the mass of the kilogram (10-3 kg). 40
Temperature

It is an intensive property. The SI unit of temperature is the kelvin

(K).
The IUPAC convention is to use kelvin (all lowercase) for the word, K
(uppercase) for the unit symbol, and neither the word “degree” nor the degree
symbol (°).
The degree Celsius (°C) is also allowed in the SI system, with both the word
“degree” and the degree symbol used for Celsius measurements.
Water freezes at 273.15 K (0°C) and boils at 373.15 K (100 °C) by definition,
and normal human body temperature is approximately 310 K (37°C).
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Time
The SI base unit of time is the second (s).

Small and large time intervals can be expressed with the appropriate
prefixes; for example, 3 microseconds = 0.000003 s = 3×10-6 and 5
mega seconds = 5,000,000 s = 5 ×106 s. alternatively, hours, days, and
years can be used.

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1.5.2. Derived SI Units
We can derive many units from the seven SI base units.

For example, we can use the base unit of length to define a unit of volume,

and the base units of mass and length to define a unit of density.

The standard volume is a cubic meter (m3), a cube with an edge length of

exactly one meter.

To dispense a cubic meter of water, we could build a cubic box with edge

lengths of exactly one meter. This box would hold a cubic meter of water or

any other substance.

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 Volume
Volume is the measure of the

amount of space occupied by an

object.
The standard SI unit of

volume is defined by the base

unit of length (Figure 1.14).

Figure 1.14: (a) The relative volumes are shown for cubes of 1m3, 1 dm3 (1
L), and 1 cm3 (1 mL) (not to scale). (b) The diameter of a dime is compared
relative to the edge length of a 1cm3 (1mL) cube.
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Density
The density of a substance is the ratio of the mass of a sample of the substance
to its volume. The SI unit for density is the kilogram per cubic meter (kg/m3).

For many situations, however, we often use grams per cubic centimeter
(g/cm3) for the densities of solids and liquids, and grams per liter (g/L) for
gases.

Although there are exceptions, most liquids and solids have densities that
range from about 0.7 g/cm3 (the density of gasoline) to 19 g/cm3

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46
Example 1.1: Calculation of Density Gold-in bricks, bars, and coins-has been a
form of currency for centuries. In order to fraud people into paying for a brick of
gold without actually investing in a brick of gold, people have considered filling
the centers of hollow gold bricks with lead to fool buyers into thinking that the
entire brick is gold. It does not work: Lead is a dense substance, but its density is
not as great as that of gold, 19.3 g/cm3. What is the density of lead if a cube of
lead has an edge length of 2.00 cm and a mass of 90.7 g?
Solution
The density of a substance can be calculated by dividing its mass by its volume.
The volume of a cube is calculated by cubing the edge length. Volume of lead
cube = 2.00 cm×2.00 cm × 2.00 cm=8.00cm3
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1.6. Measurement Uncertainty
Counting is the only type of measurement that is free from uncertainty, provided
the number of objects being counted does not change while the counting process is
underway.

Example: By counting the eggs in a carton, one can determine exactly

how many eggs the carton contains.
The numbers of defined quantities are also exact. By definition, 1 foot is exactly
12 inches, 1 inch is exactly 2.54 centimeters, and 1 gram is exactly 0.001
kilogram.

Quantities derived from measurements other than counting, however, are uncertain
to varying extents due to practical limitations of the measurement process used.
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1.6.1. Significant Figures in Measurement
The numbers of measured quantities, unlike defined or directly counted
quantities, are not exact.

To measure the volume of liquid in a graduated cylinder, you should make a
reading at the bottom of the meniscus, the lowest point on the curved surface of
the liquid.

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If the coin is weighed on a more sensitive balance, the mass might
be 6.723 g. This means its mass lies between 6.722 and 6.724
grams, an uncertainty of 0.001 gram.
Every measurement has some uncertainty, which depends on the
device used (and the user’s ability).
A reliable known digits in number are called significant figures or
Significant digits. Significant indicate how precisely
measurements have been made (assuming the person who made
the measurements was competent). 50
A measurement result is properly reported when its significant
digits accurately represent the certainty of the measurement.

We will use the terms “leading,” “trailing,” and “captive” for
the zeros and will consider how to deal with them.

Starting with the first nonzero digit on the left, count this digit
and all remaining digits to the right.
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This is the number of significant figures in the measurement unless the
last digit is a trailing zero lying to the left of the decimal point.

Captive zeros result from measurement and are therefore always

significant.

Leading zeros, however, are never significant. they merely tell us where
the decimal point is located.
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 Some simple rules govern the use of significant figures.

Nonzero digits are always significant. For example, 38.57 mL has four significant
figures; 288 g has three significant figures.

Zeroes are sometimes significant, and sometimes they are not.

a. Zeroes at the beginning of a number (used just to position the decimal
point) are never significant. For example, 0.052 g has two significant
figures; 0.00364 m has three significant figures. These could also be
reported in scientific notation as 5.2 x10-2 g and 3.64x10-3 m, respectively.
Zeroes are sometimes significant, and sometimes they are not.
a. Zeroes at the beginning of a number (used just to position the decimal
point) are never significant. For example, 0.052 g has two significant
figures; 0.00364 m has three significant figures. These could also be
reported in scientific notation as 5.2 x10-2 g and 3.64x10-3 m, respectively.

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b.. Zeroes between nonzero digits are always significant. For example, 2007
g has four significant figures; 6.08 km has three significant figures.
c. Zeroes at the end of a number that contains a decimal point are always
significant. For example, 38.0 cm has three significant figures; 440.0 m has four
significant figures. These could also be reported as 3.80 x 101 cm and 4.400 x102
m, respectively.
d. Zeroes at the end of a number that does not contain a decimal point might
or might not be significant. For example, 24,300 km could represent three, four, or
five significant figures. 2.43 x 104 km (has three significant figures); 2.430 x104
km (four significant figures), and 2.4300 x104 km has (five significant figures).
NB don’t confuse significant figure with decimal place; 0.235, 1.123, 123.125 all
have three decimal place but they have three, four, six significant figure respectively.

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 The zeros in the measurement 1,300 grams could be significant or
they could simply indicate where the decimal point is located.
 The ambiguity can be resolved with the use of exponential notation:
1.3 × 103 (two significant figures), 1.30 × 103 (three significant
figures, if the tens place was measured), or 1.300 × 10 3 (four
significant figures, if the ones place was also measured).

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1.6.3. Accuracy and Precision

Scientists typically make repeated measurements of a quantity to

ensure the quality of their findings and to evaluate both the
precision and the accuracy of their results.
Measurements are said to be precise if they yield very similar
results when repeated in the same manner.
A measurement is considered accurate if it yields a result that is
very close to the true or accepted value.
 Precise values agree with each other; accurate values agree with a
true value. 56
Figure 1.17: (a) These arrows are close to both the bull’s eye and one another, so
they are both accurate and precise. (b) These arrows are close to one another but
not on target, so they are precise but not accurate. (c) These arrows are neither
on target nor close to one another, so they are neither accurate nor precise.

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o Suppose a quality control chemist at a pharmaceutical company is tasked with
checking the accuracy and precision of three different machines that are
meant to dispense 283.5g (296 mL) of cough syrup into storage bottles.

o Table 1.5: Volume (mL) of Cough Medicine Delivered by 283.5g (296 mL)
Dispensers

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she/he will report that dispenser #1 is precise (values all close to one
another, within a few tenths of a milliliter) but not accurate (none of the
values are close to the target value of 296 mL, each being more than 10
mL too low).

Results for dispenser #2 represent improved accuracy (each volume is

less than 3 mL away from 296 mL) but worse precision (volumes vary by
more than 4 mL).

she/he can report that dispenser #3 is working well, dispensing cough

syrup both accurately (all volumes within 0.1 mL of the target volume)
and precisely (volumes differing from each other by no more than 0.2
mL). 59
 1.7. Conversion Factors and Dimensional Analysis
A ratio of two equivalent quantities expressed with different measurement
units can be used as a unit conversion factor. For example, the lengths of 2.54
cm and 1 in. are equivalent.

60
When a quantity (such as distance in inches) is multiplied by an appropriate
unit conversion factor, the quantity is converted to an equivalent value with
different units (such as distance in centimeters).

For example, a basketball player’s vertical jump of 34 inches can be

converted to centimeters by:

Exercise: What is the density of common antifreeze in units of g/mL? A

4.00-qt sample of the antifreeze weighs 9.26 lb.

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62
Conversion of Temperature Units
We use the word temperature to refer to the hotness or coldness of a substance.

One way we measure a change in temperature is to use the fact that most
substances expand when their temperature increases and contract when their
temperature decreases.

Temperature scales are defined relative to selected reference temperatures:

Two of the most commonly used are the freezing and boiling temperatures of
water at a specified atmospheric pressure.

On the Celsius scale, 0°C is defined as the freezing temperature of water and

100°C as the boiling temperature of water.

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On the Fahrenheit scale, the freezing point of water is defined as 32°F and
the boiling temperature as 212°F.

The space between these two points on a Fahrenheit thermometer is

divided into 180 equal parts (degrees).

Most measurement units for a given property are directly proportional to

one another (y = mx). Using familiar length units as one example:

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Where y = length in feet, x = length in inches, and the proportionality
constant, m, is the conversion factor.
 The Celsius and Fahrenheit temperature scales, however, do not share
a common zero point, and so the relationship between these two
scales is a linear one rather than a proportional one (y = mx + b).

Consequently, converting a temperature from one of these scales into

the other requires more than simple multiplication by a conversion
factor, m, it also must take into account differences in the scales’ zero
points (b).
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The linear equation relating Celsius and Fahrenheit temperatures is easily
derived from the two temperatures used to define each scale. Representing
the Celsius temperature as x and the Fahrenheit temperature as y, the slope,
m, is computed to be:

The y-intercept of the equation, b, is then calculated using either of the

equivalent temperature pairs, (100°C, 212°F) or (0°C, 32°F), as:

The equation relating the temperature (T) scales is then:

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An abbreviated form of this equation that omits the measurement units is:

Rearrangement of this equation yields the form useful for converting from
Fahrenheit to Celsius:

Following the same approach, the equations for converting between the
Kelvin and Celsius temperature scales are derived to be:

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Figure 1.18: The Fahrenheit, Celsius, and kelvin temperature scales are compared.

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o Although the kelvin (absolute) temperature scale is the official SI temperature
scale, Celsius is commonly used in many scientific contexts and is the scale of
choice for non-science contexts in almost all areas of the world.

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