The Foundations 1 of Chemistry OUTLINE 1-1 Matter and Energy 1-8 Use of Numbers 1-2 States of Matter 1-9 The Unit Factor Method 1-3 Chemical and Physical Properties (Dimensional Analysis) 1-4 Chemical and Physical Changes 1-10 Percentage 1-5 Mixtures, Substances, 1-11 Density and Specific Gravity Compounds, and Elements 1-12 Heat and Temperature 1-6 Measurements in Chemistry 1-13 Heat Transfer and the 1-7 Units of Measurement Measurement of Heat The earth is a huge chemical system, including innumerable OBJECTIVES reactions taking place constantly, After you have studied this chapter, you should be able to with some energy input from sunlight. The earth serves as the • Use the basic vocabulary of matter and energy source of raw materials for all • Distinguish between chemical and physical properties and between chemical and human activities as well as the physical changes depository for the products of these activities. Maintaining life on the • Recognize various forms of matter: homogeneous and heterogeneous mixtures, substances, compounds, and elements planet requires understanding and intelligent use of these resources. • Apply the concept of significant figures Scientists can provide important • Apply appropriate units to describe the results of measurement information about the processes, but each of us must share in the • Use the unit factor method to carry out conversions among units responsibility for our environment. • Describe temperature measurements on various common scales, and convert between these scales • Carry out calculations relating temperature change to heat absorbed or liberated T housands of practical questions are studied by chemists. A few of them are T How can we modify a useful drug so as to improve its effectiveness while mini- mizing any harmful or unpleasant side effects? How can we develop better materials to be used as synthetic bone for replacement surgery? Which substances could help to avoid rejection of foreign tissue in organ transplants? What improvements in fertilizers or pesticides can increase agricultural yields? How can this be done with minimal environmental danger? Howcan we get the maximum work from a fuel while producing the least harmful emis- sions possible? CHAPTER 1:The Foundations of Chemistry 3 Which really poses the greater environmental threat—the burning of fossil fuels and its contribution to the greenhouse effect and climatic change, or the use of nuclear power and the related radiation and disposal problems? Howcan we develop suitable materials for the semiconductor and microelectronics in- dustry? Can we develop a battery that is cheaper, lighter, and more powerful? Whatchanges in structural materials could help to make aircraft lighter and more eco- nomical, yet at the same time stronger and safer? What relationship is there between the substances we eat, drink, or breathe and the possibility of developing cancer? How can we develop substances that are effective in killing cancer cells preferentially over normal cells? Can we economically produce fresh water from sea water for irrigation or consump- tion? How can we slow down unfavorable reactions, such as the corrosion of metals, while speeding up favorable ones, such as the growth of foodstuffs? Chemistry touches almost every aspect of our lives, our culture, and our environment. Its scope encompasses the air we breathe, the food we eat, the fluids we drink, our clothing, dwellings, transportation and fuel supplies, and our fellow creatures. Chemistry is the science that describes matter—its properties, the changes it un- Enormous numbers of chemical dergoes, and the energy changes that accompany those processes. reactions are necessary to produce a human embryo (here at 10 weeks, 6 cm long). Matter includes everything that is tangible, from our bodies and the stuff of our every- day lives to the grandest objects in the universe. Some call chemistry the central science. It rests on the foundation of mathematics and physics and in turn underlies the life sciences—biology and medicine. To understand living systems fully, we must first understand the chemical reactions and chemical influences that operate within them. The chemicals of our bodies profoundly affect even the personal world of our thoughts and emotions. No one can be expert in all aspects of such a broad science as chemistry. Sometimes we arbitrarily divide the study of chemistry into various branches. Carbon is very versa- tile in its bonding and behavior and is a key element in many substances that are essen- tial to life. All living matter contains carbon combined with hydrogen. The chemistry of compounds of carbon and hydrogen is called organic chemistry. (In the early days of chemistry, living matter and inanimate matter were believed to be entirely different. We now know that many of the compounds found in living matter can be made from non- living, or “inorganic,” sources. Thus, the terms “organic” and “inorganic” have different meanings than they did originally.) The study of substances that do not contain carbon combined with hydrogen is called inorganic chemistry.The branch of chemistry that is concerned with the detection or identification of substances present in a sample (qualita- tive analysis) or with the amount of each that is present (quantitative analysis) is called analytical chemistry. Physical chemistry applies the mathematical theories and methods of physics to the properties of matter and to the study of chemical processes and the accompanying energy changes. As its name suggests, biochemistry is the study of the chemistry of processes in living organisms. Such divisions are arbitrary, and most chemical studies involve more than one of these traditional areas of chemistry. The principles you will learn in a general chemistry course are the foundation of all branches of chemistry. 4 CHAPTER 1:The Foundations of Chemistry We understand simple chemical systems well; they lie near chemistry’s fuzzy boundary with physics. They can often be described exactly by mathematical equations. We fare less well with more complicated systems. Even where our understanding is fairly thorough, we must make approximations, and often our knowledge is far from complete. Each year researchers provide new insights into the nature of matter and its interactions. As chemists find answers to old questions, they learn to ask new ones. Our scientific knowledge has been described as an expanding sphere that, as it grows, encounters an ever-enlarging frontier. In our search for understanding, we eventually must ask fundamental questions, such as the following: How do substances combine to form other substances? How much energy is involved in changes that we observe? Howis matter constructed in its intimate detail? How are atoms and the ways that they combine related to the properties of the matter that we can measure, such as color, hardness, chemical reactivity, and electrical conductivity? What fundamental factors influence the stability of a substance? How can we force a desired (but energetically unfavorable) change to take place? What factors control the rate at which a chemical change takes place? In your study of chemistry, you will learn about these and many other basic ideas that chemists have developed to help them describe and understand the behavior of matter. Along the way, we hope that you come to appreciate the development of this science, one of the grandest intellectual achievements of human endeavor. You will also learn how to apply these fundamental principles to solve real problems. One of your major goals in the study of chemistry should be to develop your ability to think critically and to solve prob- lems (not just do numerical calculations!). In other words, you need to learn to manipu- late not only numbers, but also quantitative ideas, words, and concepts. In the first chapter, our main goals are (1) to begin to get an idea of what chemistry is about and the ways in which chemists view and describe the material world and (2) to acquire some skills that are useful and necessary in the understanding of chemistry, its contribution to science and engineering, and its role in our daily lives. 1-1 MATTER AND ENERGY Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. Mass is a measure of the quantity of matter in a sample of any material. The more massive an object is, the more force is required to put it in motion. All bodies consist of matter. Our senses of sight and touch usually tell us that an object occupies space. In the case of colorless, odorless, tasteless We might say that we can “touch” air gases (such as air), our senses may fail us. when it blows in our faces, but we Energyis defined as the capacity to do work or to transfer heat. We are familiar with depend on other evidence to show that many forms of energy, including mechanical energy, light energy, electrical energy, and a still body of air fits our definition of heat energy. Light energy from the sun is used by plants as they grow, electrical energy matter. allows us to light a room by flicking a switch, and heat energy cooks our food and warms our homes. Energy can be classified into two principal types: kinetic energy and poten- tial energy. The term comes from the Greek word kinein,meaning “to move.” The word A body in motion, such as a rolling boulder, possesses energy because of its motion. “cinema” is derived from the same Such energy is called kinetic energy. Kinetic energy represents the capacity for doing Greek word. work directly. It is easily transferred between objects. Potential energy is the energy an 1-1 Matter and Energy 5 object possesses because of its position, condition, or composition. Coal, for example, possesses chemical energy, a form of potential energy, because of its composition. Many electrical generating plants burn coal, producing heat, which is converted to electrical energy. A boulder located atop a mountain possesses potential energy because of its height. It can roll down the mountainside and convert its potential energy into kinetic energy. Nuclear energy is an important kind of We discuss energy because all chemical processes are accompanied by energy changes. As potential energy. some processes occur, energy is released to the surroundings, usually as heat energy. We call such processes exothermic.Any combustion (burning) reaction is exothermic. Some chemical reactions and physical changes, however, are endothermic;that is, they absorb energy from their surroundings. An example of a physical change that is endothermic is the melting of ice. The Law of Conservation of Matter When we burn a sample of metallic magnesium in the air, the magnesium combines with oxygen from the air (Figure 1-1) to form magnesium oxide, a white powder. This chem- ical reaction is accompanied by the release of large amounts of heat energy and light energy. When we weigh the product of the reaction, magnesium oxide, we find that it is heavier than the original piece of magnesium. The increase in the mass of a solid is due to the combination of oxygen from the air with magnesium to form magnesium oxide. Many experiments have shown that the mass of the magnesium oxide is exactly the sum of the masses of magnesium and oxygen that combined to form it. Similar statements can be made for all chemical reactions. These observations are summarized in the Law of Conservation of Matter: There is no observable change in the quantity of matter during a chemical reaction or during a physical change. Figure 1-1 Magnesium burns in This statement is an example of a scientific (natural) law, a general statement based on the oxygen of the air to form magne- the observed behavior of matter to which no exceptions are known. A nuclear reaction is sium oxide, a white solid. The mass not a chemical reaction. of magnesium oxide formed is equal to the sum of the masses of oxygen and magnesium that formed it. The Law of Conservation of Energy In exothermic chemical reactions, chemical energy is usually converted into heat energy. Some exothermic processes involve other kinds of energy changes. For example, some lib- erate light energy without heat, and others produce electrical energy without heat or light. In endothermic reactions, heat energy, light energy, or electrical energy is converted into chemical energy. Although chemical changes always involve energy changes, some energy transformations do not involve chemical changes at all. For example, heat energy may be Electricity is produced in hydroelectric converted into electrical energy or into mechanical energy without any simultaneous plants by the conversion of mechanical chemical changes. Many experiments have demonstrated that all of the energy involved energy (from flowing water) into electrical energy. in any chemical or physical change appears in some form after the change. These obser- vations are summarized in the Law of Conservation of Energy: Energy cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction or in a physical change. It can only be converted from one form to another. 6 CHAPTER 1:The Foundations of Chemistry The Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy With the dawn of the nuclear age in the 1940s, scientists, and then the world, became aware that matter can be converted into energy. In nuclear reactions (Chapter 26), matter is transformed into energy. The relationship between matter and energy is given Einstein formulated this equation by Albert Einstein’s now famous equation in 1905 as a part of his theory of E(cid:1)mc2 relativity. Its validity was demonstrated in 1939 with the first controlled This equation tells us that the amount of energy released when matter is transformed into nuclear reaction. energy is the product of the mass of matter transformed and the speed of light squared. At the present time, we have not (knowingly) observed the transformation of energy into matter on a large scale. It does, however, happen on an extremely small scale in “atom smashers,” or particle accelerators, used to induce nuclear reactions. Now that the equiv- alence of matter and energy is recognized, the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy can be stated in a single sentence: The combined amount of matter and energy in the universe is fixed. 1-2 STATES OF MATTER S ee the Saunders Interactive Matter can be classified into three states (Figure 1-2), although most of us can think of General Chemistry CD-ROM, examples that do not fit neatly into any of the three categories. In the solid state, sub- Screen 1.3, States of Mattter. stances are rigid and have definite shapes. Volumes of solids do not vary much with changes in temperature and pressure. In many solids, called crystalline solids, the individual par- ticles that make up the solid occupy definite positions in the crystal structure. The strengths of interaction between the individual particles determine how hard and how strong the crystals are. In the liquidstate, the individual particles are confined to a given volume. A liquid flows and assumes the shape of its container up to the volume of the liquid. Liquids are very hard to compress. Gases are much less dense than liquids and solids. They occupy all parts of any vessel in which they are confined. Gases are capable of infinite expansion and are compressed easily. We conclude that they consist primarily of empty space, meaning that the individual particles are quite far apart. 1-3 CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES To distinguish among samples of different kinds of matter, we determine and compare The properties of a person include their properties. We recognize different kinds of matter by their properties, which are height, weight, sex, skin and hair color, broadly classified into chemical properties and physical properties. and the many subtle features that Chemical propertiesare exhibited by matter as it undergoes changes in composition. constitute that person’s general These properties of substances are related to the kinds of chemical changes that the appearance. substances undergo. For instance, we have already described the combination of metallic magnesium with gaseous oxygen to form magnesium oxide, a white powder. A chemical property of magnesium is that it can combine with oxygen, releasing energy in the process. S ee the Saunders Interactive A chemical property of oxygen is that it can combine with magnesium. General Chemistry CD-ROM, All substances also exhibit physical properties that can be observed in the absence of Screen 1.2, Physical Properties of any change in composition.Color, density, hardness, melting point, boiling point, and elec- Matter. trical and thermal conductivities are physical properties. Some physical properties of a 1-3 Chemical and Physical Properties 7 Property Solid Liquid Gas Rigidity Rigid Flows and assumes Fills any container shape of container completely Expansion Slight Slight Expands infinitely on heating Compressibility Slight Slight Easily compressed Figure 1-2 A comparison of some physical properties of the three states of matter. (Left)Iodine, a solid element. (Center)Bromine, a liquid element. (Right)Chlorine, a gaseous element. substance depend on the conditions, such as temperature and pressure, under which they M any compilations of chemical are measured. For instance, water is a solid (ice) at low temperatures but is a liquid at and physical properties of matter can higher temperatures. At still higher temperatures, it is a gas (steam). As water is converted be found on the World Wide Web. One from one state to another, its composition is constant. Its chemical properties change very site is maintained by the U. S. National little. On the other hand, the physical properties of ice, liquid water, and steam are dif- Institute of Standards and Technology ferent (Figure 1-3). (NIST) at http://webbook.nist.gov Properties of matter can be further classified according to whether or not they depend Perhaps you can find other sites. on the amount of substance present. The volume and the mass of a sample depend on, and are directly proportional to, the amount of matter in that sample. Such properties, which depend on the amount of material examined, are called extensive properties. By contrast, the color and the melting point of a substance are the same for a small sample and for a large one. Properties such as these, which are independent of the amount of material examined, are called intensive properties.All chemical properties are intensive properties. 8 CHAPTER 1:The Foundations of Chemistry Figure 1-3 Physical changes that occur among the three states of matter. Sublimationis the conversion of a solid directly to a gas without passing through the liquid state; the reverse of that process is called deposition.The changes shown in blue are endothermic (absorb heat); those shown in red are exothermic (release heat). Water is a substance Gas that is familiar to us in all three physical states. The molecules are close together in the solid and the lmfliiiqqxoeuuldiiedd ci unbal nuepdsto fisgnaiatr is to ahcnpea,a n srbo tfu lliitond wt hta hroaeers oegr ueainnlsa. d ttTi hveeehalceyh Depositionublimation EvaporatCiondensation S o other. n Melting Solid Liquid Freezing (a) (b) (c) (d) Figure 1-4 Some physical and chemical properties of water. Physical:(a) It melts at 0°C; (b) it boils at 100°C (at normal atmospheric pressure); (c) it dissolves a wide range of substances, including copper(II) sulfate, a blue solid. Chemical:(d) It reacts with sodium to form hydrogen gas and a solution of sodium hydroxide. The solution contains a little phenolphthalein, which is pink in the presence of sodium hydroxide. 1-4 Chemical and Physical Changes 9 TABLE 1-1 Physical Properties of a Few Common Substances (at 1 atm pressure) Solubility at 25°C (g/100 g) Melting Boiling In In ethyl Density Substance Point (°C) Point (°C) water alcohol (g/cm3) acetic acid 16.6 118.1 infinite infinite 1.05 benzene 5.5 80.1 0.07 infinite 0.879 bromine (cid:2)7.1 58.8 3.51 infinite 3.12 iron 1530 3000 insoluble insoluble 7.86 methane (cid:2)182.5 (cid:2)161.5 0.0022 0.033 6.67(cid:3)10(cid:2)4 oxygen (cid:2)218.8 (cid:2)183.0 0.0040 0.037 1.33(cid:3)10(cid:2)3 sodium chloride 801 1473 36.5 0.065 2.16 water 0 100 — infinite 1.00 Because no two different substances have identical sets of chemical and physical prop- erties under the same conditions, we are able to identify and distinguish among different substances. For instance, water is the only clear, colorless liquid that freezes at 0°C, boils One atmosphereof pressure is the at 100°C at one atmosphere of pressure, dissolves a wide variety of substances (e.g., average atmospheric pressure at copper(II) sulfate), and reacts violently with sodium (Figure 1-4). Table 1-1 compares sev- sea level. eral physical properties of a few substances. A sample of any of these substances can be distinguished from the others by observing their properties. 1-4 CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CHANGES We described the reaction of magnesium as it burns in the oxygen of the air (see Figure S ee the Saunders Interactive 1-1). This reaction is a chemical change. In any chemical change, (1) one or more sub- General Chemistry CD-ROM, stances are used up (at least partially), (2) one or more new substances are formed, and Screens 1.11, Chemical Change, (3) energy is absorbed or released. As substances undergo chemical changes, they demon- and 1.12, Chemical Change on the strate their chemical properties. A physical change, on the other hand, occurs with no Molecular Scale. change in chemical composition. Physical properties are usually altered significantly as matter undergoes physical changes (Figure 1-3). In addition, a physical change may suggest that a chemical change has also taken place. For instance, a color change, a warming, or the formation of a solid when two solutions are mixed could indicate a chemical change. Energy is always released or absorbed when chemical or physical changes occur. Energy is required to melt ice, and energy is required to boil water. Conversely, the condensa- tion of steam to form liquid water always liberates energy, as does the freezing of liquid 10 CHAPTER 1:The Foundations of Chemistry 1.00 g ice at 0°C 1.00 g liq H O 1.00 g liq H O 1.00 g steam at 0°C 2 at 100°C 2 at 100°C 334 J absorbed 418 J absorbed +2260 J absorbed 334 J released –418 J released –2260 J released Figure 1-5 Changes in energy that accompany some physical changes for water. The energy unit joules (J) is defined in Section 1-13. water to form ice. The changes in energy that accompany these physical changes for wa- ter are shown in Figure 1-5. At a pressure of one atmosphere, ice always melts at the same temperature (0°C), and pure water always boils at the same temperature (100°C). 1-5 MIXTURES, SUBSTANCES, COMPOUNDS, AND ELEMENTS Mixtures are combinations of two or more pure substances in which each substance re- By “composition of a mixture,” we tains its own composition and properties. Almost every sample of matter that we ordi- mean both the identities of the substances present and their relative narily encounter is a mixture. The most easily recognized type of mixture is one in which amounts in the mixture. different portions of the sample have recognizably different properties. Such a mixture, which is not uniform throughout, is called heterogeneous.Examples include mixtures of salt and charcoal (in which two components with different colors can be distinguished readily from each other by sight), foggy air (which includes a suspended mist of water droplets), and vegetable soup. Another kind of mixture has uniform properties through- The blue copper(II) sulfate solution in out; such a mixture is described as a homogeneous mixture and is also called a Figure 1-4c is a homogeneous mixture. solution. Examples include salt water; some alloys, which are homogeneous mixtures of metals in the solid state; and air (free of particulate matter or mists). Air is a mixture of gases. It is mainly nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. There are only trace amounts of other substances in the atmosphere. An important characteristic of all mixtures is that they can have variable composition. (For instance, we can make an infinite number of different mixtures of salt and sugar by varying the relative amounts of the two components used.) Consequently, repeating the same experiment on mixtures from different sources may give different results, whereas the same treatment of a pure sample will always give the same results. When the distinc- tion between homogeneous mixtures and pure substances was realized and methods were developed (in the late 1700s) for separating mixtures and studying pure substances, con- sistent results could be obtained. This resulted in reproducible chemical properties, which formed the basis of real progress in the development of chemical theory. A heterogeneous mixture of two minerals: galena (black) and quartz (white).