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Chapter-01: Some basic concepts of Chemistry

Chemistry is a branch of science which deals with the study of matter, its composition, its
properties and the changes which it undergoes in composition as well as energy during various
processes.

Different branches of chemistry:

I. Inorganic chemistry: This branch deals with study of compounds of all other element
except carbon. These elements are derived from some non living sources such as water,
air, earth, crust etc.

II. Organic chemistry: This branch deals with study of carbon compounds especially
hydrocarbon and their derivatives. Initially it was a myth that such compounds can only
be synthesized by living sources like plants and animals.

III. Physical chemistry: It deals with explanation of fundamental principles governing various
phenomenon.

IV. Biochemistry: It deals with chemical changes going on in the bodies of living organism,
plants and animal.

V. Nuclear chemistry: It deals with study of nuclear reaction such as nuclear fusion, nuclear
fission etc.
Some other branches are Industrial chemistry, Analytical chemistry, geochemistry, medicinal
chemistry etc.

Importance of Chemistry:
1) It has provided chemical fertilizers such as insecticides, pesticides, fungicides,
weedicides.
2) It has helped to protect the crop by the use of insecticides, fungicides and pesticides.
3) It has helped to preserve food e.g. use of preservatives like sodium benzoate.
4) Many life saving drugs like cisplatin and taxol are effective in cancer therapy.
5) AZT (Azidothymidine) used for AIDS victims have been isolated from plants and animals
or may be prepared by synthetic method.
6) Synthetic vitamins and tonics have contributed towards good health.
7) It has led to the production of optical fibers, conducting polymers etc.
8) Refrigerants like CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) which destroy ozone layer have been
replaced by eco-friendly chemicals.
9) Application in the war – TNT (Trinitrotoluene), dynamite, nitroglycerine, phosgene etc.

Matter and its classification:

Matter: Anything that occupies space and has mass is considered as matter.
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Physical classification:

Solid: The state of matter in which constituent particles are closely packed having more
force of attraction and less intermolecular space between them; e.g. Table, wood etc.

Liquid: The state of matter in which constituent particles have grater intermolecular
space and less force of attraction in comparison to solids, They have tendency to flow;
e.g. Mercury (liquid metal), Bromine (liquid non-metal), water etc.

Gas: The constituent particles are far apart having big space between them and
negligible force of attraction. They have tendency to diffuse and can be easily
compressed; e.g. O2, N2 etc.

Plasma: refers to the superheated gaseous state consisting of a mixture of electrons and
positively charge ions with unusual properties .It is found at extremely high temperature
such as interiors of sun or stars or in intense electric field as in discharge tube
.Astronomer reveal that 99% of all matter in the universe is present in plasma state.

BEC (Bose Einstein condensate): refers to super cooled solid in which atoms lose their
individual identity .In fact they get condensed and behave like a single super atom .The
study of the phenomenon was based upon Bose Einstein Condensation concept .s

Chemical classification:

Pure substance: They have fixed compositions and cannot be separated into simpler
constituents by physical method.
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Element: It may be defined as a pure substance which can neither be decomposed nor
can be synthesized from simpler substances by ordinary physical or chemical method;
e.g. H2, N2, etc.

Compounds: It may be defined as the substance obtained by the chemical combination

of two or more elements in a definite proportion by mass and can be decomposed by
chemical means into its constituent elements e.g H2O.

Metals: Metals are those solid (except mercury) elements which possess a characteristic
lustre, malleability, ductility and are good conductor of heat and electricity. They are
electropositive elements; e.g. iron, copper, silver, gold etc.

Non-metals: These elements do not possess shine and are generally brittle. They are
either poor conductor or non-conductor of heat and electricity; e.g. O 2, N2 etc.
Exceptions: Iodine is lustrous non-metal, bromine is liquid non-metal, and graphite is good
conductor of electricity.

Metalloids: The elements which possess characteristic of both metals and non-metals
are called metalloids; e.g. germanium, arsenic etc.

Physical Quantity and SI unit: A major physical quantity is comprises of 2 parts- a numerical
coefficient and unit. Suppose length of a paper is 12.6 cm; then ‘12.6’ is numeric value and ‘cm’
is unit.
A unit may be defined as the standard reference taken to measure any physical quantity. There
are 7 basic SI units.

Sl. No Physical Quantity Abbreviation Name of unit Symbol of unit

1 Length L Metre M
2 mass M Kilogram Kg
3 Time t Second S
4 Electric current I Ampere A
5 Temperature T Kelvin K
6 Luminous Intensity Iv candela Cd
7 Amount of substance n Mole Mol

Derived units: These units are obtained by combination of basic units; e.g. m2 is unit of area.
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Precision: Precision refers to closeness of various measurements for the same quantity.
Accuracy: It is the agreement of a particular value to the true value of the result.
Significant figures: In the measured value of a physical quantity, the digits about the
correctness of which we are surplus (sure), the last digit which is doubtful are called significant
figure. No. of significant figures in a quantity depends upon the least count of instrument used
for its measurement.

Rules of counting significant figures:

 All non-zero digits are significant.e.g.234 cm has 3 significant figures.

 All zeroes occurring between two non-zero digits are significant; e.g. 1007 (4 significant)
 If a number is less than 1, all zeroes to the right of decimal point and left of non-zero
digit are non-significant; e.g. 0.0084 (2 significant)
 All zeroes of the right of last non-zero digit in decimal are significant; e.g. 0.00800 (3
significant)
 All zeroes on the right of non-zero digit are non-significant; e.g. 1000 (1 significant)
 All zeros on the right of the last non-zero digit become significant when they come for a
measurement; e.g. 1000 m (4)

Rounding off rules:

 If a digit to be dropped less than 5, then the preceding digit is left unchanged;
e.g. 7.82  7.8
 If a digit to be dropped more than 5, then the preceding digit is raised by 1;
e.g. 6.87  6.9
 If a digit to be dropped is 5 followed by digit other then 0, preceding digit is raised by 1;
e.g. 16.351  16.4
 If the digit to be dropped is 5 or 5 followed by zero, then preceding digit is left unchanged
if it is even while raised by 1 if it is odd;
e.g. 3.250  3.2 , 3.750  3.8

Calculation involving addition and subtraction: In addition and subtraction, final result should be
reported to same no. of decimal place as the no. with minimum no. of decimal place;
e.g. 35.52 + 10.3 = 45.82 = 45.8
40.113 + 20.210 = 60.323 = 60.32

Calculation involving multiplication and division: In multiplication and division, final result should
be reported as having same no. of significant digits as the number with least no. of significant
digits;
e.g. 6.26 x 5.8 =36.308 = 36
0.90 / 4.26 = 0.21 = 0.21

Dimensional Analysis: In this technique, units to express different physical quantities involving in
the same calculation are analyzed to check whether these quantities are put into calculations
properly or not. Dimensional analysis can be used to check correctness of any equation.
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Units of length:

1 feet = 12 inches 1 inch = 2.54 cm 1 Angstrom(A0) = 10-10m

1 yard = 3 feet 1 m = 39.37 inch 1 nanometer(nm) = 10-9 m
1 mile = 5280 feet 1 mile = 1.609 km 1 picometer(pm) = 10-12m
Units of volume and weight :

1 m3 = 1000 l 1 dm3 = 1 l 1 Kg = 106 mg

1 cm3 = 10-3 l 1 Kg = 1000 g 1 metric ton = 1000 Kg

Law of chemical combination:

1. Law of conservation of mass: Given by Lavoisier and verified by Landolt According to this
law matters can neither be created nor destroyed.

2. Law of constant / definite proportion: The law (given by Joseph Proust) says that the
compound always contain exactly the same proportion of elements by weight.
OR
According to this law, a pure compound always contain same element together in the
fixed ratio of their weights whatever is the method of preparation maybe.
e.g. CO2 can be prepared by either of the following methods
a. by heating CaCO3:

b. by heating Sodium bicarbonate:

3. Law of multiple proportion: According to this law (given by Dalton, verified by Berzelius),
when two elements A and B combine to form more than one chemical compound, then
different weights of A which combine with fix weight of B are in proportion of simple
whole number.
For example- When oxygen combine with a 12 g of carbon to form CO and CO 2, oxygen
are in1:2 ratios.

4. Avogadro’s Law: (given by Avogadro for gases only), under identical conditions of
temperature and pressure, equal volume of all the gases contain equal no. of molecules.

5. Gay Lussac’s Law: (given by Gay Lussac for gases only), When gases combine they do
so in volumes which bear a simple ratio to each other and also to the products formed
provided all gases are measured under similar condition.
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Dalton’s Atomic Theory:

1. Each element is composed of extremely small particles called atoms, which can be take
part in chemical combination.
2. All atoms of a given element ate identical i.e. atoms of particular element are all alike but
differ from atoms of other elements.
3. Atoms of different elements possess different properties.
4. Atom is indestructible (not destroyed) i.e. Atom can neither created nor destroyed in a
chemical reaction.
5. Atoms of elements combine to form molecule.

Atomic Mass: It is the average relative mass of atom of element as compare with an atom of
Carbon (C-12 isotope)

Now a day’s ‘amu’ is replaced by ‘u’ known as unified mass.

Gram Atomic Mass (GAM) 1gram atom: Gram Atomic mass (GAM) or 1 gram atom is quantity of
an element, whose mass is gram is numerically equal to the atomic mass of element.

Molecular Mass: It is defined as the sum of atomic masses of all the elements in a molecule;
e.g. molecular mass of CH4 is 16 u.

Average Atomic Mass: Atoms of the same element which have different relative masses are
called isotopes. In such cases atomic mass of the element is average of relative masses of
different isotopes of the element. For example- Chlorine contain 2 isotopes with relative atomic
masses 35 u and 37 u, their relative isotopes abundance is in 3 : 1. Hence,

Formula Mass: In case of ionic compound, formula of compound does not represent a molecule
but only simplest ratio of different ions in the compound. This is called formula unit of ionic
compound. Hence, we use term formula mass instead of molecular mass;
e.g. formula mass of NaCl
= 23 + 35.5
= 58.5 u
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%age composition of a compound:

Definition: Percentage composition of a compound is the relative mass of each of

constituent element in 100 parts of it;

e.g. calculate the percentage of Hydrogen & Oxygen s in H2O

Mole Concept: Mole can be defined as amount of substance that contain as many specified
elementary entities (particles) as no. of atoms in 12 gm of C-12 isotope.

1 mole = 6.022 x 1023 particles

Note:
1. 1 mole of oxygen atom has 6.022 x 1023 atoms.
2. 1 mole of oxygen molecule has 6.022 x 1023 molecules.
3. 1 mole of chloride ion has 6.022 x 1023 ions.
4. 1 mole of oxygen atom weighs 16 gm.
5. 1 mole of oxygen molecule weighs 32 gm.
6. 1 mole of ammonia molecule weighs 17 gm.

Avogadro number (NA): The no. of atoms present in 12 gm of C-12 isotope is called Avogadro
no or Avogadro constant.
NOTE: number of carbon atom in 1 mole
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Note:
1. 1 mole molecules of all gases occupy 22.4 litres of volume at 273K and 1atm. (S.T.P)
2. 1 mole of gas at S.T.P conditions (273.15K, 1 bar) occupies a volue of 22.7 Litres.

Where Vm = molar volume of gas at S.T.P

V = Total volume of gas
m = moles of gas

Molecular Formula: Formula which gives actual no. of atoms of various elements present in a
molecule of a compound is called Molecular Formula;
For example- Molecular formula of glucose = C6 H12 O6

Empirical Formula: Formula which gives simple whole numeric ratio of atoms of various
elements present in molecules of compound is called empirical formula.
For example- Empirical formula of glucose = C H2 O = 1 : 2 : 1

Empirical Formula Mass: It is sum of atomic masses of all the atoms in empirical formula of the
substance.

Stichiometric calculation involving chemical equation:

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Limiting reagent: The reagent which is totally consumed during the reaction is called Limiting
Reagent.
Solution: A homogenous mixture of two or more substances whose composition may be altered
within a certain limit is called solution
olution.. The component present in excess and whose physical
state is the same as that of solution is known as solvent.. The other component present in
smaller amounts is termed as solute
olute.
Methods of expressing concentration of solution:
Mass percentage method

It is defined as the mass of solute (in gm) dissolved per 100 gm of solution.
Parts per million and
d parts per billion: This method is used when solute is present in traces or
less amount.

Molarity (M): It is the number of moles of solute dissolved in 1 Ltr. solution at a particular
temperature. Its unit is mol/L.

* Note:
1 I Ltr 1000 ml

2 I Ltr. 1 dm³

3 1 M of sugar One mole of sugar or 342gm of sugar is dissolved in ILtr. of

solution means solution.

4 semi Molar M/2

5 Molar 1M

6 deci Molar M/10

7 centi Molar M/100

8 milli Molar M/1000

9 Bi-Molar 2M
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** Note: Molarity involves volume which is temperature dependent, hence Molarity of solution
change with temperature.

*** Note:

Molality (m): It is the number of moles of solute dissolved in 1 Kg of solvent. Since mass is
independent of temperature. Hence Molality of a solution does not change with temperature.
Its unit is mol/Kg or m.

Note:
1. Molality of a solution is temperature independent as it involves weight (temperature independent)
2. We prefer molality over molarity for calculation because molality is temperature independent

Mole Fraction (✘): The mole fraction of a particular component in a solution is the ratio of no. of
moles of that component to the total no. of moles of the entire component present in the
solution.
It is dimensionless, unit less and temperature independen
independent.

For binary solution

ution made up of two component A & B