JimsBasicChemistryNotes

Elementasubstancewhichcannotbebrokendownintoanythingsimpler.
Atomthesmallestpartofanelementthatcantakepartinachemicalreaction.
Compoundtwoormoreelementschemicallycombined.
Mixtureasubstanceconsistingoftwoormoresubstancesmixedtogether(notinfixedproportionsandnot
chemicallybonded)
Mixture
Consistsoftwoormoresubstances
Behavesliketheseparatesubstancesmakingitup
Hasvariablecomposition
Canbeeasilyseparatedbyphysicalmeans

Compound
Consistsofasinglesubstance
Behavesassomethingnew
Hasfixedcomposition
Canbeseparatedonlybyachemicalreaction

Acids,BasesandSalts
Anacidisasubstancethatcontainshydrogenwhichmaybereplaced,completelyorinpart,byametaltoforma
salt.
Abaseistheoxideorhydroxideofametalorammoniumwhichreactswithanacidtoformasaltandwateronly.
Asaltisthesubstanceformedwhenall,orpartof,thehydrogenofanacidisreplacedametal.
Anormalsaltisformedwhenallofthehydrogenofanacidhasbeenreplacedbyametal(sodiumsulfate
Na2SO4isanormalsaltasbothhydrogensinsulfuricacidhavebeenreplacedbysodium).
Anacidsaltisformedwhenonlypartofthehydrogenofanacidhasbeenreplacedbyametal(sodiumhydrogen
sulfateNaHSO4hereonlyoneofthetwohydrogensinsulfuricacidhasbeenreplacedbyametal).
ThreeMethodsofSaltFormation
1)Acid+MetalSalt+Hydrogen
eg.H2SO4+MgMgSO4+H2
sulfuricacid+magnesiummagnesiumsulfate+hydrogen
2)Acid+BaseSalt+Wateronly
eg.H2SO4+CuOCuSO4+H2O
sulfuricacid+copperoxidecoppersulfate+water
3)Acid+CarbonateSalt+Water+CarbonDioxide
eg.H2SO4+CuCO3CuSO4+H2O+CO2
sulfuricacid+coppercarbonatecoppersulfate+water+carbondioxide
Abasethatissolubleinwateriscalledanalkali.Commonalkalisaresodiumhydroxide(NaOH),potassium
hydroxide(KOH)andammoniumhydroxide(NH4OH).
AcidsandpH
Thethreecommonmineralacidsare:
hydrochloricacidHClmonobasic(monoprotic)acidashasonereplaceableH
nitricacidHNO3monobasic(monoprotic)acidashasonereplaceableH
sulfuricacidH2SO4dibasic(diprotic)acidhastworeplaceableHs.
TheacidradicalisthepartoftheacidleftoncethereplaceableH/Hshas/havebeenremoved.Thevalencyofthe
acidradicalisthesameasthereplaceableHsintheacid.Thisinformation,togetherwithsaltsformedfrom
theseacids,isgiveninthetablebelow.
1

Acid
HydrochloricacidHCl
NitricacidHNO3
SulfuricacidH2SO4

AcidRadical
Cl
NO3
SO42

Valencyofacidradical
1
1
2

Saltformed
chloride
nitrate
sulfate

Metaloxidesandhydroxidesarebasiceg.CuO,NaOH
Nonmetaloxidesareacidiceg.sulfurdioxideSO2
ThepHscalegivesameasureofthestrengthofanacidasmeasuredbyitshydrogenionconcentration.ThepH
scalegiveninGCSEbooksusuallygoesfrom0to14butpHvaluescanbenegativeandabove14.ThepHscale
usuallygiven,togetherwithacid/alkalistrengthsisgivenbelow.
AcidsolutionsAlkalinesolutions
pH01234567891011121314
strongacidweakacidweakalkalistrongalkali

AneasywaytorememberwhichhaspHnumbersbelowandabove7is:acidcomesbeforealkaliinthe
dictionarysoacidshavepHnumber07,ie.comefirstonthepHscaleabove.
StrengthandConcentrationofAcids
Thestrengthofanacidmustnotbeconfusedwithitsconcentration.Thestrengthofanacid,asstatedabove,
givesameasureofitshydrogenionconcentration.
Theconcentrationofanacid,asmeasuredbyitsmolarity,givesameasureofhowmuchwaterhasbeenadded.
Agoodwaytodemonstratethisdistinctionbetweenstrengthandconcentrationisasfollows.
Addapieceofmagnesiumribbontodilutesulfuricacid(2M)inaboilingtubethereisavigorousreaction.
Thenaddapieceofmagnesiumribbontoconcentratedsulfuricacidinaboilingtube(18M)thereishardlyany
reaction.
WhendilutinganacidIknowitshouldbedoneinalphabeticalorder,ie.acidtowater,butifwateristhenadded
slowlyandverycarefully,wearinggogglesandusingasafetyscreen,totheconcentratedsulfuricacidtube,the
magnesiumribboncanbeenseentoreactmorevigorouslyastheacidisdiluted.
Explanationtheconcentratedsulfuricacidiscovalent,henceno/notmanyhydrogenions.Upondilutionthe
concentratedaciddissociatestoreleasehydrogenionsandsomakingitstronger.

TheActivitySeriesandMetalExtraction
Theactivityseriesis:
PotassiumK
SodiumNa
CalciumCaextractedbyelectrolysis
MagnesiumMg
AluminiumAl
ZincZn
IronFe
TinSn
LeadPb
HydrogenHextractedbycarbonreductioninBlastFurnace
CopperCu
SilverAg
GoldAu
Themorereactiveametal,thegreateritstendencytoreactandformcompounds.Thecompoundsformedfrom
reactivemetalsaremorestablethanthoseformedfromlessreactivemetals.Thecompoundsfrommore
reactivemetalsthusrequiremoreenergytobreakthemdowntoreleasethemetal.
Considerthediagrambelow.

PotassiumIron
1

slope1slope2

PotassiumOreIronOre
Likenpotassiumtoboulder1andirontoboulder2.Boulder1willrolldowntheslope1fasterthanboulder2
willrolldownslope2justaspotassiumwillreacttoformitscompoundororefasterormorevigorouslythaniron
willreacttoformitscompoundorore.
Onceboulder1isatthebottomofslope1itwilltakemoreenergytopushitbackuptothetopofslope1thanit
willtopushboulder2backupslope2.Similarly,itwilltakemoreenergytoextractpotassiumfromitsorethanit
willtoextractironfromitsore.
Thereasonforputtinghydrogeninthereis:metalsabovehydrogenwillreleaseitfromanacidbutmetalsbelow
hydrogenwillnotreleaseitfromanacid.
ValencyandFormulae
Thevalencyofanatomisthenumberofelectronsthatatomhastoloseorgaintoachieveafulloutershell.
Considerperiod3below.
Blackindicateselectronslostbymetals;redindicateselectronsgainedbynonmetals.


Group
Element
Electronsgainedorlost
Valency

1
2
Na Mg
1
2
1
2

3
Al
3
3

4
Si

5
P
3
3

6
S
2
2

7
Cl
1
1

0
Ar
0
0

Tofindtheformulaofacompound,eg.aluminiumsulfide,formedbythecombinationofaluminiumandsulfur,
carryoutthefollowingsteps.
1)WritedownthesymbolofeachelementAlS
32
2)PutthevalencyofeachelementaboveitssymbolAlS
3)SwapthevalenciesoverasshownbythearrowstogiveAl2S3
Theformulaofsodiumsulfateisworkedoutas(followingthe3stepsabove):
1)NaSO4

12
2)NaSO4
3)Na2SO4
Theformulaofmagnesiumnitrateis:
1)MgNO3
21

2)MgNO3
3)Mg(NO3)2

Ihopeyouhavefoundthesenotesuseful.Shouldyourequirenotesonothertopicsjustemailmeat
mail@jimbakersonlinelearning.co.uk.

IshouldliketowishyoualltheverybestinyourChemistryteaching,andremember,aprerequisitetoquality
learningisacommandofthesubjectmatterbytheteacher.

JimBaker17122011

Jim
Baker

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Date: 2011.12.17
21:31:35 Z