Page 1

States of Matter
Date: 26/8/2020
Page: 3-5

States of Matter
There are three states of matter: Solid, Liquid and Gas (solution kind of).
The arrangement of the particles
Think about these things:
• You can’t walk through a solid, but you can move through a liquid (with resistance). You can
easily move through air.
• When you melt most solids their volume increases a bit. Most liquids are less dense than the solid
they form.
• If you boil 5 cm3 of water, the steam can fill an average bucket.
The arrangement of particles in these forms explains these facts (Diagram P 4).
In a solid the particles are usually regularly packed and packed closely together. The particles are
only able to vibrate - they can’t move around, due to the strong forces binding the particles together.
In a liquid the particles are loosely touching but there are gaps, making them less dense than solids.
The forces of attraction are less effective making room for movement. The particles are arranged
randomly.
The particles in gas are constantly moving randomly at a high speed. There are almost no forces of
attraction between gas particles making them very spread out.
Interconversions between the three states of matter
Changing state between Liquid and Solid
If you heat a solid, the energy from the heat makes the particles vibrate faster and faster. They’ll
eventually vibrate so fast the forces of attraction can’t hold them together anymore, making space
for movement - the solid becomes a liquid.
The temperature from which a solid becomes a liquid is called the melting point (mpt)
(Diagram P 4).
If the liquid is cooled again, the movement will slow down and eventually the forces of attraction
will hold them in a fixed position again. The liquid freezes - it becomes solid. The temperature this
happens at is called the freezing point.
The melting point and freezing point of a substance are exactly the same. For example, if a
substance starts melting at 0°C, that substance will also start freezing below 0°C.
Changing state between Liquid and Gas
There are two ways this can happen: Boiling and Evaporating.
- Boiling
(Diagram of Boiling P 5)
Page 2

States of Matter
Date: 26/8/2020
Page: 5-7
- Boiling
Boiling occurs, when a liquid is heated to such a temp, that all the particles are able to overcome
nearly all forces of attraction. The stronger the forces of attraction the higher the boiling point.
If a gas is cooled the movement of the particles will slow, until eventually the forces of attraction
bind them together into a liquid again. The gas condenses.
- Evaporation
In any liquid or gas, the average speed of the particles depends on the temperature. However, some
particles will move faster than other. Some of the very fast ones have enough energy to escape the
forces of attraction - they break away to form gas. This is evaporation.
Evaporation can happen at any temperature but only happens at the surface. Condensation can also
happen like this but it’s for the opposite reason.
Changing between Solid and Gas: Sublimation
(Diagram of Sublimation P 5)
A few substances can change directly from Solid to Gas / Gas to Solid at normal pressure without
becoming a liquid in the process.
Solid to gas is known as sublimation, gas to solid is known as deposition (names can vary).
A substance that sublimes is carbon dioxide. At normal pressure, liquid carbon dioxide doesn’t
exist. Carbon dioxide directly becomes a solid (dry ice) at -78.5°C.
Working out the physical state of a substance at a particular temp
A substance is a solid below its’ melting point and so on. Using these points we can figure out
whether they are solid, liquid or gas at room temperature (some melting & boiling point shown P 6).
Diffusion
Diffusion in gases
If somebody farts during class, after about a minute everybody will be able to smell it, which isn’t a
surprise. What is a surprise is why it takes so long.
At room temperature, ammonia travels at 600 m/s, so it should be able to travel to all ends of the
room in about 0.01 seconds. This would be the case if the room didn’t have any other particles. The
reason it takes about a second is because the ammonia particle bumps around other air molecules
during it’s travel around the room.
By the time it has reached you it can have travelled 30 km.
The spreading out of particles is called diffusion. The ammonia particle diffuses through the room.
Formal definition: “Diffusion is the spreading out of particles from where they are at a high
concentration to a low concentration, down a concentration gradient, spreading so the amount is
equal throughout the space” (Diagram of this P 7).
You can show diffusion using the apparatus on P 7.
Page 3

States of Matter
Date: 26/8/2020
Page: 7-8

Diffusion in gases
The lower part is filled with bromine gas and the upper half is filled with air. If the lids are removed
the gases will mix and form a light brown colour uniformly throughout the jars.
Showing that particles of different gases travel at different speeds
This experiment relies on the reaction between ammonia (NH3) and hydrogen chloride (HCl) gases
to give a white solid ammonium chloride (NH4Cl).
Equation: NH3(g) + HCl(g) → NH4Cl(s)
(Diagram of experiment P 7)
Pieces of cotton wool are soaked in concentrated ammonia solution and hydrochloric acid. These
are placed at the ends of a long glass tube which gets sealed.
The particles diffuse along the tube and a white ring forms where they meet (the white ring is
NH4Cl gas which will take a little time to appear). You’ll see that the ring forms closer to the
hydrochloric acid end.
Ammonia particles weigh less than hydrogen chloride particles, which mean they travel faster.
(The Ar of ammonia is 17 and the Ar of hydrogen chloride is 36.5, Ar is the symbol for relative atom
mass, which comes later).
Diffusion of liquids
Diffusion through a liquid is very slow if the liquid is still. If a small jar of potassium
manganate(VII) solution is placed in still water, it can take days for the colour to diffuse throughout
all the water. This is because the particles in a liquid move much slower than in a gas.
The dilution of coloured solutions
Imagine dissolving 0.01 g of potassium manganate(VII) in 1 cm3 of water to make a deep purple
solution. If we assume that 1 drop equals: 0.05 cm3 we can work out that there is 20 drops in 1 cm3
of water. Each drop will contain 0.0005 g of potassium manganate(VII).
If the solution is diluted by adding water until there’s 10.000 cm3 of water, you’d still be able to see
the purple.
There are now 200.000 drops of water in the solution. In order to see the purple, there must be at
least one purple particle in each drop, meaning there must be at least 200.000 particles of potassium
manganate(VII) in 0.01 g. This also means the particles can’t weigh more than 0.00000005 g each.
This answer is not even close to the real answer, which is 0.00000000000000000000026 g per
particle.
The Solubility of Solids
Solutes, solvents and solutions
When a solid dissolves in a liquid: The thing that dissolves is called a solute, the liquid that
dissolves it is called a solvent & the liquid formed is called a solution.
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States of Matter
Date: 26/8/2020
Page: 8-10

Solutes, solvents and solutions

When you make a solution, the strong attractive forces in the solute are being broken. New
attractive forces are also being made with the solvent. Whether something is soluble in a solvent
depends on whether the new attractive forces are stronger or weaker than the old ones.
Only a certain amount of solute will fit in a certain amount of solvent at a particular temperature.
When the maximum amount of dissolved solute is reached, the solution is said to be saturated.
Measuring solubility
The solubility of a solid in a solvent at a particular temperature is usually defined as:
‘The mass of solute which must dissolve in 100 g of solvent at that temperature to form a saturated
solution’
In simpler terms: ‘The maximum amount of solute that dissolves in 100g of solvent at certain temp’.
For example, the solubility of NaCl in water at 25°C is about 36 g per 100 g of water.
Pratical: Investigating the solubility of a solid in water
A procedure to measure the solubility of KNO3 in water at 40°C goes as follows:
1. Weigh an evaporating basin
2. Heat a boiling tube of water to just above 40°C
3. Add KNO3 to the water in the boiling tube and stir fast until there’s excess
4. Allow the solution to cool to 40°C exactly
5. Pour some of the solution (no solid allowed) into the evaporating basing.
6. Weigh the evaporating basin with contents
7. Heat the evaporating basin gently to evaporate the water
8. When it looks all the water has evaporated weigh the basin again
9. Repeat this once or twice for consistency
(Diagram of procedure P 9)
The solution is heated gently so none of the contents spill out.
The results for the experiment could look like:

Mass of evaporating basin (g) 25,72

Mass of evaporating basin + solution (g) 58

Mass of evaporating basin + dry crystals (g) 38

We need to calculate the mass of the solid and also the mass of water evaporated from the solution:
Mass of crystals = 38 - 25,72 = 12,28 g
Mass of water = 58 - 38 = 20 g
Page 5

States of Matter
Date: 26/8/2020
Page: 10-12

Practical: Investigating the solubility of a solid in water

Meaning that 12.28 g of KNO3 is the maximum max that will dissolve in 20 g of water at 40°C.
The equation used: Solubility = Mass of solute / Mass of solvent x 100
Solubility curves
The solubility of solids change with the temperature and this can be plotted on a solubility curve.
Most solids have solubility curves that go up with the temperature (Diagram P 10).
You can use solubility curves to work out what mass of crystals you would get if you cooled a
saturated solution (Example P 10 - 12).
Page 6

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

Date: 26/8/2020
Page: 14-16

Elements
Elements are something that can’t be split into anything simpler by chemical means. Elements
contain only one type of atom (Examples P 14). There are 118 elements in the Periodic Table.
Compounds
Compounds are when two or more elements chemically combine. The elements always combine in
fixed proportions. For example, hydrogen and fluorine will always combine to for hydrogen
fluoride (HF) etc. (Examples p 15).
Mixtures
In a mixtures, various substances are mixed tighter but there is no chemical reaction. Mixtures can
be made from elements and/or compounds. For example, sugar in coffee.
Simple differences between mixtures and compounds
Proportions
In water (a compound), every single water molecule is made up of one oxygen and two hydrogen,
this will never vary.
In a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen the proportion can and will vary.
Properties
In a mixture, each element keeps its’ own properties but this isn’t true for compounds. The
properties of compounds depends on the compounds and the elements making up the compound.
A mixture of hydrogen and oxygen explodes when set on fire, however water just puts the flame
out.
Ease of separation
Mixtures can be separated by physical means, i.e. everything that doesn’t involve chemical
reactions such as changing the temperature or dissolving something.
You can separate a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen by cooling it down to oxygens to -183°C
making liquid oxygen and gas hydrogen. To separate water you’d have to do it by electrolysis.
Melting point and boiling point
Pure substances, such as pure elements or compounds, melt and boil at fixed temperatures, whereas
mixtures usually boil or melt over a range of temperatures.
Impurities lower the melting point and increase the boiling point of substances. For example, NaCl
dissolved in water’s melting point is about -0.6°C and raises the boiling point to 100.2°C. This can
be used to tell whether or not a substance is pure or not.
Page 7

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

Date: 26/8/2020
Page: 16-19

Separation of Mixtures
Filtration
Filtration is good to separate solids from liquids. For example, sand can easily be separated from
water by filtration.
The sand left in the paper on the diagram is called residue. The liquid that went through is called the
filtrate (Diagram P 17).
Crystallisation
Crystallisation can be used to separate a solute from a solution. For example, to separate NaCl from
NaCl solution. The solution is heated in an evaporating basin to boil off water making an almost
saturated solution. This can be tested by dipping a glass rod into the solution to see if crystals form.
The bunsen burner is removed to allow crystals to form as the water to evaporates. The crystals are
then removed by filtration (Diagram P 17).
Making pure salt from rock salt
Filtration and crystallisation is used to obtain pure salt from rock salt.
Rock salt has a lot of impurities like dirt and such. If the rock salt is crushed and placed in water,
the salt will dissolve and you can filter off the impurities. The solid salt can the be obtained by
crystallisation.
Simple distillation
Simple distillation can be used to separate the components of a solution. If crystillisation gives you
the solid, distillation gives you the liquid.
The water boils and goes to a condensing tube, where you can collect the liquid water. The salt is
then left in the flask (Diagram P 18)
Fractional distillation
Fractional distillation is used to separate two liquids, such as ethanol and water.
As ethanol has a lower boiling point than water, it will boil quicker (Diagram P 18).
Paper chromatography
This can be used to separate a variety of mixtures (at this level only food colouring or ink).
It can also be used to separate sugars, however you’d need to find a way to make them visible.
Page 8

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

Date: 26/8/2020
Page: 19-21

Practical: Investigating the composition of dye with paper chromatography

Carry out the following steps:
1. Draw a line 1 cm above the bottom of the chromatography paper with pencil
2. Put a spot of ink on the pencil line and allow it to dry
3. Put the paper in a beaker that contains a small amount of solvent, so that the bottom part of the
paper touches the solvent. The solvent should be below the pencil line
4. Put a glass lid on the beaker to the atmosphere inside becomes saturated with solvent to stop
evaporation
5. When the solvent is 1 cm away from the top of the paper, take the paper out and mark where the
solvent stopped with pencil, the line is called the solvent front
6. Let all the solvent evaporate
The solvent you use depends on what substances are in the mixture. The best solvent is found by
trial and error.
The dyes that make up the mixture will be different in two important ways:
1. How well it sticks to the paper (its’ affinity)
2. How soluble it is in the solvent
(Diagram of Paper Chromatography P 20)
You can see that spot C has hardly moved, which means that it either has a strong affinity to the
paper or is very soluble. The patterns achieved are called chromatograms.
The dye is made up of minimum 3 different dyes as there could be more dyes in one spot. This can
only be confirmed by repeating with another solvent.
Using Paper Chromatography in analysis
You can use to find out how many dyes there are in a dye and what they are. Let’s say you suspect a
dye contains d1, d2, d3 & d4 you can use it to confirm.
Take a larger sheet of paper and draw your pencil line. Put a dot of your suspected ink and put dots
of all the dyes you suspect next to (Diagram of how to do it P 20).
The ink (m) has spots that align with d1, d3 & d4. They have the same colour and have travelled the
same distance. D2 has the same colour and a dye from the ink but doesn’t have any other
similarities, so it can’t be in the ink.
Instead of saying the spots distance it’s called the spot’s retardation factor (Rf). Each time a
chromatography experiment is done the solvent will move different distances. This means that the
distance moved is useless, so you have to calculate a ratio instead.
Rf = Distance moved by spot (from pencil line) / Distance from pencil line to solvent front
For the d3 in the example: Rf = 2.9 cm / 3.6 = 0.81. Then you do the same for the rest and compare.
Page 9

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

Date: 27/8/2020
Page: 21

Using Paper Chromatography in analysis

An Rf value must be between 0 - 1. If it’s bigger than 1 then you divided your numbers the wrong
way. It also has no units.
You have to specify the paper and solvent used when talking about your Rf. Keep that in mind if
you don’t put all the samples / dots on the same piece of paper.
Page 10

Atomic Structure
Date: 27/8/2020
Page: 24-26

The smallest piece of an element that can still be recognised as that element is an atom - For
example, if you continuously spilt a piece of iron, you’d eventually end up with a single iron atom,
which you’d still call iron. If you split it again, it wouldn’t be iron.
Atoms and Molecules
Two or more atoms can be joined together by covalent bonds to form molecules (the atoms can
come from the same or different elements. For example: H2 is a molecule but H2O is also a
molecule).
The Structure of The Atom
Atoms are made up of protons, neutrons and electrons (sub-atomic particles) (Diagram of He P 25).
The relative masses and charges of protons, neutrons and electrons:

Particle Relative mass Relative charge

Proton 1 (+1)

Neutron 1 0

Electron 1/1836 (-1)

The mass and charge are measured as a relative as it’d be bothersome to write the long numbers.
Atomic number and Mass number
The number or protons in an atom is called the atomic number (which also defines what element it
is). It also referred to as the proton number. If an atom has 3 protons then it’s always Lithium:
atomic number = number of protons
The mass number (also called nucleon number) counts the amount of sub-atomic particles in the
nucleus.
mass number = # protons + # neutrons
(Example of how it’s shown P 26)
Isotopes
Isotope - same amount of protons and electrons, different number of neutrons (Example P 26).
The number neutrons will not affect how an atom will react as electrons control this.
Relative Atomic Mass
Depending on your Periodic Table, it will say that the mass number of Chlorine is 35.5 but how can
you have half a neutron?
The number shown is actually the relative atomic mass (Ar). The Ar of an atom: “the weighted
average mass of an atom using the amount of each isotope in a naturally occurring sample of an
element”.
Page 11

Atomic Structure
Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 26-28

Relative Atomic Mass

You calculate the Ar of an element by using the isotopic abundances to calculate the mean mass of
an atom. An example of this:
A naturally occurring sample of boron contain 20% B-10 and 80% B-11,
If we assume that there were 100 atoms in the sample, we can work out that 20 atoms have the mass
of 10 and 80 of them have the mass of 11, so:
(20 × 10) + (80 × 11)
100
=
10.8
Ar of boron: 10.8
Formula to find Ar:
(percentage of sample × mass of isotope) + (percentage of sample × mass of isotope) etc.
100
The Electrons
Counting the number of electrons in an atom
Atoms are electrically neutral (they have no charge), which means they have the same number of
electrons as protons. The atomic number is defined as the number of protons as the number of
electrons can change in chemical reactions (ions and stuff).
Page 12

The Periodic Table

Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 30-32

The Periodic Table

(Diagrams of 2 Periodic Tables P 30 & 31)
The elements in the Periodic Table are arranged in the order of increasing atomic number. The
bigger number written inside an element is always the mass number (or the Ar).
The vertical columns in the table are called Groups. The first seven Groups are numbered 1-7,
whereas the last Group is called Group 0 (or 8). The elements labelled with orange are called the
transition metals and are skipped when counting Groups (at this level).
Some of the Groups can have other names - Group 1 is also called ‘the alkali metals’.
The horizontal rows are called the periods.
The Arrangement of Electrons in an Atom
The electrons move around the nucleus in a series of energy shells / levels. Each shell can only hold
a certain amount of electrons, for example, the first shell can only hold 2. Lower shells will always
be filled first.
The second shell can only hold 8 electrons. The first 20 elements’ third shell can only hold 8
electrons.
(Sort of diagram of energy shells P 31)
How to work out the arrangement of electrons in an atom
The arrangement of electrons in an atom is called the electronic configuration.
Example on how to find the electronic configuration of an element:
Phosphorus is number 15 in the Periodic Table, meaning it has 15 electrons.
We know:
we have to fill the lower shells first
the first shell can have 2 electrons
the second shell can have 8 electrons
the third shell can have 8 electrons, so
The first shell will have 2 electrons, the seconds shell will have 8 electrons and the third shell will
have 5 electrons. The configuration is written like this: 2,8,5 (remember to check if it adds up).
Drawing diagrams of electronic configurations
(Diagrams of electronic configurations P 32 & 33)
Circles are usually draw to represent shells. Dots or crosses are used to show electrons. Electrons
should be drawn as pairs.
Page 13

The Periodic Table

Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 32-35

Electronic configurations and the Periodic Table

(Electronic configurations of the first 20 elements are shown P 33)
Important facts:
• Elements in the same Group on the Periodic Table have the same number of outer shell electrons
• The number of outer shell electrons is the same as the Group number for elements in Group 1-7
• The period number is the number of occupied shells
(Written examples P 33)
Elements in the same Group in the Periodic Table have similar chemical properties
- Meaning they react the similarly. For example:
• All elements from Group 1 react vigorously with water to form hydrogen and hydroxides.
• All elements from Group 7 react with hydrogen to form compounds with similar formulae
• All elements from Group 2 react with chlorine to form compounds with similar formulae
How atoms react with each other depend on the outer shell electrons, which are the ones bonding
and reacting.
The Nobles Gases
The Group 0 elements are also called the noble gases because they’re nearly completely inert, as
they all already have desirable 8 electrons in the outer shell (apart from He, which has 2).
(In actuality only He and Ne have full outer shells, as the third shell after Ar can have 18 electrons).
Metals and Non-metals on the Periodic Table
The metal are on the left side of the Periodic Table leaving the non-metals on the right side
(Diagram of the division P 35).
(Hydrogen may be in Group 1 on the Periodic Table but it doesn’t really fit there, so it’s not really
counted as Group 1)
Differences of properties of Metals and Non-metals
There are many differences but only two main ones will be discussed here: electrical conductivity &
the acid-base character of their oxides.
Metals do conduct electricity
Metals have the ability to conduct electricity due to the fact they have delocalised electrons which
are free to move (will be explained more later). For example, copper is a common material for
electrical wires.
Non-metals generally do no conduct electricity
This is because of the absence of delocalised electrons which are free to move. There are exceptions
like graphite (form of carbon) etc.
Page 14

The Periodic Table

Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 35-36

Metals generally form basic oxides

A basic oxide is an oxide, which reacts with acids to form salts, for example:
CuO + H2SO4 → CuSO4 + H2O
Copper(II) oxide + Sulphuric acid → Copper(II) sulphate + Water
Non-metals generally form acidic oxides
For example Sulphur(IV) oxide (SO2)
Other properties for Metals (with small exceptions):
• Tend to be solids with high melting- and boiling points, and relatively high densities
• Are shiny when polished
• Are malleable (bendable)
• Are ductile (drawn into wires)
• Good heat- and electricity conductors
• Form ionic compounds
• Form positive ions
Other properties for Non-metals (with small exceptions):
• Tend to have low melting- and boiling points
• Brittle as solids
• Not same type of shine as metals
• Don’t conduct electricity
• Poor conductors of heat
• Can form both ionic and covalent bonds
• Tend to form negative ions
Page 15

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 1

Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 38-41

Writing Equations
There are two types of equations you’ll be asked to draw: symbol and word equations. Symbol
equations are also called chemical equations and are usually the ones written unless otherwise
stated.
What all the numbers mean
An example of a balanced equation:
CaCO3 + 2HCl → CaCl2 + CO2 + H2O
It is important to know how many of each atom you have! Knowing the difference between the big
number (coefficients) and the small numbers (subscript) is important as well.
In the example, the 2 in front of HCl means there are two HCl molecules. The subscript 3 in
limestone (CaCO3) tells you that there are 3 oxygen atoms in the limestone molecule. The subscript
only counts for the element in front of it.
If there are brackets in the formula, the subscript refers to everything inside the brackets. For
example, Ca(OH)2 , means that there are two oxygen atoms and two hydrogen atoms in the
molecule.
Balancing Equations
Let’s say you have a reactions between methane and oxygen. Methane burns in oxygen to form
carbon dioxide and water. The unbalanced equation would be:
CH4 + O2 → CO2 + H2O
C: 1, H: 4 & O: 2 → C:1, H: 2 & O: 3
As you can see it doesn’t add up.
CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O
C: 1, H: 4 & O: 4 → C:1, H: 4 & O: 4
(Diagrams for visualisation P 39 & 40)
The equation has now been balanced (When balancing equations, for equations like this, I always
start by making the compound add up on both sides first before worrying about the other reactant)
Adapt a systematic approach by working across the equation from left to right counting atoms and
trying to make it work out.
State Symbols
There are four different state symbols:
(s) Solid - (l) Liquid - (g) Gas - (aq) in aqueous solution
Examples of how they’re used in an equation:
2K(s) + 2H2O(l) → 2KOH(aq) + H2(g)
Page 16

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 1

Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 41-43

Further Relative Atomic Mass (Ar)

Atoms are extremely tiny - the mass of a hydrogen atom is only 1.67 × 10-24
(0.0000000000000000000000167 g), these numbers are hard to use, so a relative scale is used
instead.
The masses of atoms and molecules are compared to the mass of the carbon-12 isotope (carbon-12
scale). On this scale 1 atom of carbon-12 weighs exactly 12 units, so twelve hydrogen-1 atoms
would weigh the same as one carbon-12 atom (Diagram P 42).
So fluorine, which has a relative atomic mass of 18.99, would have a mass of 19 exactly on the
carbon-12 scale and so on with all the other elements.
Now we’ll define the relative atomic mass as:
“The relative atomic mass of an element is the weighted average mass of the isotopes of the
element. It is measured on a scale on which a carbon-12 (12C) atom which has a mass of exactly
12”
As they are relative masses we don’t use units.
(The actual relative atomic mass, measured on the carbon-12 scale, of fluorine is 18.99 but it is just
counted as 19 to make things easier)
Relative Formula Mass (Mr)
Relative formula mass nearly is defined the same as relative atomic mass, however, the term
relative formula mass is used for compounds. It is also called relative molecular mass.
Examples of calculating Relative Formula Masses
Finding the Mr of C2H5OH
Relative atomic masses: C = 12, O = 16, H = 1
Mr = (12 × 2) + (1 × 6) + 16
Mr = 46

Finding the Mr of Ca(OH)2

Relative atomic masses: Ca = 40
Mr = 40 + (16 × 2) + (1 × 2)
Mr = 74
Page 17

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 1

Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 43-45

Examples of calculating Relative Formula Masses

Finding the Mr of copper(II) sulphate crystals, CuSO4⋅5H2O
The equation looks confusing but isn’t. When some substances crystallise from solution water
becomes chemically bound with the salt. This is called water of crystallisation. In this case there
are always 5 water molecules associated with 1 copper sulphate. Salts containing water of
crystallisation are said to be hydrated.
Relative atomic masses: S = 32, Cu = 63.5
Mr = 63.5 + 32 + (16 × 4) + (1 × 10) + (16 × 5)
Mr = 249.5
Example of using Mr to find percentage composition
Finding the percentage by mass of iron in rust, Fe2O3
Relative atomic masses: Fe = 56
Mr = (56 × 2) + (16 × 3)
Mr = 150
Percentage of iron = (102 / 150) × 100 = 68%
Etc.
The Mole
In chemistry, moles are the amount of substance. The amount of substance is usually talked about in
moles or grammes. The difference between moles and grammes is that, 1 mol any substances has
its’ own mass. For example, 1 mol of sulphur has a mass of 32 g etc.
So instead of saying 64 g of sulphur, we can just say 2 mol of sulphur. Instead of saying 100 g of
sulphur, we can say 3.125 mol of sulphur and so on.
Calculating the masses of a mole of substance
You find the mass of 1 mole of a substance by calculating the Mr and attaching units (grammes).
Example:
1 mol of chlorine gas, Cl2
Mr of Cl2 = 35.5 × 2 = 70
The importance of quoting the formula
Let’s say we are talking about oxygen. You bring up the fact that 1 mol of oxygen is 16 g, whereas I
say it’s 32 g. We should both have specified what we mean by oxygen.
Simple calculations with moles
Interconversion between mass (grammes), moles of a given substance & moles in grammes is
important. The formula is: # of moles = mass (g) / moles (g) (Diagram of formulae P 45).
Page 18

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 1

Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 45-47

Example of using the formula in practice

Finding the mass of 0.2 mol of limestone, CaCO3
Relative atomic masses: Ca = 40, C = 12, O = 16
Mr of CaCO3 = 40 + 12 + (16 × 3) = 100
100 × 0.2 = 20
0.2 mol of limestone has a mass of 20 g
Moles and the Avogadro constant
If you had 1 mol of 12C, it would have a mass of 12 g and contain 6 × 1023 carbon atoms. The
number 6 × 1023 has a name called the Avogadro constant.
1 mol of substance = 6 × 1023 of that substances.
Formulae
We have 1 mol of water, H2O. We can see that for every oxygen we have there is 2 hydrogens. So if
know that there is 0.1 mol of oxygen in a sample of water, we also know there has to be 0.2 mol of
hydrogen.
If we did and experiment and got 0.2 mol of Ca and 0.2 mol of O, we’d know the formula to be
CaO.
Formulae
The formula, CaO, we just found is called the empirical formula.
Empirical formulae show the simplest whole number ratio of the atoms present in the compound
There’s another type of formula called the molecular formula
Molecular formulae show the actual number of each element there are in a molecule (covalent
compound) or formula unit (ionic compound)
The molecular formula is either the same as the empirical formula or a multiple of it.
Working out empirical formulae
To find the empirical formula of a compound like copper oxide, we need to know how many copper
atoms combine with how many oxygen atoms. If we know the ration between copper and oxygen,
we’ll know the empirical formula.
For example:
A sample of a compound contains 1.27g of Cu and 0.16 g of O. Calculate the empirical formula.
Relative atomic masses: Cu = 63.5, O = 16
Page 19

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 1

Date: 28/8/2020
Page: 47-49

Working out empirical formulae

Cu O

Mass (g) 1,27 0,16

Use formula to find # of moles 1,27 / 63.5 0,16 / 16

(m / mass of 1 mol)

# of moles 0,02 0,01

Divide by smallest number to find 0,02 / 0,01 0,01 / 0,01

ratio

Ratio 2 1

Empirical formula: Cu2O

Practical: Investigating the formula of a metal oxide made by combustion
(Diagram of apparatus P 48)
We can find the formula of magnesium oxide by burning magnesium in oxygen and see the mass
change. Use the following procedure:
• Weigh the crucible with lid
• Place a 10 cm magnesium ribbon in there and reweigh then set up the apparatus
• Heat strongly, lifting the lid every few seconds to refresh the oxygen
• When the reaction is over let the contents cool
• Reweigh the crucible again
Practical: Investigating the formula of a metal oxide made by combustion
A set of results for the practical could be:

Mass of empty crucible (g) 32,46

Mass of crucible + magnesium (g) 32,70

Mass of crucible with contents at the end (g) 32,86

We can easily work out that the mass of the magnesium is 0,24 g & that the mass of the magnesium
oxide is 0,4 g. With this we can also work out that the mass of the oxygen was 0,16 g.
We can now use these numbers in our other table to work out the empirical formula:
Page 20

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 1

Date: 29/8/2020
Page: 49-57

Practical: Investigating the formula of a metal oxide made by combustion

Mg O

Mass (g) 0,24 0,16

Use formula to find # of moles 0,24 / 24 0,16 / 16

(m / mass of 1 mol)

# of moles 0,01 0,01

Divide by smallest number to find 0,01 / 0,01 0,01 / 0,01

ratio

Ratio 1 1

Empirical formula: MgO

(Two more practical P 49 & 50 & 51)
Working out formulae using percentage composition figures
Best explained using example:
Find the empirical formula of a compound containing 82,7% C and 17,3% H by mass.
Relative atomic masses: H = 1, C = 12
The percentage figures apply to any chosen mass, so let’s choose 100 g and put it into out table:

C H

Mass (g) 82,7 17,3

Use formula to find # of moles 82,7 / 12 17,3 / 1

(m / mass of 1 mol)

# of moles 6,89 17,3

Divide by smallest number to find 6,89 / 6,89 17,3 / 6,89

ratio

Ratio 1 2,5

Empirical formula: C2H5

Converting empirical formulae into molecular formulae
When you learn about organic chemistry, you’ll know that the formula C2H5 can’t be real. The
molecular formula for this compound is actually C4H10.
You can find the molecular formula by knowing the Mr of the compound, then do some basic math.
(Example of finding the empirical formula of a salt with water of crystallisation P 53)
(The coefficients in an equation just tells us how many moles of that substance reacts in the
reaction) (Example of finding the mass of a product using moles and ratios P 54 & 55 & 56 & 57)
Page 21

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 1

Date: 29/8/2020
Page: 57-59

Calculating percentage yields

What is a percentage yield?
If you calculate how much of a product you’d get, in real life you’d rarely ever get that amount. If
you calculated 100 g and you get 80 g you percentage yield is 80%, the rest is lost due to some
mistake or interference.
Calculating percentage yield
Let’s say you predict you’d get 12,5 g of something but you got 11,2 g. Your percentage yield
would be: (11,2 / 12,5) × 100 = 89,6%
(Long ass example using the mol formula then percentage yield P 58)
Calculations in which you have to calculate which substance is in excess
This is also better shown in an example:
Magnesium reacts with hydrochloric acid according to the following equation:
Mg(s) + 2HCl(aq) → MgCl2(aq) + H2(g)
0.2 mol Mg is used to react with 0.2 mol HCl. Calculate the mass of the H2 produced.
If we calculate it normally, we’d get that 0.2 mol of Mg produces 0.2 mol of H2 = 0.2 × 2 = 0.4 g.
However this is incorrect.
If we look the equation we can see that 1 mol of Mg reacts with 2 mol of HCl. As we have 0.2 mol
of HCl it would only react with 0.1 mol of Mg - meaning Mg is in excess.
As we know how much HCl reacts we can use it to calculate the mass of the H2 produced.
0.2 mol of HCl reacts to form 0.1 g of H2 , 0,1 × 2 = 0.2 g. This is the right answer.
(One more example P 59)
Page 22

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 2

Date: 31/8/2020
Page: 64-66

Calculations involving gas volumes

Avogadro’s law (Diagram P 64 for visualisation):
“Equal volumes of gases at the same temperature and pressure contain equal number of moles”
So if you have 100 cm3 of hydrogen gas it will contain 10 moles (not actual amount of moles).
100 cm3 of any other gas will also contain 10 moles.
(Example of application in chemical reaction P 64)
Units of Volume
Volumes are measured in:
1. Cubic centimetres (cm3)
2. Cubic decimetres (dm3)
3. Litres (l)
1 Litre = 1 dm3 = 1000 cm3
The volume occupied by 1 mole of gas
At room temperature and pressure, the volume occupied by 1 mole of any gas is about 24 dm3. This
number is often called the molar volume.
The equation to calculate the volume is: Volume = # of moles × molar volume
(Diagram of conversion triangles P 65)
Calculations with molar volume
Calculating volume of a certain # of moles
Example: Calculate the volume (dm3) of 0.2 mol of CO2 at rtp (room temp and pressure)
0.2 mol × 24 dm3 = 4.8 dm3
Calculating volume of a given mass
Example: Calculate the volume (cm3) of 0.01 g of hydrogen at rtp
1 mol of H2 has a mass of 2 g → 0.01 g / 2 g = 0.005 mol
0.005 mol × 24000 cm3 = 120 cm3
Calculating # of moles from a volume
(Example P 66, it’s not that hard)
Using molar volume in chemical equations calculations
Example: Calculate the volume of CO2 (dm3) at rtp produced from the following reaction
CaCO3(s) + 2HCL(aq) → CaCl2(aq) + CO2(g) + H2O(l)
The amount of CaCO3 is 1 g
Page 23

Chemical formulae, Equations and Calculations: Part 2

Date: 31/8/2020
Page: 66-71

Using molar volume in chemical equations calculations

(Example P 66 & 67, again not that hard)
Working with solution concentrations
Concentrations can be measured in g/dm3 or mol/dm3. You have to be able to convert between the
two.
Example: A sample of sea water has a concentration of NaCl of 35.1 g/dm3. Convert it to mol/dm3.
1 mol of NaCl has a mass of 58.5 g. In the sample there is 35.1 g per dm3 → 35.1 / 58.5 = 0.6 mol
→ There’s 0.6 mol/dm3 of NaCl in the sample of sea water.
(Another 2 examples P 68)
Working out a # of moles from a volume & a concentration
The equation for doing this is: # of moles = volume (dm3) × concentration (mol/dm3)
Example: Calculate the # of moles of NaOH in 50 cm3 of 0.1 mol/dm3 solution
First we convert cm3 to dm3 → 50 / 1000 = 0.05 dm3 of NaOH, then we use the equation
→ 0.05 dm3 × 0.1 mol/dm3 = 0.005 mol of NaOH.
(Example of usage in equations P 69, just remember the equation and what you’ve already learned)
Quick Titrations summary
Titration is a technique to find out how much of one solution reacts with how much of another
solution with a known concentration.
For example, a solution of an alkali is measured into a conical flask with some indicator. An acid is
run in from a burette swirling the flask constantly. The acid is run until the indicator changes colour.
If you know the concentration of either acid or alkali, you can use the results of the titration to find
the concentration of the other.
The standard calculation (of titration)
Example of simple titration:
25 cm3 of 0.1 mol/dm3 NaOH solution required 23.5 cm3 of dilute hydrochloric acid for
neutralisation. Calculate the concentration of the dilute hydrochloric acid. The equation:
NaOH(aq) + HCl(aq) → NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)
First we convert the volume of NaOH to dm3 → 25/1000 = 0.025 dm3 of NaOH
Then we calculate moles of NaOH → 0.025 × 0.1 = 0.0025 mol of NaOH
1 mol of NaOH get neutralised by 1 mol of HCl, then we put it into the equation again
→ 0.0025 / 0.0235 = 0.106 mol/dm3 of HCl is the concentration.
(A slightly harder example P 71 & 72)
Page 24

Ionic Bonding
Date: 1/9/2020
Page: 75-79

Ionic Bonding
NaCl (kitchen salt) is probably the best-known ionic compound. There are lots of these like MgO,
CaF2, etc. These are all a non-metal combined with a metal. Ionic compound usually always contain
a metal.
When chlorine combines with sodium, the chlorine atom has a stronger attraction for the electrons
so an electron is transferred from sodium to chlorine. As electrons are negatively charge an atom
which gains an electron becomes negatively charge and opposite for a loss (Diagram P 76).
The charged particles are called ions. Ions are charged particles formed from a gain or loss of
electrons.
• A positive ion is called a cation
• A negative ion is called a anion
Ionic compounds are formed when a metal transfers electrons to a non-metal. Ionic compounds
have ionic bonds. Ionic bonding is usually shown with a dot-and-crosses diagram (Diagram P 76).
The significance of Noble Gas electronic configurations in ionic bonding
If you look at the electronic configurations of the compounds formed in the previous examples,
you’ll see that they match with a Noble Gas electronic configuration (they’re said to be
isoelectronic). This is true for the first 20 elements (Examples P 77).
Though there are also ionic compounds which don’t form Noble Gas electronic configurations, like
Fe2+, Fe3+, Cu2+ etc.
The elements in Group 1,2 & 3 will lose their outer shell electrons to gain charges of +1, +2 & +3.
The elements in Group 5,6 & 7 will gain outer shell electrons to gain the charges of -1, -2 & -3.
Ionic bonds are usually formed only if a small number of electrons are needed to be transferred.
(Example of LiF & CaCl2 P 78)
Formulae for ionic compounds
The need for equal numbers of pluses and minuses
We that compounds are electrically neutral, therefore an ionic compound must contain as many
positive charges as negative. You’d naturally need to know the charges of the elements when
working out the formula.
Page 25

Ionic Bonding
Date: 1/9/2020
Page: 79-81

Ease little table for charges

Group in Periodic Table Charge of ion Example

1 (1+) Na+
2 (2+) Mg2+
3 (3+) Al3+
5 (3-) N3-
6 (2-) O2-
7 (1-) Br-

Cases where names tell you the charge

Examples:
• Lead(II) oxide contains Pb2+
• Iron(III) chloride contains Fe3+
• Copper(II) sulfate contains Cu2+
The roman numerals after the name says the charge of the thing in front of it.
Some things don’t say the charge and you will need to memorise them

Charge Substance Ion Charge Substance Ion

Positve Zinc Zn2+ Negative Nitrate NO3-
Silver Ag+ Hydroxide OH-
Hydrogen H+ Carbonate CO32-
Ammonium NH4+ Sulfate SO42-
Confusing Endings
Sulphate and Sulphide are not the same. Sulphate is always SO4. Sulphide is always the ion formed
from sulphur.
The -ide ending is just a code ending for the non-metal ions. Most non-metals as ions will have the
ending -ide.
The -ate ending means that there is oxygen there (look up ‘Chemistry Suffixes’ if you want more
details and more endings).
Giant Ionic Structures
All ionic compounds form crystals that consists of lattices of positive and negative ions. A lattice is
a regular array of particles. The lattice is held together by strong electrostatic attractions.
Page 26

Ionic Bonding
Date: 1/9/2020
Page: 82-83

The structure of NaCl

(Diagram of the structure of NaCl P 82)
Each sodium ion is surrounded by 6 chloride ions (the same goes for chloride). This structure
repeats many many times.
This structure is described as a giant ionic lattice. The word giant does not describe the structure as
big but rather that the whole lattice is connect as one big molecule instead of many small ones (to
say that is incorrect but it gives the right visualisation).
The more ions bonded in these structures the stronger the electrostatic attractions (The Mg ion is
also smaller than the Na ion & the O ion is smaller than the Cl ion, which also leads to stronger
attractions but this fact is less important).
Physical properties of ionic substances
- Ionic compounds have high melting points due to their strong electrostatic forces of attractions.
- Ionic compounds tend to be crystalline (made of crystals)
- Ionic compounds tend to be brittle (hard but breaks easily, Diagram of why P 83)
- Ionic substances tend to be soluble in water
- Ionic compounds tend to be insoluble in organic solvents
- Ionic compounds only conduct electricity when molten (melting the ionic compounds frees the
ions allowing the flow of electrons)
(The reason ionic substances tend to be soluble in water is simply explained due to water’s bonding.
Water is bonded by covalent bonds, where the electrons are attracted slightly more to the oxygen
end, making the oxygen slightly negative and the hydrogen slightly positive. These charges are
enough to overcome the forces of attractions of many ionic substances)
Page 27

Covalent Bonding
Date: 1/9/2020
Page: 85-90

Covalent Bonding
What is it?
Instead of transferring electrons to bond, covalent bonding is the sharing of electrons between
atoms (Bad diagram P 86)
Covalent bonding in a hydrogen molecule
(Good diagram P 86)
The hydrogen atoms form a diatomic molecule with the formula H2. The covalent bond between the
two atoms is very strong.
The significance of noble gas structure in covalent bonding
As you can see from the diagram, the electronic configuration of H2 is the same as He. However,
this doesn’t mean that the hydrogen has turned into helium. The goal being to get a full outer shell
(meaning 8 outer shell electrons or 2 for He).
There are a few oddities, where the compound doesn’t have 8 outer shell electrons like BF3, where
boron only has 6 outer shell electrons.
Why does hydrogen form molecules
When bonds are formed energy is released. The release of energy makes the reactants more stable.
The more bonds the more stable the product. Two hydrogen together is more stable than two
separate.
(Example of how hydrogen bonds with chlorine & how chlorine bonds with chlorine P 87)
Looking ahead - Shape of molecules
Pairs of electrons in the outer shell will repel each other and therefore will try get as far away from
each other as possible. For example, in methane (CH4) for the electrons to be as far away from each
other as possible, they’re arranged in a tetrahedral shape (3D triangle).
In water there are 4 pairs of electrons - 2 pairs which are involved in covalent bonding and 2 pairs
which are not (these are called lone electrons). These 4 pairs of electrons are also arranged in a
tetrahedral shape so that the shape of water is described as bent. This bending and the fact that the
electrons are attracted to oxygen and hydrogen differently means that a water molecule is polar.
This makes it so water can be bent by an electrically charged object.
Multiple Covalent Bonding
Covalent bonding in an oxygen molecule
Oxygen has 6 outer shell electrons. A single bond between oxygen is not enough to reach 8 outer
shell electrons, so oxygen forms a double bond to achieve 8 outer shell electrons (Diagram P 89).
Triple bond in a nitrogen molecule
Nitrogen has 5 outer shell electrons. Both a single and double bond is not enough to achieve 8 outer
shell electrons, os nitrogen forms a triple bond (Diagram P 90). These bonds are very hard to break.
Page 28

Covalent Bonding
Date: 3/9/2020
Page: 90-93

Covalent bonding in carbon dioxide

Single bonds are not enough, so carbon will form two double bonds with oxygen to achieve 8 outer
shell electrons (this is very repetitive and not too hard, Diagram P 90).
(Harder example P 90 - 91)
Cases where the central atom doesn’t have 8 outer shell electrons
Sulphur(IV) oxide (SO2)
The central atom is S and the outer atoms are O. As we know O has 6 outer shell electrons, so they
need 2 more to achieve 8. That means sulphur will gain 4 electrons which are shared through
oxygen. This totals up to 10 electrons.
Simple Molecular Structures
If we look at water, it is made up of many millions of water molecules but how are they held
together? They’re held together by a force called: Intermolecular forces (A little diagram P 92).
The intermolecular bonds in water are much weaker than the strong covalent bonds holding together
the water molecules. When we boils water only the intermolecular forces of attractions which are
broken not the covalent bonds (Diagram P 92).
Substances with molecules which are held by intermolecular forces are said to have a simple
molecular structure. Examples of this are - water, carbon dioxide, methane and so on.
Substances with simple molecules structure are typically liquid, gas or solids with very low melting
points. This is due to the fact that not a lot of energy is needed to break the forces of attraction.
Melting and boiling points increase as Mr increases
Table as proof:

Halogen Formula Mr Melting point (°C) Boiling point (°C)

Fluorine F2 38 -220 -188

Chlorine Cl2 71 -101 -34

Bromine Br2 160 -7 59

Iodine I2 254 114 184

(This only applies to similar series, like the alkanes or alkali metals)
Some other physical properties of covalent compounds
They do not conduct electricity, due to the lack of an electrical charge (no ions). They also tend to
be insoluble in water, however, they tend to be soluble in organic solvents.
Page 29

Covalent Bonding
Date: 3/9/2020
Page: 93-96

Giant Covalent Structures

Diamond
Diamond is a form of pure carbon.
Carbon has 4 outer shell electrons, and therefore forms 4 covalent bonds in a tetrahedral structure
(Diagram P 93). It is a giant covalent structure as it continues like this forever in 3 dimensions. It is
not a molecule since the number of carbon atom that make up a diamond will vary.
Diamond has a very high melting and boiling point because of the very strong covalent bonds
holding the carbon atoms together. It is important to remember that we’re breaking strong covalent
bonds and not weak intermolecular forces.
Because of the strong covalent bonds the electrons aren’t able to move much. This makes diamond
unable to conduct electricity.
Graphite
Graphite is another form of carbon, which also has a giant covalent structure. However, graphite is
arranged in layers instead of the tetrahedral structure. Like a deck of cards, each card is strong but
are easily separated (Diagrams showing the structure P 94).
Graphite is soft as the forces holding together the layers are rather weak. Like diamond graphite has
a very high melting and boiling point, as melting something doesn’t separate the layers, but rather
break the bonds, which requires a lot of energy.
As the carbon molecules in graphite are only bonded three times, there is a free electron, which
makes graphite able to conduct electricity. This free electron is called a delocalised electron.
Diamond and graphite are allotropes of each other (different forms of same element).
C60 (Fullerene)
Diamond and graphite both have giant covalent structures, however, fullerene has a simple
molecular structure. This has a big influence on its’ physical properties (Diagram of fullerene P 95).
It’s melting and boiling points are lower than diamond and graphite.
It’s not as hard as hard as diamond and it doesn’t conduct electricity. This due to the fact that the
delocalised electron can only move around within each C60 molecule.
Page 30

Metallic Bonding
Date: 3/9/2020
Page: 98-100

Metallic Boding
When sodium atoms bond together to form solid metals, the outer electrons of each sodium atom
becomes delocalised free to move anywhere within the structure (this leaves Na+ ions). A metallic
structure consists of a lattice of positive ions in a sea of delocalised electrons. Metals have giant
structures.
Metallic bonding is the electrostatic forces of attraction between each positive ion and the
delocalised electrons.
Physical Properties of Metals
Most metals have high melting points, which means that the electrostatic forces between the ions
and delocalised electrons is strong.
In Na only one electron is delocalised per atom. This makes the electrostatic forces quite weak. Mg
has two delocalised electrons per atom so will have much stronger electrostatic forces action
making the melting point and boiling point much higher and so on.
Metals conduct electricity
(Diagram of why delocalised electrons allow conductivity of electricity P 99)
Metal are malleable
This just means that metals can be hammered into different shapes. By hammering a metal we slide
the layers which changes its’ shape (Diagram P 100).
Page 31

Electrolysis
Date: 3/9/2020
Page: 101-103

Why do things conduct electricity?

Reminder: for something to be able to conduct electricity, there must be delocalised charged
particles, whether that’s ions or electrons doesn’t matter by you do need to specify it (it does matter
but that get too complicated to say).
Ionic compounds
Reminder: they only conduct electricity when molten or dissolved in water as this free the ions.
Covalent compound
They do not conduct electricity as the electrons are held tightly in the atoms and do not have any
overall charge. As with most things, there are some exceptions. For example, ammonia forms ions
when dissolved in water.
Passing electricity through compounds - Electrolysis
When metals conduct electricity, the only noticeable thing is that it heats up. When you conduct
electricity through an ionic compound a chemical reaction occurs - electrolysis.
Electrolysis - “the chemical change caused by passing an electrical current through a compound,
either molten or in solution”
Some other important words
• Electrolyte - is the liquid or solution which undergoes electrolysis
• Electrodes - the thing which passes a current through the electrolyte (a common electrode is
carbon as it conducts electricity but is fairly chemically inert)
• Anode - is the positive electrode
• Cathode - is the negative electrode
The electrolysis of molten compounds
Electrolysing molten lead(II) bromide
(Diagram of the setup P 103)
Nothing happens before the lead(II) bromide is molten -
• The bulb lights up showing a current is flowing
• There’s bubbling around the anode as bromine gas is being released there
• After you stop heating you can find metal (lead) under the cathode
What is happening?
Lead(II) bromide is an ionic compound, it is made up of the ions: Pb2+ & Br-. As the solid melts the
locked up ions become free.
When the power is turned on we see neutral molten lead at the bottom of the right electrode. As lead
forms a positive ion, we know that the right electrode is the cathode (negative electrode).
Page 32

Electrolysis
Date: 3/9/2020
Page: 103-106

What is happening?
This means that the electrode has extra electrons.
As the lead arrives, they pick up 2 electrons from the cathode and they become a neutral liquid lead.
This can be shown by the half-equation:
Pb2+ + 2e- → Pb (reduction)
The bromide go to the anode (positive electrode). When they get there they offload their electrons
as the electrode is short on electrons. This can be shown by the half equation:
2Br- → Br2 + 2e- (oxidation)
The ions can be described as being discharged (loss of charge).
Electrolysis and redox
• Oxidation - is the loss of electrons
• Reduction - is the gain of electrons
Good mnemonic to remember this is OILRIG - oxidation is loss, reduction is gain.
If something loses electrons something must gain electrons, so oxidation and reduction must happen
at the same time - redox reactions. As the oxidation of bromide’s equation only shows half of what
is happening, we call it a half-equation.
(more examples of electrolysis P 105)
Generalisations we can make about electrolysis:
• If only two elements are in the thing you’re electrolysing, the positive ion will always form at the
cathode and the negative ion will always form at the anode.
• Reduction always happens at the cathode and oxidation always happens at the anode
This explains why positive ions are called cations as they’re attracted to the cathode.
Practical: Investigating the electrolysis of aqueous solutions
(Diagram of the apparatus P 106, The glass tube, rubber bung and electrodes together can be called
an electrolytic cell )
The following procedure is used:
• Pour concentrated NaCl solution into the glass tube
• Place a test tube containing NaCl solution over each electrode (don’t cover them)
• Connect the battery to the electrodes
Be careful of the chlorine gas as it it poisonous. Makes sure the room is well-ventilated.
Page 33

Electrolysis
Date: 3/9/2020
Page: 106-110

Practical: Investigating the electrolysis of aqueous solutions

We will see that chloride forms at the anode, however, solid sodium doesn’t form at the cathode.
Instead of sodium, hydrogen gas will form. The hydrogen comes from the water the NaCl is
dissolved in.
Water is a weak electrolyte, as it only ionises slightly to give hydrogen and hydroxide ions.
Equation: H2O(l) ⇄ H2+(aq)+ OH-(aq)

Whenever water is present, you have to account for water as well.

(The reason why sodium isn’t formed is due to the fact, that is is very reactive. In fact it reacts with
hydroxide to form NaOH and it also reacts with other things. Hydrogen is less reactive so it’s easier
to give an electron to hydrogen. Some of this hydroxide also discharges at the anode.)
(The substance which is lower on the reactivity series, which comes in a bit, will be the one to be
easier to discharge) (Another example of electrolysis of aqueous solution P 108 & 109)
The electrolysis of some other solutions using inert electrodes
How to work out what will happen.
• If the metal is high on the reactivity series, hydrogen will be produced
• If the metal is lower than hydrogen, then the metal will be produced
• If you have solutions of halides (ions of halogens) you will obtain that halogen
• With other common negative ions you will obtain oxygen

Reactivity series with decreasing reactivity

Potassium (K)

Sodium (Na)

Lithium (Li)

Calcium (Ca)

Magnesium (Mg)

Aluminium (Al)

(Carbon, C)

Zinc (Zn)

Iron (Fe)

(Hydrogen, H)

Copper (Cu)

Silver (Ag)

Gold (Au)
(Simple examples of using the reactivity series rules P 110)
Page 34

Electrolysis
Date: 3/9/2020
Page: 110-111

Pratical: Quantitive Electrolysis

Quantitive means related to numbers. We can use electrolysis to find out how much hydrogen gets
produced when the current is set to 0.2 A etc. in the electrolysis of NaCl solution.
(Diagram of apparatus P 110)
Procedure:
• Pour 50 cm3 of concentrated NaCl solution into the glass tube
• Place a gas burette filled with NaCl solution over the cathode
• Turn the power on with 0.2 A current
• Take initial reading on the gas burette
• Start a timer and stop it after 5 minutes and not the final reading on the gas burette
• Repeat at different currents
• Repeat the experiments for accuracy and use the averages
A set of results could look like:

Current (A) Volume of Hydrogen gas produced (cm3)

0.2 7

0.4 13.9

0.6 15.1

0.8 38

1 34.9

This data can be plotted on a graph (Graph P 111).

As it is continuous data we draw a line of best fit through the points (drawing a line through as
many points as possible). Using the graph we can see that the volume at 0.6 A is an anomaly and it’s
disregarded. Some gas could have escaped to cause this and so on.