Chemistry Semester 1 Exam

Student Name: ___________________________________

Student Number: _________________________________

Materials needed for this exam include a scientific calculator and a periodic table. If you don’t have a scientific
calculator, you can use the calculator available at desmos.com (https://www.desmos.com/scientific). A periodic table
from your course is included below for you to use. You can also reference an interactive version
(https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table) from the Royal Society of Chemistry website.

1. Define physical and chemical properties, provide examples of each, and explain the fundamental differences
between them.

2. Density is a physical property of a molecule that’s measured as mass per unit volume.
(a) Given that density is usually expressed in the units of g/cm 3, calculate the density of a cube of plastic that has a
mass of 2.331 g and an edge length of 1.500 cm (volume of a cube is V = l 3).

(b) Draw two liquids in a graduated cylinder on a separate sheet of paper. You won’t submit the drawing as part of
your answer. Liquid A has a density of 1.004 g/cm3 and Liquid B has a density of 0.6223 g/cm3. Assume they

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 don’t mix. Label which liquid is on top and which liquid is on bottom, and then draw the cube where you would
expect it to be if it’s dropped into the graduated cylinder with these two liquids.
Explain the location for liquid A, liquid B, and the cube in the graduated cylinder.

3. Three quantum numbers are derived from Schrodinger’s equation that describe the probability of finding an
electron around a nucleus: the principal quantum number, the angular momentum quantum number, and the
magnetic quantum number. Define each quantum number.

4. Write the full electron configuration for phosphorus, atomic symbol P, then draw an orbital box diagram that
accounts for all of the electrons in phosphorus. You don’t need to include the orbital box diagram as part of your
answer. Based on your drawing, explain why phosphorus is either paramagnetic or diamagnetic.

5. Compare and contrast the alkali metals and the alkaline earth metals. Discuss their physical and chemical
properties, their magnetic properties, and their electron configurations.

6. Explain the bonding that occurs between sodium and chlorine. Specifically, what kind of bonding takes place,
what’s the name of the resulting compound, and what properties would you expect this compound to have with
respect to water?

7. Explain the bonding in carbon tetrachloride, CCl4—specifically, explain whether it’s covalent or ionic.

For chemical drawings, you can use the Chemical Equation editor in the submission box for the assignment.
You can also download a program called Marvin Sketch (https://chemaxon.com/products/marvin).

8. Draw the Lewis structure for sulfur trioxide, SO 3.

9. Draw the Lewis structure for sulfur tetrafluoride, SF 4, then draw the electron pair geometry. What’s the name of
the molecular shape of sulfur tetrafluoride?

10. Draw the structure of water. Is water considered polar or nonpolar? Why?

11. When someone is injured, responding medical personnel may use either hot packs or cold packs to treat the
injuries. These are examples of miniature chemical reactions. Using hot packs and cold packs as an example,
explain the terms endothermic reaction and exothermic reaction.

12. Combustion reactions take place between a fuel and oxygen and produce carbon dioxide and water. Balance the
following combustion reaction.

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13. Aqueous lead (II) nitrate, Pb(NO3)2 undergoes a double displacement reaction with aqueous sodium chloride,
NaCl, in which a precipitate forms. If the precipitate contains lead, write the balanced chemical equation for this
reaction. Be sure to include the states of each of the reactants and products.

14. Given the following equation, write the expression for its relative rate.

15. Write the equilibrium expression for the following reaction. Based upon the value of K, would you expect more or
less product to be in the equilibrium mixture? Why?