Chem 101 – Lecture Notes for Chapter 1

1. Fundamental units of measurements (Chang section 1.7).

The international system of units used in science is the SI system.

Measurement SI unit Symbol Other units and conversions

mass kilogram kg 1 g = 0.001 kg or 1 kg = 1000 g
1 mg (milligram) = 10−3 g = 10−6 kg
amount mole mol 1 mole = 6.022x1023 units
distance meter m 1 m = 101 dm = 102 cm = 103 mm
Volume cubic meter m3 1 m3 = 1000 L
1 L = 1000 mL
1 mL = 1 cm3 = 10-3 L = 10−6 m3
temperature kelvin K 0 oC = 273.15K
time second s
charge coulomb C
current ampere Amp 1 Amp = 1 C.s−1
force newton N 1 N = 1 kg.m.s−2
pressure pascal Pa 1 Pa = 1 N.m-2
1 atmosphere (atm) = 101,325 Pa or
101.325 kPa (kilopascal)
energy joule J 1 J = 1 N.m
1 calorie = 4.184 J

Note the difference between the use of the period (.) and the comma (,) in writing
numbers. For instance, 101,325 is 1.01325x105 , NOT 1.01325x102!

Practical mass and volume units

1. Mass: gram (g) 1 μg = 10−6g 1 mg = 10−3g 1 kg = 103g

2. Volume: mL and L 1 dm3 = 1L 1cm3 = 1 mL

1dL = 0.1L 1 cL = 0.01L 1mL = 0.001L
−3 −6
1 μL = 10 mL= 10 L 1 mL = 10−3L

Examples:
See next sections for scientific notation, significant figures and dimensional analysis!

1. How many mL in 0.750 L?

Answer:
0.750L x (1000 mL/1L) = 750 mL

2. How many pascal is 2.50 atm pressure?

Answer:
2.50 atm x (101,325Pa/1atm) = 253,312.5 Pa,
Now use scientific notation and proper significant figures (3) so 2.50 atm = 2.53x105 Pa

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3. How many mg in 3.158 kg?
Answer:
3.158kg x (1000g/1kg)x(1000mg/1g) = 3.158x106 mg

4. How many m3 is 0.50 L?

Answer:
0.50Lx(1m3/1000L) = 5.0x10−4 m3

Exercises.

1. How many kg is 0.35 g? Answer: 3.5x10−4 kg

2. How many mL is 5 L? Answer: 5x103 mL

3. How many atm is 1.3 Pa? Answer: 1.3x10−5 atm

2. Significant figures (Chang section 1.8)

Significant figures are important in scientific calculation and practice because they show
us the accuracy (and the uncertainty) of the number we are calculating.

In many cases, the number of significant figures is simply the number of digits in a
number. For instance: 324 has 3 significant figures; 1.256 has 4 significant figures.

When we have zeros in the number:

1) zeros at the beginning of the number are not counted.
2) zeros at the end of the number are counted

For instance: 0.028 has two significant figures; 0.00350 has 3 significant figures.

3) When there is no decimal place, the rule for the zero at the end is not specified.

For instance, 450 may have 2 or 3 significant figures. This ambiguity (=uncertainty) is
avoided when we use scientific notation: if written as 4.50x102 there are 3 significant
figures, if written as 4.5x102 there are 2 significant figures.

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Rules for addition/subtraction and multiplication/division.

1)Addition and subtraction.

The result can have no more decimal places than the number with the lowest number of
decimal places.

Examples:
2.532 g 6.50 g
0.34 g 2.352 g
−−−−−− + −−−−−− −
2.87 g, not 2.872 g. 4.15 g not 4.148 g (note the rounding off!)

2.36 g + 0.2569 g + 20.1 g = 22.7167 = 22.7 g

2) Multiplication and division.

In multiplying or dividing, the result must have the same number of significant figures as
the number with the lowest number of significant figures.

Examples:
1. 1.2345x137x2.5 = 422.8 = 4.2x102.

2. 3.4x102x251 = 853.4x102 = 8.5x104

3. How many atoms in 12.3 mol (6.022x1023 ) of atoms?

Answer: 12.3(mol)x(6.022x1023atom/1mol) = 7.41x1024 atoms.

Best practice: when doing calculations on your calculator, carry all numbers through to
the end, then at the end round to the correct number of significant figures.

Example:
1. 12.36x14.50 − 3.8 = 179.22 −3.8 = 175.42 = 175.4 or 1.754x102

Note that in many cases we do indeed need scientific notation to represent the number of
significant figures correctly.

3. Density (Chang section 1.7)

Density = d (in most cases we use g/mL = g/cm3))

Mass = m (in most cases we use g)
Volume = V (in most cases we use mL = cm3)

m ( g)
m ( g) V (mL) =
d= g
d( )
V (mL) m (g) = d (g/mL)xV(mL) mL

Examples.

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1. Iron (Fe) has a density of 7.9 g/mL. What is the volume of 25.0 g of iron?
Answer: V = m/d = 25.0(g)/7.9(g/mL) = 3.16 mL = 3.2 mL (2 significant figures!)

2. 10.0 mL of a salt solution are found to weigh 11.342 g. What is the density of the
solution?
Answer: d = m/V = 11.342(g)/10.0mL = 1.1342 = 1.13 g/mL (or 1.13 g/cm3)

3. At 20oC and 1 atm pressure the density of air is 1.19 kg/m3. What is the density
expressed in g/mL?
Answer: 1 m3 = 1000 L; 1L = 1000 mL 1 kg = 1000 g, so using dimensional analysis:
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kg 1 m 1 L 1000 g g
d = 1.19 3 x x x = 0.00119
m 1000 L 1000 mL 1 kg mL
Check that the units cancel as shown! Also note the 3 significant figures in the answer!

4. Accuracy and precision (Chang section 1.8)

This topic is important in your chemistry and physics laboratory courses.

Accuracy tells us how close a measured value or a certain quantity is to the “real” value.
Precision tells us how close a number of measurements of the same quantity are to each
other.
As shown in Chang Fig. 1.13, a set of measurements can be precise but not accurate!

Example.

Three students weigh a piece of metal known to weigh exactly 2.3575 g.

Aisha weighs the metal three times. Her results are 2.229 g, 2.232g and 2.226 g, so her
average mass over the three measurements is (2.229+2.232+2.226)/3 = 2.229 g.

Fatima also weighs the metal three times. Her results are 2.639 g, 2.421 g and 2.895 g, so
her average over the three measurements is (2.639+2.421+2.895)/3 = 2.652 g

Finally, Sarah’s results are 2.359 g, 2.355 g and 2.356 g, so her average mass is
(2.359+2.355+2.356)/3 = 2.357 g.

Fatima’s results are neither precise nor accurate, Aisha’s measurements of are precise but
not accurate, but Sarah’s are both accurate and precise! Of course this may not be
Fatima’s fault, she may just have had a bad balance, and Sarah may have been lucky to
have used a very good balance!

5. Dimensional analysis (Chang section 1.9)

Dimensional analysis is the method we will use for solving quantitative problems
throughout this course. We have already applied the method in the earlier examples of
these lecture notes. In applying this method, it is important to write the units throughout

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the calculation. This way you will also automatically have the correct units for the final
answer. The best way to demonstrate the method is by examples.

1. How many eggs in 3 dozen eggs? (a “dozen’ means 12).

3 dozen x (12 eggs/1 dozen) = 36 eggs
Note that the dozen unit automatically cancels out. Also note that in this case 3, referring
to the number of dozens, and 12, the number of units in a “dozen” are exact numbers so
we don’t think of it as having significant figures.

2. How many seconds (s) in a year?

365 days 24 hrs 60 min s 60 s

1 year x x x x =31,536,000 s=3.1536x 107 s
1 year 1 day 1 hr 1 min
Note how all the units cancel, leaving just the seconds as the final units. Also note that all
numbers are exact (365, 24, 60, 60), so in this case the final answer is exact also at 31
million 536 thousand seconds!

3. How many nm in 2.03x10−5 cm?

Now we have to be careful with the length conversions! We could first convert the cm to
m (1 cm = 10−2m, then the m into nm (1 m = 109 nm):
2.03x10−5cm x(1m/100cm)x109nm/1m) = 2.03x102 nm
We could also have said 2.03x10−5 cm = 2.03x10−7 m (move the decimal place twice),
then multiply by 109 to convert m to nm. Of course this is exactly what we did with the
dimensional analysis method!

4. How many mL in 0.50 m3?

1 m3 = 1000 dm3 = 1000 L; 1L = 1000 mL Note these are all fixed numbers, so in
considering the significant figures in the final answer, it comes from the significant
figures in the 0.50 m3.
0.50 m3x(1000L/1m3)x(1000mL/1L) = 0.50x106 mL. However, this is not proper
scientific notation, so the correct answer is 5.0x105 mL, two significant figures!

5. How many atoms of hydrogen are there in 3.5 moles of water, H2O.?

Here the 2 in H2O is an exact number. We know Avogadro’s number, 6.022x1023 as the
number of units, in this case water molecules, in a mole.
(3.5 mole H2O) x (6.022x1023molecules H2O/1 mole H2O )x(2 atoms H/1 molecule H2O)
= 4.215x1024 = 4.2x1024 atoms of hydrogen (2 significant figures from 3.5 moles).
6. How many g of Na in 3.50 moles of NaCl?

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(of course we will do mole-mass relations in Chapter 3, but let’s already skip ahead a
little to show how to use dimensional analysis for this calculation).

The molecular mass of NaCl is 58.44, molar mass of Na is 22.99.

3.50 mole NaCl x (58.44 g NaCl/1 mole NaCl) x (22.99 g Na/58.44 g NaCl) = 80.47 g Na
or 80.5 g Na (3 significant figures from the 3.50 moles in the problem). You can also
write 8.05x101 g Na, both answers correct and have the correct number of significant
figures.