CHEMISTRY AND Experiments

MEASUREMENT
Results
COURSE OBJECTIVE

o To understand the relationship of chemistry in daily life experience

o To know the systematic approach in research Hypothesis
o To identify matter and its properties
o To understand the use of measurement in chemistry
o To know SI units and other derived units
o To know how measurements are presented in sciences Further Experiment
based on hypothesis
o To be capable of interconverting a quantity in terms of other forms of
measurement

Chemistry is the study of matter and changes it undergo. It is a field of knowledge

that links all sciences together like medicine, material science, and physics. Hypothesis Hypothesis

The use of chemistry applies to everything around us on a daily basis like the food we
eat, lightbulbs, cellular phones and laptops, television sets, medicines, transportation,
Theory
only to name a few.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD
MATTER
All sciences employ a systematic approach to research called scientific method. The
Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass, and chemistry is the study
data obtained may be both qualitative, consisting of general observations about the
of matter and the changes it undergoes. Matter exists in three states: solid, liquid, and
system, and quantitative, consisting numbers obtained by various measurements of
gas.
the system. The following are the steps in the figure beside.
Solids are rigid objects with definite shapes. Liquids are less rigid and are fluid – they
When experiments were completed, scientists attempt to explain the observed
are able to flow and assume the shape of their containers. Gases are also fluid and can
phenomenon. Based on the data gathered, the researcher formulates a hypothesis or
expand indefinitely.
tentative explanation for a set of observations.
Matter can be interconverted from one form or another with the influence of heat flow.
Hypotheses surviving many experimental tests to confirm their validity can now be
called a theory. A theory is a unifying principle that explains a body of facts and/or
CLASSIFICATION OF MATTER
those laws that are based on them.
SUBSTANCES AND MIXTURES
A law, in science, is a concise verbal or mathematical statement of a relationship
between phenomena that is always the same under the same conditions. A substance is matter that has a definite or constant composition and distinct
properties. Examples include water, ethanol, and table salt. Substances differ from one
another and can be classified by their appearance, smell, taste, and other properties.
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide
A mixture is a combination of two or more substances in which the substances retain
their distinct identities. Unlike pure substances, mixtures do not have constant
composition.
A mixture can either be homogeneous and heterogeneous. A homogeneous mixture
exists when the composition of the mixture is the same throughout the solution. On the
other hand, a heterogeneous mixture exists when the composition is not uniform.
bit.ly/CruzGenChem
All measurable properties of matter could be classified as extensive property and
intensive property. Extensive property depends on how much matter is being
considered. Mass, length, and volume are extensive properties. In addition, extensive
properties of the same substance are additive. Intensive property does not depend on
the amount of matter being considered. Intensive properties can also be obtained by
the ration of two extensive property. For example, density is the ratio of mass to
volume.

Any mixture can be created and then separated by physical means back into pure
MEASUREMENTS
components without changing the identities of the components, for example distillation
process. Chemistry heavily depends on measurements. Measurements that can be carried out
can provide an idea of macroscopic properties, which can be determined directly,
ELEMENTS AND COMPOUNDS and microscopic properties, on the atomic or molecular scale that can be determined
by an indirect method. In order to unify the way of measurement, the International
A substance can either be an element or a compound. An element is a substance that
System of Units (System International d’Unites) is used.
cannot be separated into simpler substances by chemical means. Whenever these
elements interact with one another and combine, they form compounds. Compounds
are substances composed of two or more elements chemically united in fixed BASE QUANTITY NAME OF UNIT SYMBOL
proportions. Length Meter m
Mass Kilogram kg
Matter Time Second s
Electrical Current Ampere A
Temperature Kelvin K
Mixtures Substances Amount of Substance Mole mol
Luminous Intensity Candela cd
The prefixes used with the SI units are tabulated below.
Homogeneous Heterogeneous Compounds Elements
PREFIX SYMBOL MEANING PREFIX SYMBOL MEANING
12
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MATTER Tera- T 10 Centi- c 10-2
Giga- G 109 Milli- m 10-3
Substances are identified by their properties and composition. A physical property
can be measured and observed without changing the composition or identity of a Mega- M 106 Micro- µ 10-6
substance. For example, melting point, boiling point, color, and density. Kilo- k 103 Nano- n 10-9

On the other hand, chemical property is a property observed by carrying out a Deci- d 10-1 Pico- p 10-12
chemical change, thus the original substances will have to be consumed to turn into
chemically different substance. For example, hydrogen and oxygen when burned will
form water. SI-DERIVED UNITS

Page 2 of 10
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide bit.ly/CruzGenChem
Volume is length cubed, so its SI-derived unit is cubic meter (m 3). Another common
non-SI unit of volume is the liter (L). A liter is the volume occupied by one cubic
decimeter (dm3). One liter is equal to 1000 milliliters (mL) or 1000 cubic centimeters
(cm3).

Density is the mass of an object divided by its volume.

m
ρ=
v
(1)

The SI-derived unit for density is kilogram per cubic meter (kg/m 3). This unit is very
large for chemical applications, therefore grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm 3) or grams 3. What is the thickness of a piece of gold foil that has a mass of 1.000 g and
per milliliter (g/mL) are more often used. measures 5.00 cm by 10.00 cm, if the density of gold is 18.9 g/cm3?

SEATWORK

1. Gold is a precious metal that is chemically unreactive. It is used mainly in

jewelry, dentistry, and electronic devices. A piece of gold ingot with a
mass of 257 g has a volume of 13.3 cm3. Calculate the density of gold.

4. The density of copper is 8.94 g/cm 3 at 20°C and 8.91 g/cm 3 at 60°C. The
decrease in density is the result of which of the following? Why?
2. A piece of platinum metal with a density of 21.5 g/cm 3 has a volume of a. The metal expands increasing the volume.
4.49 cm3. What is its mass? b. The metal contracts decreasing the volume.
c. The mass of the metal increases.
d. The mass of the metal decreases.

Page 3 of 10
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide bit.ly/CruzGenChem
this temperature to degrees Celsius.

Temperature is the measure of the average kinetic energy of molecules. Three

temperature scales are currently in use. Their units are degrees Fahrenheit ( ° F ),
degrees Celsius (° C ), and Kelvin ( K ). The Fahrenheit scale defines the normal
freezing and boiling points of water to be exactly 32°F and 212°F, respectively. The
Celsius scale defines the freezing point of water to be 0°C and boiling point of 100°C.
The Kelvin scale is the absolute temperature scale, meaning that the zero on Kelvin
scale is the lowest theoretically achievable temperature, unlike Celsius scale and
Fahrenheit scale that are based on an arbitrarily chosen substance, water.

To convert degrees Fahrenheit to degrees Celsius, the formula used is 3. Mercury, the only metal that exists as a liquid at room temperature, melts
at 238.9°C. Convert its melting point to kelvins.
5
° C= (° F−32 ) ×
9
( 2)

To convert Kelvins to degrees Celsius, the formula used is

K=° C+ 273.15
(3)
SEATWORK

1. Solder is an alloy made of tin and lead that is used in electronic circuits. A
certain solder has a melting point of 224°C. What is its melting point in
degrees Fahrenheit?
4. At what value is degrees Fahrenheit equal to degrees Celsius?

2. Helium has the lowest boiling point of all the elements at 2452°F. Convert

Page 4 of 10
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide bit.ly/CruzGenChem
wherein N is a number between 1 to 10 and n is a positive or negative integer. If the
decimal point has to be moved to the left, then n is a positive integer; if it has to be
5. Convert
a. 327.5°C (the melting point of lead) to degrees Fahrenheit; moved to the right, n is a negative integer.

For example, the number 0.00000025 is written as 2.5×10 -7 and 23200000000 is

written as 2.32×1010.

ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION INVOLVING SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

Numbers written in scientific notation can be added or subtracted to one another if

b. 172.9°F (the boiling point of ethanol) to degrees Celsius; and they have the same exponent n .

SEATWORK

1. 7.4 ×10 3+ 2.1×10 3

c. 77 K, the boiling point of liquid nitrogen, to degrees Celsius.

2. 4.31 ×10 4 +3.9 ×103

HANDLING NUMBERS
There are techniques in dealing with numbers in chemistry: scientific notation and
significant figures.

SCIENTIFIC NOTATION 3. 2.22 ×10−2 −4.10 ×10−3

A gram of hydrogen roughly contains 602,200,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms, with
each atom having a mass of 0.00000000000000000000000166 g. Reporting these
numbers are not convenient to handle, especially when doing arithmetic computations.
To deal with this, scientific notation system is used. It is written in the form of

N ×10n
4. 4.9 × 105−5.8 ×10 4

Page 5 of 10
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide bit.ly/CruzGenChem

3. ( 2.22 ×10−2) ×(4.10 × 10−3 )

5. 4.5 × 104 +1.75 ×106

4. ( 4.9× 105) ÷(5.8 ×10 4)

MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION INVOLVING SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

To multiply numbers expressed in scientific notation, we perform the usual process 5. ( 4.5× 104 ) ×(1.75 ×106 )
with N 1 and N 2, and add the exponents together. For the division process, the same is
done except that the exponents are subtracted to one another.

SEATWORK

1. (7.4 × 103)×(2.1× 103) SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

Obtaining the exact value of the quantity under investigation is often impossible,
except those involving integers. For this reason, the margin of error in a measurement
should indicate the number of significant figures, which are the meaningful digits in a
measured or calculated quantity.

The following are the guidelines in determining the number of significant figures a
number has:
2. ( 4.31×10 4 )÷(3.9 × 103)
1. All nonzero digits are significant.
2. Zeros between nonzero digits are significant.
3. Zeros to the left of the first nonzero digit are not significant. Their purpose is
to indicate the placement of the decimal point.
4. For numbers that do not contain decimal points, the trailing zeros may or may
not be significant. To avoid this ambiguity, scientific notation is used.

Page 6 of 10
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide bit.ly/CruzGenChem

SEATWORK

1. Determine the number of significant figures in the following

measurements:

a. 394 cm
SEATWORK
b. 5.03 g 1. Carry out the following arithmetic operations to the correct number of
significant figures:
a. 12,343.2 g+ 0.1893 g
c. 0.714 m

d. 0.052 kg

e. 2.720×1022 atoms

f. 3000 mL
b. 55.67 L−2.386 L

g. 35 mL

h. 2008 g

i. 0.0580 m3 c. 7.52 m×6.9232

j. 7.2×104 molecules

k. 830 kg

OPERATIONS INVOLVING SIGNIFICANT FIGURES d. 0.0239 kg ÷ 46.5 mL

When multiplying or dividing measured quantities, give as many significant figures

in the answer as there are in the measurement with the least number of significant
figures. When adding or subtracting measured quantities, give the same number of
decimal places in the answer as there are in the measurement with the least number of
decimal places.

Page 7 of 10
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide bit.ly/CruzGenChem

e. 5.21 ×103 cm+ 2.92× 102 cm j. ( 7.55 ×10 4 m ) −( 8.62×10 3 m)

f. 26.5862 L+ 0.17 L
An exact number is a number that arises when you count items or sometimes when you
define a unit. The conventions of significant figures do not apply to exact numbers.

Rounding is the procedure of dropping nonsignificant digits in a calculation result and

adjusting the last digit reported. If the digit is greater than 5, add 1 to the last digit to
g. 9.1 g−4.682 g be retained and drop digits farther to the right. Otherwise, if the digit is less than 5,
simply drop all other digits to the right.

ACCURACY AND PRECISION

To a scientist there is a distinction between accuracy and precision. Accuracy tells us

how close a measurement is to the true value of the quantity that was measured.
Precision refers to how closely two or more measurements of the same quantity agree
with one another.

h. 7.1 ×104 dm ×2.2654 ×10 2 dm

i. 6.54 g ÷ 86.5542 mL
DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS IN SOLVING PROBLEMS
The procedure we use to convert between units in solving chemistry problems is called
dimensional analysis (also called the factor-label method). Dimensional analysis is
based on the relationship between different units that express the same physical
quantity. For example, 1 in = 2.54 cm exactly. This equivalence can be written into a
conversion factor as follows:

Page 8 of 10
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide bit.ly/CruzGenChem

1∈ ¿ ∨ 2.54 cm ¿
2.54 cm 1∈¿ ¿
We choose the conversion factor that cancels the units to the desired ones. In general, 3. A liquid helium storage tank has a volume of 275 L. What is the volume in
to apply dimensional analysis we use the relationship m3?

givenquantity × conversion factor=desired quantity

and the unit cancel as follows

desired unit
givenunit × =desired unit
given unit

SEATWORK

1. A person’s average daily intake of glucose is 0.0833 pound (lb). What is

this mass in milligrams (mg)? (1 lb = 453.6 g)
4. The volume of a room is 1.08×108 dm3. What is the volume in m3?

2. A roll of aluminum foil has a mass of 1.07 kg. What is its mass in pounds?
5. Liquid nitrogen is obtained from liquefied air and is used to prepare frozen
goods and in low-temperature research. The density of the liquid at its
boiling point (-196°C or 77 K) is 0.808 g/cm 3. Convert the density to units
of kg/m3.

Page 9 of 10
General Chemistry I Lecture Guide bit.ly/CruzGenChem

6. The density of the lightest metal, lithium (Li), is 5.34×10 2 kg/m3. Convert
the density to g/cm3.

7. The world’s oceans contain approximately 1.35×10 9 km3 of water. What is

this volume in liters?

Page 10 of 10