General Chemistry

Matter and measurements

Lecturer: Dr. Mohammad Ali Sahraei

Faculty of Engineering, Civil Engineering

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 What Is Chemistry?
• Chemistry is the study of matter-what it
consists of, what its properties are, and how it
changes.
• For Example: being able to describe the
ingredients in a cake and how they change
when the cake is baked is called chemistry.

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 What Is Matter ?
• Matter is anything that has mass and takes up
space-that is, anything that is physically real.
Some things are easily identified as matter such
as book. Others are not so obvious. For
example: some things move so easily through
air, we sometimes forget that it, too, is matter.

• Composition: Parts or components of a matter. For

example: H2O, 11.19% H and 88.81% O

• Properties: Qualities or attributes that we can use to

distinguish one sample of matter from the other. The
properties of matter are generally grouped into two
broad categories: physical and chemical.
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 Physical and Chemical properties and changes:

 Physical properties:
• color,
• Malleability: A malleable material is one in which
a thin sheet can be easily formed by hammering.
Gold is the most malleable metal.
• Ductility

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 Physical and Chemical properties and changes:

• Chemical Properties:
• One or more kinds of matter are converted to new
kinds of matter with different compositions,
• Change in composition e.g. burning a sheet of
paper, Zinc and gold reaction with HCl

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 Decomposition: A chemical change

• The decomposition of compounds into their

constituent elements is a more difficult matter
than the mere physical separation of mixtures.

• A chemical compound
retains its identity during
physical changes, but it can
be decomposed into its
constituent elements by
chemical changes.

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 Decomposition: A chemical change

• ammonium dichromate, when heated,

decomposes into the substances chromium(III)
oxide, nitrogen, and water. This reaction, can
be used in movies to simulate a volcano.

Video about
Decomposition

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 Classification of Matter

• Matter is made of atoms. Each different type of

atom is the building block of a different chemical
element.

• 118 elements. About 90% available from natural

sources. The remainder do not occur naturally and
have been created only in laboratories.

• Compounds are comprised of atoms of two or

more elements. Scientists have identified millions
of different chemical compounds. In some cases,
we can isolate a molecule of a compound.
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 Classification of Matter

• Molecules are the smallest units of compounds

having the same proportions of the
constituent atoms as does the compound as a
whole.

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 Classification of Matter

substance compounds Elements

• The composition and properties of an element

or a compound are uniform throughout a given
sample and from one sample to another.

• Elements and compounds are called

substances.

• In the chemical sense, the term substance

should be used only for elements and
compounds.
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 Classification of Matter

homogeneous mixture heterogeneous mixture

• A mixture of substances can vary in composition and

properties from one sample to another. One that is
uniform in composition and properties throughout is
said to be a homogeneous mixture or a solution.
 Example: solution of sugar in water, Ordinary air,
Seawater , Gasoline is a homogeneous mixture

• In heterogeneous mixtures, the components separate

into distinct regions. Thus, the composition and
physical properties vary from one part of the mixture
to another.
 Example: Salad dressing, sand and water, and the leaf
of a plant are all heterogeneous.
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Classification of Matter

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 Separating Mixtures: a physical process

• Homogeneous mixtures

 Sieving : Sieving is a simple technique for separating

particles of different sizes. A sieve such as used for
sifting flour has very small holes. Depending upon the
types of particles to be separated, sieves with different
types of holes are used. Sieves are also used to separate
stones from sand.

 Filtration: Filtration is the process of separating

suspended solid matter from a liquid, by causing the
latter to pass through the pores of some substance,
called a filter. The liquid which has passed through the
filter is called the filtrate. The filter may be paper,
cloth, cotton-wool, glass-wool and so on.
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 Separating Mixtures: a physical process

• Heterogeneous mixtures

 Distillation: Distillation, process involving the

conversion of a liquid into vapour that is subsequently
condensed back to liquid form. It is exemplified at its
simplest when steam from a kettle becomes deposited
as drops of distilled water on a cold surface.

 Chromatography : is a separation science based on the

differing abilities of compounds to adhere to the
surfaces of various solid substances, e.g. paper.

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 The Measurement of Matter

• Chemistry is a quantitative science, which means that

in many cases we can measure a property of a
substance and compare it with a standard having a
known value of the property. We express the
measurement as the product of a number and a unit.
• SI, the international system of measurements
• Common name: the metric system
• Four units:
1- Length
2-Volume
3- Mass
4- Temperature

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The Measurement of Matter

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 The Measurement of Matter

 Length
• In the SI system, the unit of length is the meter
• A meter is slightly longer than a yard
• Precise definition is the distance light travels

 Volume
 Volume is related to length
 Units of volume:
• Cubic centimeters
• Liters
• Milliliters 1 mL = 1 cm3

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 The Measurement of Matter

• Volume

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 The Measurement of Matter

• Graduated cylinder
• Pipet or buret
Used when greater accuracy is required

Pipet Buret

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The Measurement of Matter

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 The Measurement of Matter

 Mass
• In the metric system, mass is expressed in grams
• Powers of ten modify the unit
e.g. Milligrams, 0.001 g = 1*10-3
e.g. Kilograms, 1000 g =1*103

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 The Measurement of Matter

 Temperature

• Factor that determines the direction of heat flow

• Temperature is measured indirectly

 Observing its effect on the properties of a substance

 Mercury in glass thermometer
 Mercury expands and contracts in response to
temperature

 Digital thermometer
 Uses a device called a thermistor
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 The Measurement of Matter
 Temperature Units
 Degrees Celsius Scale
 Water freezes at 0 °C
 Water boils at 100 °C

 The Fahrenheit Scale

 Water freezes at 32 °F
 Water boils at 212 °F

 The Kelvin Scale

 Kelvin temperature scale, a temperature scale having
an absolute zero below which temperatures do not
exist. Absolute zero , or 0°K, is the temperature at
which molecular energy is a minimum, and it
corresponds to a temperature of −273.15° on the
Celsius temperature scale .
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The Measurement of Matter

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The Measurement of Matter

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The Measurement of Matter

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 The Measurement of Matter

• Density: is defined as the mass of an object divided by

its volume (mass/volume); it describes the amount of
matter contained in a given amount of space.

• The units of density are the units of mass divided by the

units of volume: g/cm3 or g/mL (for solids and liquids),
g/L (for gases), kg/m3 , and so forth.
• For example, the density of water is about 1.00 g/cm3 ,
while the density of mercury is 13.6 g/mL. (Remember
that 1 mL equals 1 cm3.) Mercury is over 13 times as
dense as water, meaning that it contains over 13 times
the amount of matter in the same amount of space. The
density of air at room temperature is about 1.3 g/L.
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The Measurement of Matter

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 Converting Units

• The ability to convert from one unit to another is an

important skill.
• For example, a nurse with 50 mg aspirin tablets who
must administer 0.2 g of aspirin to a patient needs to
know that 0.2 g equals 200 mg, so 4 tablets are needed.
Fortunately, there is a simple way to convert from one
unit to another.

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Converting Units

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 Converting Units

• Sometimes you will have to perform more than one

conversion to obtain the desired unit.

• For example, suppose you want to convert 54.7 km into

millimeters. You can either memorize the relationship
between kilometers and millimeters, or you can do the
conversion in steps. Most people prefer to convert in
steps.

• To do a stepwise conversion, we first convert the given

amount to the base unit.

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 Converting Units

• For example, suppose you want to convert 54.7 km into

millimeters. You can either memorize the relationship
between kilometers and millimeters, or you can do the
conversion in steps. Most people prefer to convert in
steps.

• We first convert the given amount to the base unit. In

this example, the base unit is meters. We know that
there are 1,000 m in 1 km:

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Converting Units

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Questions

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 Course Material And References

 Averill B, Eldredge P. (2011) General chemistry:

principles, patterns, and applications.

 Introduction to Chemistry: General, Organic, and

Biological
(https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/introduction-
to-chemistry-general-organic-and-biological/)

 https://openstax.org/details/books/chemistry-2e

 Ebbing D. (2010) General chemistry,

https://www.pdfdrive.com/general-chemistry-
e57949886.html

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