THE FIRST UNITING CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

SENIOR HIGHSCHOOL DEPARTMENT

GENERAL CHEMISTRY
GRADE 11
TOPIC: Properties of Matter

FIRST SEMESTER -QUARTER 1- WEEK 1 AND 2

TO THE LEARNERS
Here are some reminders as you use this module:
✓ Use the module with care especially in turning each page.
✓ Be reminded to answer the Pre-Test/Motivational Activity before moving on to the
Learning Module.
✓ Read and comprehend the directions in every exercises.
✓ Observe honesty in answering the tests and exercises.
✓ Do not put unnecessary mark/s on any part of this material.
✓ Try to finish a given activity before proceeding to the next.
Lesson 1 and 2: Properties of Matter
Matter, the “stuff” of which the universe is composed, has two characteristics: it has
mass and it occupies space. Matter comes in a great variety of forms: the stars, the air that you
are breathing, the gasoline that you put in your car, the chair on which you are sitting, the meat
in the sandwich you may have had for lunch, the tissues in your brain that enable you to read
and comprehend this sentence, and so on. To try to understand the nature of matter, we classify
it in various ways. For example, wood, bone, and steel share certain characteristics. These
Things are all rigid; they have definite shapes that are difficult to change. On the other hand,
water and gasoline, for example, take the shape of any container into which they are
poured.
The substances we have just described illustrate the three states of matter: solid, liquid,
and gas. The state of a given sample of matter depends on the strength of the forces among the
particles contained in the matter; the stronger these forces, the more rigid the matter.

Physical and Chemical Properties and Changes

When you see a friend, you immediately respond and call him or her by name. We can
recognize a friend because each person has unique characteristics or properties. The
person may be thin and tall, may have black hair and brown eyes, and so on. The
characteristics just mentioned are examples of physical properties. Substances also have
physical properties. Typical physical properties of a substance include odor, color, volume, state
(gas, liquid, or solid), density, melting point, and boiling point. We can also describe a pure
substance in terms of its chemical properties, which refer to its ability to form new
substances. An example of a chemical change is wood burning, giving off heat and gases and
leaving a residue of ashes. In this process, the wood is changed to several new
substances. Other examples of chemical changes include the rusting of the steel, the digestion
of food in our stomachs, and the growth of grass in our gardens. In a chemical change a given
substance changes to a fundamentally different substance or substances.
Matter can undergo changes in both its physical and its chemical properties. To illustrate
the fundamental differences between physical and chemical changes, we will consider water. A
sample of water contains a very large number of individual units (called molecules), each made
up of two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen—the familiar H2O. This molecule can be
represented as

Where the letters stand for atoms and the lines show attachments (called bonds)
between atoms, and the molecular model (on the right) represents water in a more three-
dimensional fashion. What is really occurring when water undergoes the following changes?
 When ice melts, the rigid solid becomes a mobile liquid that takes the shape of its
container. Continued heating brings the liquid to a boil, and the water becomes a gas or vapor
that seems to disappear into “thin air”. In ice the water molecules are locked into fixed positions
(although they are vibrating). In the liquid the molecules are still very close together, but some
motion is occurring; the positions of the molecules are no longer fixed as they are in ice. In the
gaseous state the molecules are much farther apart and move randomly, hitting each other and
the walls of the container.

The most important thing about all these changes is that the water molecules are still
intact. The motions of individual molecules and the distances between them change, but H2O
molecules are still present. These changes of state are physical changes because they do not
affect the composition of the substance. In each state we still have water (H2O), not some other
substance.

Now suppose we run an electric current through water (electrolysis). Something very
different happens. The water disappears and is replaced by two new gaseous substances,
hydrogen and oxygen. An electric current actually causes the water molecules to come apart—
the water decomposes to hydrogen and oxygen. We can represent this process as follows:
 This is a chemical change because water (consisting of H2O molecules) has changed
into different substances: hydrogen (containing H2 molecules) and oxygen (containing O2
molecules). Thus in this process, the H2O molecules have been replaced by O2 and H2
molecules.
Elements and Compounds
As we examine the chemical changes of matter, we encounter a series of fundamental
substances called elements. Elements cannot be broken down into other substances by
chemical means. Examples of elements are iron, aluminum, oxygen, and hydrogen. All of the
matter in the world around us contains elements. The elements sometimes are found in an
isolated state, but more often they are combined with other elements. Most substances contain
several elements combined together.
The atoms of certain elements have special affinities for each other. They bind together
in special ways to form compounds, substances that have the same composition no matter
where we find them. Because compounds are made of elements, they can be broken down into
elements through chemical changes:

Water is an example of a compound. Pure water always has the same composition (the
same relative amounts of hydrogen and oxygen) because it consists of H2O molecules. Water
can be broken down into the elements hydrogen and oxygen by chemical means, such as by
the use of an electric current.
Each element is made up of a particular kind of atom: a pure sample of the element
aluminum contains only aluminum atoms, elemental copper contains only copper atoms, and so
on. Thus an element contains only one kind of atom; a sample of iron contains many atoms, but
they are all iron atoms. Samples of certain pure elements do contain molecules; for example,
hydrogen gas contains H - H (usually written H2) molecules, and oxygen gas contains O - O
(O2) molecules. However, any pure sample of an element contains only atoms of that element,
never any atoms of any other element.
A compound always contains atoms of different elements. For example, water contains
hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms, and there are always exactly twice as many hydrogen
atoms as oxygen atoms because water consists of H-O-H molecules. A different compound,
carbon dioxide, consists of CO2 molecules and so contains carbon atoms and oxygen atoms
(always in the ratio 1:2).
A compound, although it contains more than one type of atom, always has the same
composition—that is, the same combination of atoms. The properties of a compound are
typically very different from those of the elements it contains. For example, the properties of
water are quite different from the properties of pure hydrogen and pure oxygen.
Mixture and Pure Substances
Virtually all of the matter around us consists of mixtures of substances. For example, if
you closely observe a sample of soil, you will see that it has many types of components,
including tiny grains of sand and remnants of plants. The air we breathe is a complex mixture of
such gases as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. Even the sparkling water
from a drinking fountain contains many substances besides water.
A mixture can be defined as something that has variable composition. For example,
wood is a mixture (its composition varies greatly depending on the tree from which it originates);
wine is a mixture (it can be red or pale yellow, sweet or dry); coffee is a mixture (it can be
strong, weak, or bitter); and, although it looks very pure, water pumped from deep in the earth is
a mixture (it contains dissolved minerals and gases).
 A pure substance, on the other hand, will always have the same composition. Pure
substances are either elements or compounds. For example, pure water is a compound
containing individual H2O molecules. However, as we find it in nature, liquid water always
contains other substances in addition to pure water—it is a mixture. This is obvious from the
different tastes, smells, and colors of water samples obtained from various locations. However,
if we take great pains to purify samples of water from various sources (such as oceans, lakes,
rivers, and the earth’s interior), we always end up with the same pure substance—water, which
is made up only of H2O molecules. Pure water always has the same physical and chemical
properties and is always made of molecules containing hydrogen and oxygen in exactly the
same proportions, regardless of the original source of the water. The properties of a pure
substance make it possible to identify that substance conclusively. Mixtures can be separated
into pure substances: elements and/or compounds.
MIXTURE  TWO OR MORE PURE SUBSTANCE
For example, the mixture known as air can be separated into oxygen (element), nitrogen
(element), water (compound), carbon dioxide (compound), argon (element), and other pure
substances.
Mixtures can be classified as either homogeneous or heterogeneous. A
homogeneous mixture is the same throughout. For example, when we dissolve some salt in
water and stir well, all regions of the resulting mixture have the same properties. A
homogeneous mixture is also called a solution. Of course, different amounts of salt and water
can be mixed to form various solutions, but a homogeneous mixture (a solution) does not vary
in composition from one region to another.

The air around you is a solution. It is a homogeneous mixture of gases. Solid solutions
also exist. Brass is a homogeneous mixture of the metals copper and zinc. A heterogeneous
mixture contains regions that have different properties from those of other regions. For example,
when we pour sand into water, the resulting mixture has one region containing water and
another, very different region containing mostly sand.
 ACTIVITY SHEET

NAME: _______________________________________GRADE/STRAND: __________________

TEACHER: ARSENIO R. ZAMORA QUARTER: 2 WEEK: 3 and 4

Written Task
I. Determine if the statement describes a physical property or chemical property. Fill in
the table with correct statement.
a. The boiling point of a certain alcohol is 78 °C.
b. Diamond is very hard.
c. Sugar ferments to form alcohol.
d. A metal wire conducts an electric current.

PHYSICAL PROPERTY CHEMICAL PROPERTY

II. Classify the following as a pure substance – element or compound, or a mixture –

homogeneous or heterogeneous.
a. Gasoline
b. Stream with gravel at the bottom
c. Air
d. Brass
e. Copper metal

PURE SUBSTANCE MIXTURE

ELEMENT COMPOUND HOMOGENEOUS HETEROGENEOUS

Performance Task
Read the following questions carefully. Please answer them to the best of your ability.
1. If powdered elemental zinc and powdered elemental sulfur are poured into a metal
beaker and then heated strongly, a very vigorous chemical reaction takes place, and the
zinc sulfide was zinc sulfide is formed. Is zinc sulfide an element or compound?
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2. Pure substance X is melted, and the liquid is placed in an electrolysis apparatus
such as that shown in Figure 1.3. When an electric current is passed through the liquid,
a brown solid forms in one chamber and a white solid forms in the other chamber. Is
substance X a compound or an element?
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3. If a piece of white chalk is heated strongly in a flame, the mass of the piece of chalk will
decrease. Eventually, the chalk will crumble into a fine white dust. Does this change
suggest that the chalk is composed of an element or a compound? Why?
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