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CHAPTER 2
Basic concepts in Chemistry
• Matter-anything that occupies space and has
weight. Three states of matter-solid, liquid and
gas. The amount of matter is termed-mass.
• Elements-smallest unit of matter. There are 92
naturally occurring elements. Chemical symbols.
Refer to tab2-1 pg. 32 for elements present in the
living organism and their significance.
ATOMS
• Atoms-smallest unit of element that retains
properties of the element.
• nucleus and electron cloud
• electrons, protons and neutrons
• atomic number and mass number
• isotopes
• energy levels
Atoms
• Ions: charged atoms. Cations and anions
• Molecules: combination of two or more
atoms with a bond.
• Free radicals
• compounds: a substance that can be broken
to two or more elements. eg. water.
Chemical Bonds
• Ionic Bond:attraction between two
oppositely charged atoms (ions), cation and
anion.
• Covalent bond:bond formed by sharing of
electrons.
• Hydrogen bond: a weak attractive force
between hydrogen of one molecule and
oxygen or nitrogen of another.
Chemical Reactions
• Definition: when new bonds form and old
bonds break between atoms.
• reactants and products
• metabolism-anabolism and catabolism
• work
• energy- kinetic and potential
• endergonic vs. exergonic
Types of Reactions
• Decomposition: AB------>A + B-catabolism
• synthesis: A + B --------> AB-anabolism
• exchange: AB + CD --------> AC + BD
• reversible: A+ B -------> AB
• redox: loss of electrons oxidation
– gain of electrons-reduction
Inorganic compounds
• Water and its properties
– high heat capacity
– surface tension
– good solvent
– hydrolysis reactions
– lubricant
• aqueous solutions: all nutrients etc. carried in
the blood in the form of aqueous solutions.
Acids, Bases & Salts
• acids, bases and salts
– acids are substances that release hydrogen ions.
– Bases are substances that release hydroxyl ions or accept
hydrogen ions.
– Salts release ions other than hydrogen or hydroxyl.
• pH-measure of hydrogen ion concentration in the
solution. It is a negative log scale. Acids have pH
below 7 and bases have pH above 7.
Buffers