INTRODUCTION TO

CHEMISTRY
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The students should be able to:
 Explain the significance of chemistry in the field
of engineering
 Explain the scientific method
 Explain the three level of
understanding/perspective in chemistry
 Express numbers in scientific notations
 Apply the rules of significant figures in
measurements
 Solve problems related to temperature, mass,
volume and density
 Apply accuracy and precision in measurements
ACCREDITATION BOARD FOR
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (ABET)
 A professional organization that oversees
engineering education
 Defines ENGINEERING

“Engineering is the profession in which the

knowledge of mathematical and natural sciences
gained by study, experience and practice is
applied with judgement to develop ways to utilize
economically the materials and forces of nature
for the benefit of mankind.”
SIGNIFICANCE OF CHEMISTRY
Chemistry plays an important role in many areas of
engineering and technology
 Selection of materials and designs of structures (CE)

 Essential in the understanding of how electrons flow

as basis of electricity (ECE,EE)
 Chemical reactions involve in the manufacturing of
different products (food, beverages, pharmaceuticals,
cosmetics, polymers, plastics, paints, etc) (CHE)
 Experimental research and development of new
products like drugs and alternative sources of energy
 Design machines and other equipment (ME)

 Solutions to environmental problems

DEFINITION OF CHEMISTRY
 a branch of physical science, that deals with the
study of the composition, properties and changes
in matter
 Chemistry is sometimes called "the central
science" because of its role in connecting the
physical sciences, with the life sciences and
applied sciences such as medicine and
engineering
 Chemistry is an empirical science and is studied
by:
 Measuring physical properties and observing
chemical reactions.
 Models are created to explain observations and
organize collected data.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
 Chemistry as science employs scientific method
 A systematic approach to research

 Orderly and systematic approach to gather

information in order to answer questions about
the world
 Make observations of nature.

 Derive a hypothesis or build a model in response to

observations.

 Construct experiments to bolster or refute hypothesis

or model.
MODELS IN SCIENCE
 Models refer to a largely empirical description.

 Gas pressure is proportional to temperature.

 Theories are explanations grounded in some

more fundamental principle or assumption about
the behavior of a system.

 Relationship between gas pressure and temperature

explained using kinetic energy.

 Laws are sufficiently refined, well tested, and

widely accepted theories.
THE STUDY OF CHEMISTRY
 Thestudy of chemistry involves
three levels of understanding, or
three perspectives.

 Macroscopic

 Microscopic

 Symbolic
MACROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVE

 Matter is anything that

has mass and can be
observed.

 Matter is observed
through their
properties and changes
MICROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVE
 Matter is
composed of
unimaginably
small particles
called atoms that
retain the
chemical identity
of the element
they represent.
SYMBOLIC PERSPECTIVE
 Chemical Symbols
are used to represent
elements
 Chemical Formula is
used to represent
compounds
 Chemical Equations
are used to represent
pure aluminum, Al
chemical reactions
aluminum oxide,
Al2O3
NUMBERS AND MEASUREMENTS IN
CHEMISTRY
 Chemists quantify data, expressing collected data
with units and significant figures.

 Units - designate the type of quantity measured.

 Prefixes - provide scale to a base unit.

 Significant Figures - indicate the amount of

information that is reliable when discussing a
measurement.
UNITS

 The base unit designates the type of quantity

being measured.

 SI units (from French Système International)

are the base units of science.

 Some units comprise combinations of these base

units and are termed derived units
 1 J = 1 kg m2 s-2
PREFIXES
 Prefixes are used with base units to report and
understand quantities of any size.
 Prefixes are based on multiples of 10.
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
 All digits reported are considered significant except
for certain types of zeros.
 When a zero establishes the decimal place, it is not
significant.
 51,300 m (3 significant figures)
 0.043 g (2 significant figures)

 A zero is significant when it follows a decimal point

or when it occurs between other significant figures.
 4.30 mL (3 significant figures)
 304.2 kg (4 significant figures)

 All numbers are significant when written in correct

scientific notation.
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

Scientific notation is used to easily write very

small and very large numbers.

Factor out powers of ten

54,000 = 5.4  10 4

5
0.000042 = 4.2  10
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
 For calculated values, the number of significant figures
should be consistent with the data used in the calculation.

 For multiplication and division, the number of

significant figures in a result must be the same as the
number of significant figures in the factor with the
fewest significant figures.

 For addition and subtraction, the number of significant

figures are determined from the position of the first
uncertain digit.
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

0.24 kg  4621 m = 1100 kg m or 1.1 10 3 kg m

4.882 m
+ 0.3 m
5.2 m
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
 When counting discrete objects, the result has no
ambiguity. Such measurements use exact
numbers. They have infinite significant figures.

 two pennies would be 2.000000…

 Exactly defined terms, such as metric prefixes,

are also considered exact numbers.
PROBLEM SOLVING IN CHEMISTRY AND
ENGINEERING

 There are several categories of problems:

 Calculations involving ratios

 Conceptual understanding of particulate level

 Visualization of phenomena on different levels

DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
 also known as factor label method
 uses a Conversion Factor- a fraction whose
numerator and denominator are the same
quantity expressed in different units

 Given quantity x conversion factor = desired quantity

Given unit x desired unit = desired unit

Given unit
EXAMPLE PROBLEMS
Convert the following:
1. 57.8 m to cm

2. 0.250 kg to g

3. 500 mL to L

4. 2.5L to mL

5. 5.8 cm to in

6. 50 lb to kg

7. 5. 0 miles/s to km/hr
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES COMMOLY
MEASURED IN CHEMISTRY
 MASS
 VOLUME
 TEMPERATURE
 DENSITY
MASS
 Mass is the measure of quantity of matter
contained in an object
 Mass of an object can be measured readily with a
balance, is the process called weighing
 Mass is different from weight

Weight is the force that gravity exerts on an

object

1kg = 1000g
VOLUME
 Volume is length (m) cubed
 Units for volume

solid samples m3
1cm3 = 1 x 10-6 m3
1dm3 = 1 x 10-3 m3

Liquid samples 1L = 1000 mL

= 1000 cm3
= 1 dm3
Gas samples L or mL
DENSITY
 Density - ratio of an object’s mass to its
volume.

d=m/v

 Temperature- and compound-specific

 Allows conversion between mass and

volume.

 Units:

Solid: g/cm3
Liquid: g/mL
Gas: g/L
EXAMPLE PROBLEMS
 A piece of gold with a mass of 301g has a volume of
15.6 cm3. Calculate the density of gold.
 A piece of platinum metal with a density of 21.5 g/
cm3
has a volume of 4.49 cm3. What is its mass?
 Calculate the density of liquid which has a volume
of 28mL and a mass of 26.4g.
EXAMPLE PROBLEM

 In the determination of the density of a rectangular

metal bar, a student made the following
measurements: length 8.53 cm; width 2.4 cm; height
1.0 cm, mass 52.7064g. Calculate the density of the
metal bar.
 A silver object with a mass of 194.3g is placed in a
graduated cylinder containing 242.0 mL water. The
volume of water with the object now reads 260.5
mL. Determine the density of the silver object.
PROBLEMS RELATED TO DENSITY
 The density of water at 25ºC is 0.997 g per mL. A
child’s swimming pool holds 346 L of water at
this temperature. What mass of water is in the
pool?
TEMPERATURE
 Property of the body which determines the flow of
heat
 It is the measure of intensity or how energetic
each particles of the sample is
TEMPERATURE SCALES
 Systems for measuring temperature, defined by
choosing two reference points and setting a fixed
number of degrees between them
 Common temperature scales include:

Fahrenheit
Celsius
Kelvin
Rankine
TEMPERATURE

 Temperature is measured using the Fahrenheit,

Celsius, and Kelvin (absolute) temperature scales.
KELVIN SCALE
 The absolute temperature scale
 Based on the idea of absolute zero, the theoretical
temperature at which all molecular motion stops
and no discernable energy can be tested
 Absolute zero is defined as 0 K on Kelvin scale,
which is a thermodynamic (absolute)
temperature scale and the coldest temperature
theoretically possible
 No negative numbers on the Kelvin scale, thus it
is convenient to use when measuring extremely
low temperatures in scientific research
TEMPERATURE SCALE
CONVERSION

o
F = (1.8  o
C) + 32

o
C = ( o F -32)/1.8

o
K = C + 273.15

o
C = K - 273.15
PROBLEMS RELATED TO
TEMPERATURE
 Helium has the lowest boiling point of all the
elements at -452 oF. Convert this temperature to
oC and K

 Solder is an alloy made of tin and lead that is

used in electronic circuit. It has a melting point
of 224 oC. What is the melting point in oF and K.

 Mercury, the only metal that exists as liquid at

room temperature, melts at -38.9 oC. Convert the
melting point to oF to K.
ACCURACY AND PRECISION
 Accuracy - how close the observed
value is to the “true” value.

 Precision- the spread in values

obtained from measurements; the
reproducibility of values.
ACCURACY AND PRECISION
ACCURACY PRECISION
correctness reproducibility
Check by using different method Check by repeating measurements

Poor accuracy results from Poor precision results from poor

procedural or equipment flaws techniques
Poor accuracy is associated with Poor precision is associated with
systematic error
MEASUREMENTS
 Measurements can
have poor precision
and poor accuracy.

 Darts are
scattered
evenly across
the board.
MEASUREMENTS
 Measurements can have
good precision and poor
accuracy.

 Darts are clustered

together.

 But darts are clustered

far from the bulls-eye.
MEASUREMENTS
 Measurements can
have good precision
and good accuracy.

 Darts are clustered

together, and

 darts are clustered

close to or on the
bulls-eye.
RESULTS OF MEASUREMENTS
Trial Group A Group B Group C
1 99.99g 95.50g 97.50g
2 99.98g 95.60g 95.50g
3 99.99g 95.55g 96.50g
Average 99.99g 95.55g 96.50g
ERRORS IN MEASUREMENTS
 Measurements contain one of two types of errors:

 Random Error - may make a measurement randomly

too high or too low. (e.g., variation associated with
equipment limitations)

 Systematic Error - may make a measurement

consistently too high or too low. (e.g., the presence of
an impurity)