Chap 1 Generalities 1

Chapter I: Generalities
I.1. Aspect of Matter

Chemistry is a science that focuses on the structure of matter and the transformations it can undergo.
Matter is omnipresent around us and includes everything that has mass and volume. It can exist in
three different physical states: solid, liquid, or gas.
The solid state is characterized by atoms or molecules strongly bonded to each other, giving the solid
a well-defined volume and shape on a macroscopic scale. A solid object maintains its shape and
dimensions even in the absence of external force.
In a liquid, atoms or groups of atoms remain close to each other, but they are less tightly bonded than
in a solid. As a result, a liquid does not have its own shape and takes the shape of the container that
holds it.
Finally, in a gas, molecules are widely spaced from each other, which means a gas has neither its own
shape nor its own volume.
Phase Changes: Figure 1 shows the phase changes between different states.
Figure 1: Main State Changes of Matter
I.2. Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Mixtures : A mixture is a substance composed of several

different components. There are two types of mixtures:
Homogeneous Mixture: is a type of mixture in which the different substances that compose it cannot
be distinguished with the naked eye. Homogeneous mixtures are characterized by a single visible
phase, which can be gaseous, liquid, or solid.
Example: Salt and water
Heterogeneous Mixture: is a type of mixture that contains components in different phases. Example:
Water and table oil.
The various techniques used to separate the components of these mixtures include filtration,
decantation, centrifugation, chromatography, distillation, precipitation, and so on.
I.2.1. Solution
A liquid solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent in excess and solutes in small
quantities relative to the solvent.
When a volume of a solution is diluted, the amount of solute remains constant. The product of
molarity and the volume (in liters) gives the moles of solute in the solution. Writing C i for the initial
molar concentration and Vi for the initial volume of solution, you get:
Moles of solute (ni) = Ci Vi
When the solution is diluted by adding more water, the concentration and volume change to C f (the
final molar concentration) and Vf (the final volume), and the moles of solute is equal to:
Moles of solute (nf) = Cf Vf

Because the moles of solute has not changed during the dilution (ni = n f ), hence :
(CV) i = (CV) f
We can also define the dilution factor by calculating the ratio: f = Vf / Vi = Ci / Cf
I.3. Pure substances: Elements and Compounds

Elements and compounds are the two kinds of substances: a substance is a matter whose composition
is fixed.
Simple pure substance (or element): It consists of only one type of atoms, whether they are bonded
together in molecules or not, (e.g., Fe, He, O2 , N2, O3, P4, S8 ).
Compound : It is formed from several types of atoms chemically bonded together (e.g., CO 2, NaCl).
The relationships between elements, compounds, and other categories of matter are illustrated in
Figure 2.
Figure 2: Relationships among elements, compounds, and mixtures
I.4. Molecule and Atom

A molecule is a group of atoms (at least two), whether identical or not, bonded together through
chemical bonds.
An atom is the fundamental building block of matter. It is infinitely small.
I.5. The Mole: The mole is the amount of substance in a system that contains NA identical entities
(Avogadro's number, approximately equal to 6.022 x 1023 mol-1). One mol of atoms corresponds to NA
atoms.
The number of moles of a species "i" is calculated as ni = mi / Mi [mol], where "mi" is the mass of the
substance "i" in grams and "Mi" is the molar mass of substance "i" in grams per mol.
I.6. Atomic and molecular molar mass (M): The atomic molar mass is the mass of one mole of
atoms of an element, and the molecular molar mass is the sum of the atomic molar masses of the
elements that compose a molecule.
Example: The molar atomic mass of a carbon atom C is M C = 12 g/mol. The molar molecular mass of
H2O is equal to 2MH + MO = 2(1) + 16 = 18 g/mol.
If we want to calculate the mass of a single carbon atom, we use Avogadro's number, NA. One mole
contains M = 12 g of carbon. NA atoms of C weigh 12 g, so the mass of a single carbon atom C, mC =
12 g / NA = 1.99 x 10 - 23 g.
To make things more suitable for the scale of the infinitesimally small, we use the atomic mass unit
(amu). By definition, this unit is equal to one-twelfth of the mass of a carbon-12 atom, which is used
as the reference atom: 1 amu = mC / 12.
This last equation gives us: mC = 12 amu, and we know that MC = 12 g/mol.
MC = NA * mC , 12 (g/mol) = NA (mol-1) * 12 (amu)
1 amu = (1/NA) g.
The numerical value of the atomic or molecular molar mass is equal to the atomic or molecular mass
expressed in atomic mass units (amu). Therefore, the values indicated in the periodic table represent
the atomic masses in atomic mass units (amu) as well as the molar masses in grams per mole (g/mol).
Example: The atomic mass of the oxygen atom (O) is equal to 15.9994 amu, consequently, the molar
mass of oxygen is equal to 15.9994 g/mol.
I.7. Molar concentration (C) or Molarity: It is the number of moles (n) of solute dissolved per liter
of solution.
C = n / V (mol/L or M) with n = m / M.
I.8. Mass concentration (Cm): It represents the mass (m) of solute dissolved per liter of solution. The
unit of mass concentration commonly used is "g/L".
Cm = m / V (g/L).
The relationship between C and Cm is expressed as follows:
Cm = C * M.
I.9. Molar and mass fractions

Molar fraction or mole fraction is a quantity defined as the ratio between the amount of a constituent
substance, ni (expressed in unit of moles, symbol mol), and the total amount of all constituents in a
mixture. A molar fraction is a dimensionless number. If we denote "ni" as the amount of substance of
compound "i" and "xi" as its molar fraction, the latter is calculated using the relationship below:
xi = ni / nT
where ni is the number of moles of compound "i" and nT is the total number of moles.
The mass fraction of compound "i" is the ratio of its mass to the total mass of the mixture, mT.
mi
wi  ,avec m i  mT et w  1 i
m
i 1
i
i 1 i 1
I.10. density (specific mass) (ρ) and relative density (or specific gravity) (d):
At a specific temperature, the density of a substance is calculated by dividing its mass by its volume.
m

V
With m representing the mass of the solution and V the volume of the solution:
[ρ] = [g/cm3] or [g/ml]
The relative density of a substance is the specific mass of the substance divided by the specific mass of
the reference substance at the same temperature.
For liquids and solids: dsubstance = ρsubstance / ρwater (dimensionless).
For gases: dgas = ρgas / ρair (dimensionless).

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Chapter I: Generalities

I.1. Aspect of Matter

Figure 1: Main State Changes of Matter

I.2. Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Mixtures : A mixture is a substance composed of several

Example: Salt and water

Moles of solute (nf) = Cf Vf

We can also define the dilution factor by calculating the ratio: f = Vf / Vi = Ci / Cf

I.3. Pure substances: Elements and Compounds

Figure 2: Relationships among elements, compounds, and mixtures

I.4. Molecule and Atom

An atom is the fundamental building block of matter. It is infinitely small.

The relationship between C and Cm is expressed as follows:

I.9. Molar and mass fractions

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