REVISION NOTES FOR S3 CHEMISTRY TEST 1

To facilitate the revision of your test, the main points from the textbook are extracted and re-organised in this
revision notes.

PLEASE DO READ THE TEXTBOOK DURING YOUR REVISION AS WELL.

much more information which allows you to answer more difficult questions.

1. Hazard Warning Labels (P.20)

Hazard warning labels are used for labelling dangerous chemicals.

2. Common Laboratory Apparatus (P.21)

The textbook contains

3. Classification of Matter: Pure substance and Mixture (P.5-13)

Matter is anything which has a mass and occupies space. Matter can be classified into pure
substances and mixtures.

A single substance that has nothing else mixed with it is a pure substance. A mixture consists
of two or more pure substances which have not been chemically joined together.
Table 3.1 Some examples of pure substances

Pure copper wire

Chlorine

Table 3.2 Some examples of mixtures

Soda water

Wine

Coins

A mixture of water and

carbon dioxide

A mixture of water, alcohol

and other substances

A mixture of different metals

4. Classification of matter: Elements and Compounds (P.5-13)

Pure substances can further be classified into elements and compounds.
ELEMENTS:

Elements are substances which cannot be broken down into anything simpler by chemical
methods.

Fig. 4.1 Examples of some commonly found elements

COMPOUNDS
Although there are millions of different substances in the world, every substance is made up
of one or more of the 118 known elements.
Compounds are substances composed of two or more elements chemically combined
together.
Today, millions of compounds are known and the number keeps growing. Table 4.1 shows
the constituent elements and the common uses of some common compounds.

Table 4.1 Examples of some common compounds

Compound

Constituent elements

Common use(s)

Ammonia

Calcium carbonate

Sodium hydroxide

hydrogen and nitrogen

calcium, carbon and oxygen

sodium, hydrogen and

oxygen

carbon, hydrogen and

oxygen

hydrogen and oxygen

glass cleanser, fertilizer

calcium supplement tablets

drain cleanser

Sugar

Water

flavouring

cooling and cleaning

Once the elements react to become a compound, the properties changes greatly.
shows the differences between a mixture and a compound.

Table 4.2

Table 4.2 Main differences between a mixture and a compound

Mixture

Compound

1 Composition by
mass

substances in a mixture can be the amounts of elements in a

mixed
together
in
any compound are in a fixed ratio
proportion

2 General
properties

properties similar to those of properties very different from

the substances making up the those of the elements in it
mixture

3 Melting point
and boiling point

does not have a sharp melting has a sharp melting point and
point and boiling point
boiling point

4 Separating the
constituents

constituents can be separated can only be separated into its

by simple physical methods constituents elements by chemical
(e.g. evaporation, distillation)
methods (e.g. heating, electrolysis)

5. Classifying Elements by Physical States (P.85)

Among all elements, only mercury and bromine are liquids under room temperature and
pressure.
All of the metals (e.g. copper, iron, gold etc.) are solid except mercury.
Non-metals could be a gas, a liquid or a solid.

6. Classifying Elements into Metals and Non-metals (P.86, 87)

We can classify elements in many different ways. We can use the properties of an element to
classify it as a metal or a non-metal. Most of the elements are metals.
Table 6.1 Comparing the general properties of metals and non-metals
Property

Metals

Non-metals

State at room temperature

solids (except mercury)
and pressure

a few solids (e.g. carbon,

sulphur); many gases (e.g.
nitrogen, oxygen) but only
one liquid (bromine)

Melting and boiling points

usually high

often low

Appearance

shiny

usually dull if they are solids

Electrical conductivity

good conductors

Heat conductivity

good conductors

Effect of bending
hammering

non-conductors

(except

graphite)
poor conductors

and can be bent or hammered

brittle if they are solids
into shape
(malleable and ductile)

7. Semi-metals (Metalloids) (P.88)

Some elements have properties similar to metals and non-metals at the same time. They
are classified as semi-metals (also called metalloids). Silicon is one of the semi-metals.
Table 7.1 Some properties of silicon
Property

Silicon (a semi-metal)

State at room temperature and pressure

solid

Melting and boiling points

high

Appearance

grey and shiny crystals,

or brown powder
crystalline form conducts electricity,

Electrical conductivity

brown powder form does not conduct

electricity

Effect of bending and hammering

brittle

8. Symbols of Elements (P.91)

To help communications between scientists coming from different countries, the elements
are usually represented by some symbols.
of the elements.

Some symbols are taken from the Latin names

Table 8.1 Symbols for some common elements

Symbol (first
Element

Symbol (two

Symbol (taken

letter of the

Element

letters from the

Element

from the Latin

name)

name)

Carbon

Aluminium

Al

Copper

Cu

Hydrogen

Argon

Ar

Iron

Fe

Nitrogen

Calcium

Ca

Potassium

Oxygen

Chlorine

Cl

Sodium

Na

Sulphur

Magnesium

Mg

Silicon

Si

name)

9. Structure of Atoms (P.94)

Atoms consist of a nucleus and some electrons that move around the nucleus. The electrons
move at an extremely high speed, so the electrons actually look like an electron cloud
The nucleus itself contains two types of particles: protons and neutrons. Protons, neutrons
and electrons are called subatomic particles.

10. Atomic Number and Mass Number (P.99, 100)

ATOMIC NUMBER
The atomic number of an element is the number of protons in an atom of that element.
An atom has equal numbers of protons and electrons.
Each element has a unique atomic number, which is used to identify the element.

Table 10.1 Number of subatomic particles in atoms of the 20 simplest elements

Atom

Symbol

Number of protons
(atomic number)

Number of neutrons

Number of electrons

Hydrogen

Helium

He

Lithium

Li

Beryllium

Be

Boron

Carbon

Nitrogen

Oxygen

Fluorine

10

Neon

Ne

10

10

10

Sodium

Na

11

12

11

Magnesium

Mg

12

12

12

Aluminium

Al

13

14

13

Silicon

Si

14

14

14

Phosphorus

15

16

15

Sulphur

16

16

16

Chlorine

Cl

17

18

17

Argon

Ar

18

22

18

Potassium

19

20

19

Calcium

Ca

20

20

20

* There is no trend to predict the number of neutrons in Form 3 level.

** You are not required to memorise the numbers in Test 1
MASS NUMBER
The mass number of an atom = No. of protons + No. of neutrons

Atom

Atomic
number

Mass number

Fluorine

Boron

Phosphorus

Table 10.2

Number of
protons

neutrons

electrons

9 + 10 = 19

10

5 + 6 = 11

15

15 + 16 = 31

15

16

15

Mass numbers of some elements

REPRESENTING AN ELEMENT IN A MORE COMPLETE WAY

The symbol, atomic number and mass number of an element can be represented like this:

* The mass number is always on top and has a value larger than atomic number *

Table 10.3 Including atomic numbers and mass numbers in element

11. Isotopes (P.101-103)

Isotopes are different atoms of an element which have the same number of protons but a
different number of neutrons.
* No atom in answer, no mark *
The isotopes of an element have different physical properties but same chemical
properties.
Table 11.1 Isotopes of some elements
Element

Hydrogen

Carbon

Name of
isotope

Symbol

Number of

Mass
number

protons

neutrons

electrons

2
1

Tritium

3
1

Carbon-12

12
6

12

Carbon-13

13
6

13

Carbon-14

14
6

14

Protium

1
1

Deuterium

12. Relative Isotopic Mass & Relative Atomic Mass (P.104-106)

RELATIVE ISOTOPIC MASS
Since the relative masses of proton and neutron are not exactly 1 (1.007 and 1.009
respectively), calculations will be easier if the numbers are simplified.
The relative isotopic mass of a particular isotope of an element is the relative mass of one
atom of that isotope on the 12C = 12.000000000 scale.
*** No 12C = 12.000000000 scale, no mark ***
The relative isotopic mass of an isotope is roughly equal to its mass number.
RELATIVE ATOMIC MASS
Since most elements have 2 or more isotopes, the relative isotopic masses are always
averaged using their relative abundances (the percentages of the isotopes in nature).
The relative atomic mass of an element is the weighted average of relative isotopic masses
of all the naturally occurring isotopes of that element on the 12C = 12.000000000 scale.
*** No 12C = 12.000000000 scale, no mark ***
CALCULATING RELATIVE ATOMIC MASS / RELATIVE ABUNDANCE (P.106)
You MUST read and fully understand the methods on Example 5.5 (P.106)