APPLIEDCHEMISTRY

2019/2020
KALULU MULENGA
MSc. SEU, CHINA, BSc.Ed, UNZA
 Basic Concept in Chemistry
 We will deal on the fundamentals structure of
the atom, the isotopes and their relative
abundances, chemical formulae and chemical
equations, and the mole concept.
 It is not intended to cover the history of the
discovery of the atomic sub-particles. Perhaps
the best theory that introduces the ATOM is
the Dalton’s Atomic Theory whose summary
is given below.
 The Theory Says:
 Elements are composed of extremely small
particles called atom. Now we know that an
atom has three sub-atomic particles: electrons,
protons and neutrons.
 Atoms of a given element have identical size,
mass and chemical property. Atoms of one
element are different from atoms of other
elements.
 The Theory Says:
 Compounds are composed of atoms of more
than one element combined in small whole-
number ratios.
 A chemical reaction involves only the
separation; combination or rearrangement of
atoms; it does not result in their creation or
destruction. This postulate is true for chemical
reaction and not for nuclear reactions.
The Atom
 An atom is the basic unit of an element that can
enter into chemical combination.
 It contains its chemical identity through all
chemical and physical changes.
 A molecule contains two or more atoms bounded
together in very tiny discrete units or particles that
are eclectically neutral.
 On the other hand, a compound is a substance
composed of the atoms of two or more elements.
 For example Cl2 is a molecule and not a compound,
because there is only one type of element in it.
 This includes P4, O2, S8 and so on.
 NO2 is both a molecule and a compound. [It is a
molecule since it has 3 atoms present; and it is a
compound since 2 different elements are present.]
 The overall structure of an atom shows it is made up
of subatomic particles, namely electrons, protons and
neutrons.
 Mass and Charge of Sub-atomic
Particles.
Particle Mass (g) Charge
Electron 9.1095 ×10-28 Negative (-)
Proton 1.6726 × 10-24 Positive (+)
Neutron 1.6750 × 10-24 Neutral
 Note the masses can also be expressed in atomic mass unit (amu).
 The atomic mass unit (amu) is 1/12 the mass of carbon -12 (12C), atom =
1.661 × 10-24 g.
 Since atoms are electrically neutral, a given atom contains as many
electrons as protons.
 That is number of protons = number of electrons
ATOMIC STRUCTURE
Interpreting Chemical Symbol
 Isotopes
 Atoms of the same element with different mass
numbers.
• Nuclear symbol:

Mass # 12

Atomic # 6 C
• Hyphen notation: carbon-12
 Isotopes Neutron

+ + +
Electrons
Nucleus
+ Nucleus
+ + Proton

Proton

+ +
Nucleus
Neutron

Carbon-12 +
Neutrons 6 + +
Electrons

Protons 6
Electrons 6 +

Carbon-14
Neutrons 8
Protons 6 Nucleus
Electrons 6
6Li 7Li

3 p+ 2e– 1e–
3 p+ 2e– 1e–
3 n0 4 n0

Neutron Neutron

Electrons Electrons
Nucleus + Nucleus
+
+ + Proton + + Proton

Nucleus Nucleus

Lithium-6 Lithium-7
Neutrons 3 Neutrons 4
Protons 3 Protons 3
Electrons 3 Electrons 3
 17
Cl
37

Isotopes
 Chlorine-37
 atomic #: 17
 mass #: 37
 # of protons: 17 37



# of electrons:
# of neutrons:
17
20
17 Cl
 Relative Atomic Mass
 12 C atom = 1.992 × 10-23 g
• atomic mass unit (amu)
• 1 amu = 1/12 the mass of a 12C atom Neutron

+ + +
• 1 p = 1.007276 amu Nucleus
Electrons

+
1 n = 1.008665 amu + + Proton

1 e- = 0.0005486 amu
Nucleus

Carbon-12
Neutrons 6
Protons 6
Electrons 6
 Average Atomic Mass
 weighted average of all isotopes
 on the Periodic Table
 round to 2 decimal places

Avg. (mass)(%) + (mass)(%)

Atomic =
Mass 100
 Average Atomic Mass
 EX: Calculate the avg. atomic mass of oxygen if its
abundance in nature is 99.76% 16O, 0.04% 17O, and 0.20%
18O.

Avg.
(16)(99.76) + (17)(0.04) + (18)(0.20) 16.00
Atomic = =
Mass 100 amu
 Average Atomic Mass
 EX: Find chlorine’s average atomic mass if
approximately 8 of every 10 atoms are chlorine-35
and 2 are chlorine-37.

Avg. (35)(8) + (37)(2)

Atomic = = 35.40 amu
Mass 10
 100 17
Mass spectrum of chlorine. Elemental chlorine (Cl2) contains
only two isotopes: 34.97 amu (75.53%) and 36.97 (24.47%)
Cl
90 35.4594

80 Cl-35
70
AAM = (34.97 amu)(0.7553) + (36.97 amu)(0.2447)
60 AAM = (26.412841 amu) + (9.046559 amu)
Abundance

AAM = 35.4594 amu

50

40

30 Cl-37
20

10

0
34 35 36 37
Mass
 Mass Spectrophotometer

magnetic field

heaviest
ions
stream
of ions of
different lightest
masses ions

electron
gas
beam
 Weighing atoms
gas sample ions accelerate magnetic field
enters here towards charged deflects lightest ions
. slit most

filament current
ionizes the gas

The first mass spectrograph was

built in 1919 by F. W. Aston, who
received the 1922 Nobel Prize for
this accomplishment

ions separated by mass

expose film

• mass spectrometry is used to experimentally determine isotopic masses

and abundances
• interpreting mass spectra
• average atomic weights
- computed from isotopic masses and abundances
- significant figures of tabulated atomic weights gives some idea
of natural variation in isotopic abundances
Copyright © 1997-2005 by Fred Senese