UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE

CHEMISTRY III
INORGANIC CHEMISTRY
FIRST SEMESTER
S.Y. 2020-2021

Module 1. Introduction to The Study of Chemistry

De Asis, Oda De Guia

Faculty, Physical Sciences Department
 Module 1
Introduction to the Study of Chemistry

What is Chemistry?
Chemistry is the study matter and the changes it undergoes. In a broader sense,
chemistry is the study of matters – its composition, structure, properties, transformation from
one form to another and the energy that accompanies its transformation.

Objective:
At the end of this module, you should be able to;
1. Define chemistry, science and scientific method.
2. Explain the role of chemistry in life and environment.
3. Discuss the brief history of chemistry.
4. Differentiate pure and applied chemistry
5. Discuss the different branches in chemistry
6. Derive scientific notation, demonstrate the use of significant figure, rounding
of answers and calculations involving significant figures.
7. Differentiate accuracy and precision.

What is Science?
Science comes from the Latin word scire meaning “to know”. Science is a systematized
body of facts which has been accumulated and organized to serve as a basis for the discovery of
general truth.

Scientific method is the process of gathering scientific knowledge. This consist of

identifying the problem, collective facts and data by the observation of natural events,
correlate the facts into a tentative theory called a hypothesis, then test the hypothesis to either
show that is either correct or find where it is wrong.

If after extensive experimentation the hypothesis proven to be true, a scientific law is

proposed. The scientific law is thus a statement of the behaving nature.
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 The Role of Chemistry in Everyday Life and Environment:

• Chemistry as a central science is necessary to understand other science, improvement

of quality life, economic development, production of consumer product, and a naturally
beneficial relationship with Mother Earth.
(Chemistry by Estrella Mendoza, etal)

History of Chemistry: as summarized by Red more (1980)

a. Prehistoric man – used metals and made pottery and bricks.
b. 400 BC – beginning of chemistry as a science, four elements (earth, fine air and water)
theory proposed.
c. First century – combination of the arts of the Egyptians and the Greeks; first book of
chemistry written in Egypt; also the beginning of alchemy in China. Alchemy is the result
of the union of the philosophical tradition of ancient Greece and the craft tradition of
ancient Egypt (331 BC)
d. Twelfth century – alchemy reached Europe, through Spain
e. Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – chemistry applied to medicine (iatrochemistry)
study of gases begun; quantitative experiment begun; Boyle studied gases and criticized
the basic ideas of alchemy in his book the Skeptical Chemist.
f. Eighteenth Century – Phlogiston theory proposed; oxygen discovered (1774); careful
quantitative work by Lavoisier generally described as the beginning of modern
chemistry
g. Nineteenth and twentieth centuries – atomic theory (Dalton), periodic law and theories
of the nature of matter; further development and applications of these theories is
correctly taking place.

Branches of Chemistry
Chemistry is divided into two; pure chemistry (theoretical and predicts results of
experiment or observations) and applied chemistry (involves the practical applications of
materials and reactions).
Chemistry may be categorized into five major branches:
Inorganic Chemistry is the study of matter that consists of all of the elements and compounds
other than carbon or organic compounds.

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Organic Chemistry is the study of matter that is composed mainly of carbon. Majority of
compounds in living organism are organic compounds. The petrochemical, pharmaceuticals,
and textile industries deal almost exclusively with organic chemistry.

Biochemistry is the study of life at the molecular level and the processes associated with life.

Analytical Chemistry it is concerned with the different techniques and laboratory methods to
determine the composition matter.

Physical Chemistry is the study of the application of physical laws to chemical change and
chemical systems. It gives the theoretical basis of the behavior of matter.

Scientific Notation

Scientific notation is mathematical shorthand used to express very large or very small
numbers. It is called powers of 10 or exponential notation. (base number 10, raised to some
power)
A positive exponent indicates the number of times a certain number is multiplied by 10.
It means the number of places the decimal point must be moved to the right.

For Example:
2.3 x 105 (meaning 2.3 is multiplied by 10 fifth times as in 2.5 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10)

A negative exponent indicates the number of times the number is divided by 10. This means the
number of places the decimal point must be moved to the left

For Example:
6 x 10-2 (meaning 6 is divided by 10, two times as in 6 : 10 : 10 = 0.06)

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 Some more Examples:

Scientific Notation
24000 2.4 x 104 moved decimal point, 4 places to the
left.
23,035.2 2.30352 x 104 moved decimal point, 4 places
to the left
30 3.0 x 101 moved decimal point, 1 place to the
left
0.00025 2.5 x 10-4 moved decimal point, 4 places to
the right
-0.0123 1.23 x 10-2 moved decimal point, 2 places to
the right

Significant Figure
Measurement are either exact or inexact. Exact number are obtained from counting
object or part of a definition. Example: 1 inch is 2.54cm, 2 eyes, 1 nose…

Inexact number are obtained from measurements that contain some uncertainty,
depending on the limits of accuracy of the measuring instrument used. For example a platform
balance is used for rough weighing where accuracy not greater than 0.1 gram is required. Triple
beam balance is used when accuracy of not greater than 0.01 gram is required while analytical
balance is used for accuracy up to 0.0001 gram.

Significant figures are digits in any measured value that are known with certainty plus
one final digit that is estimated and hence uncertain.

The following rules apply in using significant figure:

1. All nonzero digits are significant
Ex: 1.32 Three significant figures
2,385 Four significant figures
2. All zeroes between nonzero digits are significant
Ex: 2,308 Four significant figures
4.0056 Five significant figures

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 3. Zeroes to the left of nonzero digits are not significant but are used to indicate the
decimal point position.
Ex: 0.0025 Two significant figures
0.0549 Three significant figures
4. Zeroes to the right of the last nonzero digit are significant.
Ex: 32.0 Three significant figures
54.30 Four significant figures
5. If a nonzero digit has no decimal point and contains zeroes, then zeroes are not
significant.
Ex: 52000 Two significant figures
8,000,000 One significant figure
6. A number expressed in scientific notation; all coefficient digits are significant.
Ex: 1.240 x 103 Four significant figures
4
4.03 x 10 Three significant figures

Rounding Off
Rounding off numbers is done to avoid reporting too many digits of value hence give
the correct number of significant figures.

Rules in rounding off numbers:

a. If the digit to be eliminate is 5 or more, we add one to the preceding number
b. If the digit to be eliminate is less than 5 dropped it then the preceding number remain
the same.

Examples:
23.714 Round off to three significant figures becomes 23.7
23.714 Round off to two significant figures becomes 24
0.3450 Round off to two significant figures becomes 0.35
5,000,000 Round off to two significant figures becomes 5.0 x 106
-456.588 Round off to five significant figures becomes -456.59

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Calculations, Involving Significant Figures

Multiplication and Division

In multiplication and in division, the answer must be rounded off with the same number
of significant figures as in the values with the least number of significant figures.
Example: 2.123 (4 significant figures)
x 2.3 (2 significant figures-least)
6 369
+ 4 240
4.8769

The answer is 4.9 (2 significant figures)

Addition and Subtraction

In addition, and in subtraction, the answer should be rounded off so as to contain the
same number of decimal places as in the number with the least number of decimal places.
Example: 12.342 contain three decimal places
x 3.12 contain two decimal places
15.462

Final answer is 15.46 rounded to two decimal places

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 Combine Math Operations
In combined math operations it is conventional to round off the final value to
contain only as many significant figures as in the value with the least significant figures.

Example: 1.24/1.2 + 1.1111 = 2.1444

The answer is 2.1 (since 1.2 has the least significant figure which is 2)

Accuracy and Precision

The difference between accuracy and precision in measurement.
Precision – is a measure of how closely individual measurements agree with one another.
Accuracy – tell us how closely individual measurements agree with the true value.

Refer to the data presented by the three groups of students in three triads:

Trials Group A Group B Group C

1 0.99g/ml 0.72g/ml 1.03g/ml
2 1.01g/ml 0.71g/ml 0.72g/ml
3 0.98g/ml 0.73g/ml 0.84g/ml
Average 0.993g/ml 0.72g/ml 0.86g/ml
Note: True Value = 1.00g/ml

The measurement of group A has high accuracy because the set of measurement is
close to the true value.
The data of group B has high precision because the data agree with each other
but has poor accuracy.
The data of group C show low precision and poor accuracy.

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Suggested Readings:

• Precision, Accuracy and Significant Figure. Brown Theodore, Le May.

Jr. Eugene H. , Bursten, Bruce, E. Chemistry. The Central Science, 7 th
education Prentice – Hall International, Inc. 1998 – Singapore.
• Uncertainty in Measurement. Zundahl, Steven S. Chemistry pp.7-8. 1986
D.C. Health and Company. Canada.
• Htpps://www.mathsisfun.com/rounding-numbers.html#:
:text=Rounding%means…
• www.t.soka.ac.jp,/chem/iwanami/inorg/IN0_0001.PDF

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