GEN CHEM PRELIMS

What are the general hazards in a laboratory?

• Fire
• Breakage of glassware
• Sharps
• Spillages
• Pressure equipment & gas cylinders
• Extremes of heat & cold
• Chemical hazards
• Biological hazards
• Radiation
• And many more!
Laboratory Hygiene
• Never eat, drink or smoke in a laboratory
• Never apply cosmetics
• Never suck pens or chew pencils
• Always wash your hands before you leave and especially before eating
Protecting Yourself
• Wear the clothing and protective wear identified in your risk assessment
• Laboratory coats must be kept fastened
• Do not wear sandals or open shoes
• Long hair must be tied back
• There are many different types of protective glove.
• Use the correct ones for the task you will be doing.
• Select chemical protection gloves according to the materials and/or substances you
will be working.
• Remove your gloves before using a gadget/phone, and leaving the laboratory.
Glassware
• Use correct techniques for the insertion of tubing onto glassware
• Never use glassware under pressure or vacuum unless it is designed for the job and
suitably shielded
• Always dispose of broken glass in a glass bin or sharps bin and not in a general waste
bin
 Examine glassware before each use Never use chipped, cracked, or dirty glassware
 Never handle broken glass with your bare hands. Use a brush and dustpan to clean
up broken glass. Place broken glass in the designated glass disposal container.
 Do not immerse hot glassware in cold water. The glassware may shatter.
Spillages
• Clean up spillage promptly
• You must know how to do this as part of your risk assessment.
• Dispose any hazardous material as toxic waste
Electrical Equipment
 Always check on electrical equipment before use, looking for obvious wear or
defects
• All portable electrical equipment must have a current Portable Appliance Testing“PAT
test” sticker.
• NEVER use defective equipment
General Tidiness
• Keep your workplace tidy. Clear up waste, deal with washing up and put things away
when done.
• Make sure everything is safe before you leave things unattended
• A tidy laboratory saves everyone from accidents.
For ALL chemical splashes, wash with plenty of water for 10 minutes
• Control bleeding with direct pressure, avoiding any foreign bodies such as glass
splinters
• Report all accidents to your teacher or lab personnel
• Solvents and oils must be segregated into the correct waste bottle or drum.
• Organic solvents should be collected in a container with a tight-fitting lid and labeled
as hazardous waste.
• Corrosive liquids, such as strong acids and bases, should be disposed of as
hazardous waste.
• Do not put materials down the drain or in with normal waste unless authorized to do so
The best approach to laboratory waste is preventing its generation.
Laboratory Apparatus and Equipment

Beakers
 Beakers hold solids or liquids that will not release gases when reacted or are
unlikely to splatter if stirred or heated.

Conical Flask or Erlenmeyer Flask

 Erlenmeyer flasks hold solids or liquids that may release gases during a reaction or
that are likely to splatter if stirred or heated.

Florence Flask
Rarely used in first year chemistry - for the mixing of chemicals. The narrow neck
prevents splash exposure.

Volumetric Flasks
 to know precisely and accurately the volume of the solution that is being prepared
Graduated Cylinder
 used to measure volumes of liquids

Separatory Funnel
 for liquid-liquid extractions that separates the components of a mixture into 2
solvent phases of different densities
 The higher density liquid sinks to the bottom and can be drained from a valve,
leaving the less dense liquid in the funnel.

Test Tubes
 to hold, mix, or heat small quantities of solid or liquid chemicals

Test Tube Racks

 for holding and organizing test tubes. After washing, flip test tube over on rack to
dry.
Medicine Dropper
 to transfer a small volume of liquid (less than one mL) On top of a medicine
dropper is a “rubber bulb”

Spatula/Scoopula
 used primarily in chemistry lab settings to transfer solids: to a weigh paper for
weighing, to a cover slip to measure melting point, or a graduated cylinder, or to
a watch glass from a flask or beaker through scraping

Mohr Pipet
 to measure and deliver exact volumes o liquids

Thistle Tubes
 consists of a shaft of tube with a reservoir and funnel-like section at the top
 Thistle tubes are typically used by chemists to add liquid to an existing system or
apparatus. Thistle funnels are used to add small volumes of liquids to an exact
position.

Funnel
 to aid in the transfer of liquid from one vessel to another
Watch Glass
 to hold a small amount of solid, such as the product of a reaction

Thermometer
 is used to measure temperature - A thermometer has two important elements: a
temperature sensor that detects changes in temperature; and some means of
converting the change into a numerical value.

Burette
 graduated glass tube with a tap at one end, for delivering volumes of a liquid
especially in titrations
 It has a stopcock at its lower end and a tapered capillary tube at the stopcock's
outlet. The flow of liquid from the tube to the burette tip is controlled by the
stopcock valve.

Test Tube Holder

 for holding a test tube which is too hot to handle
Beaker tongs
 to move beakers containing hot liquids

Spot Plate
 used when conducting many small-scale reactions at one time

Glass Rod/Stirring Rod

 to manually stir solutions - It can also be used to transfer a single drop of a
solution

Corks
 They are used to close containers to avoid spillage or contamination.

Rubber Stoppers
 Containers must never be heated when there is a stopper in place.
Distillation Apparatus
Distillation is the most commonly used method for the extraction of essential oils. Two
techniques of distillation: water and steam.
Water distillation apparatus consists of
(1) a vessel for plant material and water
(2) a condenser to cool and condense the vapor produced and
(c) a method of collection or ‘receiver’

Reagent Bottle
 are containers topped by special caps or stoppers
 They are intended to contain chemicals in liquid or powder form for laboratories.

Wash Bottle
 used to deliver a washing solution to a specific area
 Wash bottle must only contain distilled water.

Weighing Boats
 weigh solids that will be transferred to another vessel
Digital Balance

Triple Beam Balance

Bunsen Burner
 for the heating of nonvolatile liquids and solids

Strikers
 to light Bunsen burners
 The flints on strikers are expensive. Do not operate the striker repeatedly just to
see the sparks!

Water Bath
 to incubate samples at a constant temperature over a long period of time
 Water bath is a preferred heat source for heating flammable chemicals instead of
an open flame to prevent ignition.
Water Bath Setup

Evaporating Dish
 for the heating of table solid compounds and elements

Crucible and Cover

 for heating certain solids particularly metals, to very high temperatures

Clay Triangle
 a support for porcelain crucibles when being heated over a Bunsen burner

Crucible Tongs
 to hold hot crucibles and to pick up other hot objects NOT to be used for picking
up beakers!
Ring stand
 supports the iron ring when heating substances or mixtures

Utility Clamps
 to secure test tubes, distillation columns, and burettes to the ring stand

Iron Rings
 connect to a ring stand and provide a stable, elevated platform for the reaction.

Wire Gauze
 Wire gauze sits on iron ring to provide a place to stand a beaker

Triangular File
 to primarily cut-glass rod

Mortar and Pestle

 pestle is a tool used to crush, mash or grind materials in a mortar
Physical Quantities & Units
Physical Quantity
 a property of a material or system that can be obtained and quantified by
measurement indicating the appropriate base and unit
 can be expressed as a value consists of numerical magnitude and the unit in
which it is measured: 3.9 grams, 50.0 dL, 19.3 g/cm3
Measurement
 An operation by which an unknown physical quantity is compared with a known
quantity based on standard
ALL MEASUREMENRS NEED BOTH A NUMBER AND A UNIT!!
What do we measure?
Physical Quantities
 Fundamental Quantities & Units
o mass Kelvin
 Derived Quantities
o Density kg/L g/cm3
o Volume L mL cm3
o Pressure Pa mmHg
o Force/Weight N kg.m/s2

Estimation
 Estimation is using your idea of something similar in size or amount to determine
the size of the new object.
o Helps to make a rough measurement of an object
o Useful when you are in a hurry and exact numbers are not required

Precision and Accuracy

 It is necessary to make good, reliable measurements in the lab
 Accuracy – how close a measurement is to the true value
 Precision – how close the measurements are to each other (reproducibility)
 Precision is a description of how close measurements are to each other.
 Accuracy is comparison of a measurement to the actual or accepted value.
Precision, Accuracy, and Error
 Accepted value – the correct value based on reliable references or the physical
quantities with fixed values
o Examples: density & specific heat capacity
  Experimental value – the value obtained in lab experimentations
 Error: Accepted value – Experimental value
 Percent Error: the absolute value of the error divided by the accepted value then
multiplied by 100%

The International System of Units

 The SI after the French name, Le Système International d’Unités
o is a revised version of the metric system
o The SI was adopted by international agreement in 1960.
 All Measurement systems have standards. Standards are exact quantities that
everyone agrees to use as a basis of comparison.
Why use the SI System?
 In the U.S., the English System is used while most of the rest of the world uses
the Metric or SI System.
 The SI (International System of Units) system is the form of measurement
typically used by scientists.
Scientists use the SI System worldwide because:
 Measurements are easily understood by all scientists
 Measurements are easier to convert than the English system
 There are 7 SI base units.
 From these base units, all other SI units of measurement can be derived.
 Derived units are used for Measurements such as volume, density, and pressure.
SI Base Units
Quantity SI Base Units Symbol
 Length Meter m
Mass Kilogram kg
Temperature Kelvin K
Time Second s
Amount of substance Mole mol
Luminous intensity Candela cd
Electric current Ampere A

Commonly Used Physical Quantities

 Length: measures distance between objects
 Mass: measures the amount of matter in an object
 Volume: measures the amount of space something takes up
Other quantities/measurement include:
 time
 temperature
 density
 pH
 specific heat
 specific gravity
 mole
Comparison of the Systems of Measurement
PHYSICAL ENGLISH UNIT SI UNIT METRIC UNIT
QUANTITIES

LENGTH Foot (ft) Meter (m) Meter (m)

MASS Pound (lb) Kilogram (kg) Gram (g)

VOLUME Gallon per cubic ft Cubic meter (m3) Liter (L)

(gal/ft3)

DENSITY Kilogram per cubic Gram per Liter (g/L)

Pound per cubic meter (kg/m3)
foot (lb/ft3)

TEMPERATURE O Fahrenheit Kelvin O Celsius

TIME Second (s) Second (s) Second (s)

In the English system you have to remember so many numbers . . .
 12 inches in a foot
 3 feet in a yard
 5,280 feet in a mile
 16 ounces in a pound
 4 quarts to a gallon
In the SI System you only have to remember one number.
The SI System is based on the number 10.
Some Prefixes Used in SI and Metric Units
Prefix Symbol Value Power

Giga G 1,000,000,000 109

Mega M 1,000,000 106

Kilo k 1000 103

Hecto h 100 102

Deca or Deka da 10 101

Deci d 0.1 10-1

Centi c 0.01 10-2

Milli m 0.001 10-3

micro µ 0.000001 10-6

nano n 0.000000001 10-9

pico p 0.000000000001 10-12

It works for all types of measurement.

 Length then it is the meter (kilometer, decameter, etc.)
 Mass then it is the gram (centigram, milligram, etc.)
Volume then it is the liter (deciliter, hectoliter, etc.)
 The centigram – The first part of the term indicates the amount, the second part
indicates the unit of measurement.
How does conversion of units work?
Unlike the English system converting in the SI System is very easy.
 Example: In the English system, if you wanted to know how many inches in 2
miles what would you do?
1. Take the number of miles (2).
2. Multiply it by the number of feet in a mile (5,280).
3. Multiply that by the number of inches in a foot (12).
ANSWER: 126,720 inches in 2 miles

The SI system is much easier.

Example: In the metric system, if you wanted to know how many centimeters were in 3
meters, what would you do?
1. Find the unit you have (meters).
2. Find the unit you are changing to (centimeters).
3. Count the number of units in-between (2).
4. Move the decimal point that many spaces, in the same direction you counted (right)
3 meters = 300 centimeters
Kilo Hecto Deca UNIT Deci Centi Milli
Moving The Decimal
For measurements that are defined by a single unit such as length, mass, or liquid
volume, etc., simply move the decimal based on the number of places indicated by the
prefix.
Example: 400 m = 40,000 cm 75 mg = 0.075 g
For area measurements, a combination of two dimensions is formed. Move the decimal
twice the number of places.
Example: 2.5 m2 = 2,500,000 mm2
2,321.0 millimeters to meters = 2.321 meters
521.0 grams to hectograms = 5.21 hectograms
378.0 decimeters to kilometer = 0.0378 kilometer
648.0 deciliters to milliliters = 64,800 kilometer
Note: The digits aren’t changing, the position of the decimal is. In the English system
the whole number changes.
Things to Remember
 All measurements require a number and a unit
 Basic units of Measurement (meter, liter, gram)
 Conversion of Units: moving decimal places or use conversion factors
 Measurement Vocabulary: Mastery is a MUST in Chemistry
Metric Measurement: Length
 Length - the distance between two points
o Does not matter if it is width, height, depth, etc.
o All are length measurements.
o Meter - basic unit of length in the SI System
o The meter is about the length of the English yard (3 feet).
o Area is a variation of a length measurement.
 Area = length x width
o Expressed in units2 (m2, cm2 , mm2 and etc.)

List of Prefixes in Common Use For Length

Commonly Used Metric Prefixes

Prefix Symbol Meaning Power

mega M 1 million times 106

larger than the unit
it precedes
kilo k 1000 times larger 103
than the unit it
precedes
deci d 10 times smaller 10-1
than the unit it
precedes
centi c 100 times smaller 10-2
than the unit it
precedes
milli m 1000 times smaller 10-3
than the unit it
precedes
 micro μ 1 million times 10-6
smaller than the
unit it precedes
nano n 1 billion times 10-9
smaller than the
unit it precedes
pico p 1 trillion times 10-12
smaller than the
unit it precedes

Units of Length
 the prefix milli- means 1/1000 (one-thousandth), so
 1 millimeter (mm) = 1/1000 of a meter or
 = 0.001 m
 For large distances, it is most appropriate to express measurements in
kilometers = (km).
 The prefix kilo- means 1000, so
o 1 km = 1000 m

Measurement: Conversion of Units

easy peasy hack
To change from
 large unit to small unit – MULTIPLY
 small unit to a large one - DIVIDE
SI/Metric Measurement: Volume
Volume is a measurement of the amount of space something takes up.
 The basic unit used for volume is the liter. This unit is used for the volumes of
liquids.
 Volumes of solids are figured using this formula:
(L)ength x (W)idth x (H)eight
cm x cm x cm = cm3
 Objects without a definite length, width or height (a rock for example), can use
water displacement to determine volume.
 Note: 1 mL = 1 cm3
Units of Volume
  These pictures give the idea of the relative sizes of a liter and a milliliter
5 cm x 10 cm x 20 cm
volume = 1000 cm3 = 1 Liter
Water Displacement Method:
 measures the volume of an irregularly shaped object
vol of water with the object =
vol of water without the object =
difference between 2 volumes = volume of the irregularly shaped object
Common Metric Units of Volume

Unit Symbol Relationship Example

Liter L base unit quart of milk ≈ 1 L

Milliliter mL 103 mL = 1 L 20 drops water ≈ 1

mL
Cubic Centimeter cm3 1 cm3 = 1 mL cube of sugar ≈ 1
cm3
Microliter μL 103 μL = 1 L table salt crystal ≈ 1
μL

10 cm x 10cm x 10cm volume = 1000 cm3 = 1000 mL = 1 Liter

Conversion Factors For Volume

Metric Measurement: Mass

 Mass is a measurement of the amount of matter in an object. Metric unit is gram.
 Weight is the pull of gravity on an object.
o There are 454 grams in 1 pound (lbs).
o Weight and mass are related, but NOT the same.
 Weight = mass x gravity (gravity = 9.8 m/s2)
 The greater the mass, the larger the pull of gravity.
Which is heavier . . .
A kilogram of feathers or a kilogram of lead?
Which one takes up more space (volume)?
 They are both one kilogram so they weight the same, but it takes more feathers
than lead to equal one kilogram!
 We say the lead is more dense than the feathers.
Density is how much matter is in something (mass), compared to the amount of space it
takes up (volume).
 Every substance has a density of constant value
 Density can be used to figure out what an unknown substance is.
 The density of water is 1 g/cm3
The formula for density is:
 Mass (grams) divided by Volume (cm3 )
 So the unit for density is g/cm3
Metric Measurement: Temperature
Temperature: a measure of the kinetic energy of the atoms in an object.
 Temperature is measured in Celsius or Kelvin.
 Celsius ranges from 0 (freezing) to 100 (boiling).
 Kelvin scale begins at absolute zero, or 0 K. At 0 Kelvin no more heat can be
removed from an object (Absolute Zero Temp = -273.15 °C)
 K = 0C + 273.15
 Freezing point in Kelvin = 273.15 K
 Boiling point in Kelvin = 373.15 K
Specific Gravity
 The specific gravity of a substance is the density of this substance divided by the
density of water, which is 1.00 g/mL.
 Unitless quantity

Specific gravity =1 water

>1 Sinks in water
<1 Floats in water

 SG of urine = 1.003 - 1.030 (depending on the state of hydration)

 Normal urine SG is mainly related to urea & sodium
DECREASE OF SG
 Diabetes insipidus (SG = 1.002-1.003)
 Chronic renal failure
  Compulsive water drinking
INCREASE OF SG
 Diabetes mellitus (glucosoria)
 Nephrotic syndrome (proteinuria)
 Fever
 Dehydration
 Adrenal insufficiency
 Congestive heart failure
 Hepatic diseases
Converting Measurements
• Metric - Metric
 multiples of 10
 move decimal or use conversions
• English -Metric
 conversion factors
 unit cancellation method

Reminder: Steps to Problem Solving

 Read the problem and identify the data
 Write down a unit plan from the initial unit to the desired unit
 Choose the appropriate conversion factors
 Change initial unit to desired unit
 Cancel units and check
 Do math on calculator if you have trust issue with your own Math prowess = )
 Express answers using the concept of significant figures

Dimensional Analysis
 more specifically called factor-label method aka the unit-factor method
 a widely used technique for such conversions using the rules of algebra
 includes the relationships between different physical quantities through their base
quantities (length, mass, time, and etc.) and the units of measure (mi vs. km or
lbs vs. kg)
 The conversion of units from one dimensional unit to another is often easier
within metric or SI system than in others, due to the regular 10-base in all units.
Conversion: Metric <-> English
• When converting between US and metric units it is necessary to use proportions or
conversion factors.
• For instance, the measurement 12 inches (in) is converted to cm. The conversion
factor is 1 in = 2.54 cm is written as a ratio

Temperature
 the measurement of the average kinetic energy of a substance
 The KE arises from the motion of atoms and molecules.
 Absolute Zero temperature = 0 Kelvin Temperature
The trivial answer is “0 degree,” but what exactly does that mean?
It is postulated that at absolute 0 there is no motion and therefore, no KE. the
temperature must be “absolute 0.”
The question remains:
 How much colder is absolute 0 than 0 °C?
 Using the Celsius system for its measurement of degrees, Lord Kelvin (William
Thomson) calculated the ultimate cold temperature to be -273.15 °C.
 Today that is referred to as 0 K on the Kelvin thermodynamic temperature scale.
Modern methods have refined the measurement to -273.15 °C.
Absolute Zero Temperature
 Absolute Zero Temperature = 0 K = –273.15 °C
Temperature Scales
 Because 1 degree on the Celsius scale is equivalent to 1 Kelvin on the Kelvin
scale, converting from one temperature to another is easy.
 Simply add or subtract 273. 15
K = 0C + 273.15
0C = K – 273.15
Density
 The relationship between an object’s mass and its volume tells us whether it will
float or sink.
 the ratio of the mass of an object to its volume
  A mass per unit volume
 SI unit of density is kilogram per cubic meter (kg/m3)

Density
 When mass is measured in grams, and volume in cubic centimeters, the unit of
density then is grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm3).
 As mass increases in a given volume, density also increases.
Examples:
 Lead, with its greater mass, has greater density than the same volume of air.
 A brick has a greater density than the same volume of Styrofoam.
This figure compares the density of four substances: lithium, water, aluminum, and lead.
 an intensive property that depends only on the composition of a substance, not
the size of the sample
 The volume of substances will change with temperature, so accurate volume
measuring devices are calibrated at a given temperature - usually 20 0C, which
is about normal room temperature.
Because of differences in density, liquids separate into layers.
 Corn oil floats on top of water because it is less dense.
 Corn syrup sinks below because it is more dense.

Densities of Some Common Materials At 20°C

Solids and Liquids Gases

Material Density at (g/cm3) Material Density at (g/L)

Gold 19.3 Chlorine 2.95

Mercury 13.6 Carbon dioxide 1.83

Lead 11.3 Argon 1.66

Aluminum 2.70 Oxygen 1.33

Table sugar 1.59 Air 1.20

Corn syrup 1.35–1.38 Nitrogen 1.17

Water (4°C) 1.000 Neon 0.84

Corn oil 0.922 Ammonia 0.718

Ice (0°C) 0.917 Methane 0.665

Ethanol 0.789 Helium 0.166

Gasoline 0.66–0.69 Hydrogen 0.084