Measurements provide quantitative information that is critical in studying and practicing chemistry.

A measurement is a collection of quantitative or numerical data that describes a property of an

object or event. A measurement is made by comparing a quantity with a standard unit.

Fundamental or basic dimensions/units are those that can be measured independently and are
sufficient to describe essential physical quantities.

Derived dimensions/units are those that can be developed in terms of the fundamental
dimensions/units.

Accuracy refers to how close a measurement is to the true or accepted value.

Precision refers to how close measurements of the same item are to each other.

Chemistry – study of matter and the changes it undergoes.

A substance is a sample of matter whose physical and chemical properties are the same throughout
the sample because the matter has a constant composition.

An element is a substance that cannot be separated into simpler substances by chemical means.

A compound is composed of atoms of two or more elements chemically united in fixed

proportions.

A mixture is a combination of two or more substances in which the substances retain their distinct
identities.

Intensive property: Any characteristic of matter that does not depend on the amount of the
substance present.

Extensive property: Any characteristic of matter that depends on the amount of matter being
measured.

Physical changes only change the appearance of a substance, not its chemical composition.

Chemical changes cause a substance to change into an entirely new substance with a new chemical
formula. Chemical changes are also known as chemical reactions. The “ingredients” of a reaction are
called reactants, and the end results are called products.

Many physical changes are reversible (such as heating and cooling), whereas chemical changes are
often irreversible (burning, cooking, rusting,rotting) or only reversible with an additional chemical
change.

The law of conservation of mass states that no atoms can be created or destroyed in a chemical
reaction, so the number of atoms that are present in the reactants has to balance the number of
atoms that are present in the products.

Electrochemical energy is defined as “the energy which converts electrical energy to chemical
energy and vice versa.”
Electromotive force or emf (E) is a measure of voltage, not force

In simple terms, enthalpy is a measure of the heat content of a chemical or physical system.

Thermodynamics will enable us to determine whether or not a reaction will occur when reactants
are brought together under a specific conditions example temperature, pressure and concentration.

Entropy is a tendency in nature to proceed in a direction that increases the randomness of a system.

Entropy is a thermodynamic property that is the measure of a system’s thermal energy per unit
temperature that is unavailable for doing useful work.

Nuclear chemistry is the subdiscipline of chemistry that is concerned with changes in the nucleus of
elements. It is the study of reactions that involve changes in nuclear structure.

Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity through his investigations of uranium and other
substances. His work with uranium salts lead to the conclusion that the minerals gave off some sort
of radiation.

Ernest Rutherford discovered alpha, beta, and gamma radiation (1899)

Electrostatic force is the force that cause opposite electrical charges to attract each other. Opposite
charges attract, similar charges repel.

Strong nuclear force is the strongest of the four basic forces

Neutrons increase the attraction from the strong force without increasing electrostatic repulsion
between nucleons.

Nuclei with even number of protons and/or neutrons are more likely to be stable than those with
odd numbers of protons and/or neutrons.

A balanced nuclear reaction indicates that there is a rearrangement of subatomic particles (instead
of atoms) during a nuclear reaction.

The total of the mass numbers of the reactants equals the total of the mass number of the
products.

Radioactivity refers to the property exhibited by certain types of matter of emitting energy and
subatomic particles spontaneously.

Calorimetry is the science or act of measuring changes in state variables of a body for the purpose of
deriving the heat transfer associated with changes of its state due, for example, to chemical
reactions, physical changes, or phase transitions under specified constraints.

Latent heat, energy absorbed or released by a substance during a change in its physical state
(phase) that occurs without changing its temperature.

The latent heat of fusion is the heat required to change the solid from solid to liquid state without
any change in temperature.
The latent heat of vaporization is the heat required to change the liquid from liquid to vapor state
without any change in temperature.

Combustion is a reaction in which a substance reacts with oxygen gas, releasing energy in the form
of light and heat. It must involve O2 as one reactant.

Fuel is a combustible substance, containing carbon as the primary constituent which on reaction
gives large amount of heat which can be used for different purposes such as domestic and industrial
use.

Fuels are dense repositories of energy that are consumed to provide energy services such as
heating, transportation and electrical generation.

The primary or main source of fuels are coals and petroleum oils, the amount of which are
decreasing day-by-day. These are stored fuels available in earth’s crust and are generally called
fossil fuels.

Primary fuels are those which are found in nature and can be extracted, captured, cleaned, or
graded without any sort of energy conversion or transformation process.

Secondary fuels are those which are derived from primary fuels through chemical or physical
processes. These are fuels that are not found as a natural resource.

Solid fuels: These are generally exist in solid state at room temperature.

Liquid fuels: These are generally exist in liquid state at room temperature.

Gaseous fuels: These are generally exist in gaseous state at room temperature.

Calorific value is the amount of heat energy present in food or fuel and which is determined by the
complete combustion of specified quantity at constant pressure and in normal conditions.

COAL

• It is a highly carbonaceous matter that has been formed as a result of alternation of plants
under certain favorable conditions.

• It is chiefly composed of C, H, O, and N besides non-combustible inorganic matter.

• On the basis of degree of alteration (coalification) various type of coal are recognized.

• Of all the fossil-fuel sources, coal is the least expensive for its energy content and is a major
factor in the cost of electricity in the United States.

PETROLEUM

• It is a liquid which occurs naturally in rock formations.

• Petroleum is a mixture of many substances such as gas, petrol, diesel, kerosene, lubricating
oil, paraffin wax, etc.

GASOLINE
  Petroleum is converted to useful products such as gasoline in three steps: distillation,
cracking, and reforming.

- is mainly used as an engine fuel in vehicles.

- Petroleum refineries and blending facilities produce motor gasoline for sale at retail gasoline
fueling stations.

DISTILLATION

• separates compounds on the basis of their relative volatility, which is usually inversely
proportional to their boiling points.

• It is a separation technique that can be used to either increase the concentration of a

particular component in the mixture or to obtain (almost) pure components from the
mixture.

CRACKING

• Cracking is the name given to breaking up large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller and
more useful bits.

• This is achieved by using high pressures and temperatures without a catalyst, or lower
temperatures and pressures in the presence of a catalyst.

REFORMING

• used to upgrade heavy naphtha into a high-value gasoline blend stock by raising its octane.

• it is the conversion of straight-chain alkanes to either branched-chain alkanes or mixtures

of aromatic hydrocarbons.

• Metal catalysts such as platinum are used to drive the necessary chemical reactions.

The quality of a fuel is indicated by its octane rating, which is a measure of its ability to burn in a
combustion engine without knocking or pinging.

A good fuel should satisfy the following requirements:

 It should have a high calorific value i.e., it should evolve a large amount of heat when it is
burnt.

 Its moisture content should be low so that its heating value should be high.

 An ideal fuel should have moderate ignition temperature.

 It should not produce harmful products like CO2, SO2, H2S and other poisonous gases on
burning since they pollute the atmosphere.

 A fuel should have low content of non-combustible matter in the form of ash or clinker
since the presence of non-combustible matter will enhance the cost of storage, handling
and disposal of waste.
 The combustion of fuel should be controllable so that it can be started or stopped.

 It should not give any offensive odor

 It should have moderate velocity of combustion.