CLASS XI CBSE CHEMISTRY

CHAPTER 1

BASIC CONCEPTS OF CHEMISTRY

 INTRODUCTION
CHEMISTRY: Chemistry is the branch of science that deals with the composition, structure and properties of
matter. Chemistry is called the science of atoms and molecule.

Organic
study of carbon
compounds especially
hydrocarbons and their
derivatives.
Inorganic
study of compounds of all
other elements except
carbon- study of minerals
found in the Earth's crust.
Physical
explanation of fundamental
principles governing various
chemical phenomena-
basically concerned with
laws and theories of the
different branches of
chemistry.
CHEMISTRY
Environmental
The study of the effects that chemicals have on
the air, water and soil and how they impact the
environment and human health.
Nuclear
Study of nuclear reactions,
such as nuclear fission,
nuclear fusion
Biochemistry
Analytical deals with the chemical
deals with the qualitative changes going on in the
and quantitative bodies of living organisms;
analysis of various plants and animals.
substances.
Industrial
The chemistry involved
in industrial processes.
 NATURE OF MATTER

Atoms: Smallest particle of an element which may or may not exist

independently but can take part in a chemical reaction. A set of atoms
of the same type together forms the molecule of the element.
Molecule: The basic unit or smallest particle of a matter that has
independent existence.
Atomicity- The number of atoms in a molecule is known as its
atomicity.
PROPERTIES OF MATTER AND THEIR MEASUREMENT
 Measurement of Physical Properties (Quantitative)
● Quantitative observation or measurement is represented by a number followed by units.
● Two different units- English and Metric (based on decimal system) were used earlier.
● In 1960- The International System of Units or the SI system was established by the 11th General
Conference on Weights and Measures
● ‘SI’ stands for System International. The SI system has seven base units.
● SI system is also referred to as MKS unit.
● The other physical qualities such as weight, speed,
volume, density etc.. can be derived from these
quantities.
The KILOGRAM is the SI unit of mass. The mass of a platinum-iridium international
prototype kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures was used to
calculate it. The first definition was based on the mass of one litre (10 -3 cubic
metres) of pure water.

Currently it is defined taking the fixed value of the Planck constant h . The Planck
constant describes the behavior of particles and waves on the atomic scale and
depends on three units: the meter, kilogram and second. As the second and meter
are measured and defined by the speed of light, they can be used with the fixed
Planck constant to define a kilogram.

The measuring unit of mass is kg.

AMPERE- In the SI system, an ampere is a unit of electric current. It is defined in

terms of the elementary charge e (charge on one electron or proton), which is equal
to 1.6x10-19 coulombs. Ampere is generally written in the form of a charge.
 MASS AND WEIGHT
● Mass of a substance is the amount of matter
present in it while weight is the force exerted
by gravity on an object.
● The mass of a substance is constant whereas its
weight may vary from one place to another due
to change in gravity.
● SI unit of mass in Kilogram. The unit of weight
is Newton.
● Gram (1kg= 1000g) is used in laboratories due to
smaller amounts of chemicals used in chemical
reactions.
● The mass of a substance can be determined
very accurately by using an analytical balance.
 VOLUME

● It is the amount of space occupied by a

substance.
● Unit is (length)3. The SI unit is m3.
● In laboratories cm3 or dm3 is used for small
quantities.
● Litre (L) which is not an SI unit is used for
measurement of volume of liquids.
● In the laboratory, burette, pipette, graduated
cylinder are used for measurement.
● A volumetric flask is used to prepare a
known volume of a solution.
DENSITY

● Density is the amount of mass per unit volume.

● SI unit of density= kg/m3.
● For small quantities expressed as g/cm3.
● Density tells us about how closely substances are packed
 TEMPERATURE
There are three common scales to measure temperature — °C (degree celsius), °F (degree Fahrenheit) and K
(kelvin). Here, K is the SI unit.

Temperatures below 0°C are possible in Celsius scale,

but in Kelvin scale negative temperatures are not
possible.
 SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
Representation of numbers in the form N × 10n(Where n is an exponent
having positive or negative values and N can vary between 1.000 and
9.999).

● Used to represent extremely large or small numbers.

● Eg: No: of molecules in 2g of H gas (602, 200,000,000,000,000,000,000)
or mass of a H atom (0.00000000000000000000000166 g) , speed of
light (299 792 458 m/s).
 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
Significant figures (or significant digits) are the number of digits in a given value or a measurement, necessary to decide the
accuracy and precision of measurement. They are important in scientific or technical measurements.
“Significant” means important. They refer to the reliable digits in the given number, which are sufficient to convey accurate
information. They also help us round off measurement values or the outcome of a calculation.

Rules for Determining the Number of Significant Figures

● All non-zero digits are significant. For example, 6.9 has two significant figures, while 2.16 has three significant figures. The
decimal place does not determine the number of significant figures.
● A zero becomes significant in case it comes in between non zero numbers. For example, 2.003 has four significant figures, 4.02
has three significant figures.
● Zeros at the beginning of a number are not significant. For example, 0.002 has one significant figure while 0.0045has two
significant figures.
● All zeros placed to the right of a number are significant. For example, 16.0 has three significant figures, while 16.00 has four
significant figures. Zeros at the end of a number without decimal point are ambiguous.
● In exponential notations, the numerical portion represents the number of significant figures. For example, 0.00045 is expressed
as 4.5 x 10-4 in terms of scientific notations. The number of significant figures in this number is 2, while in Avogadro's number
(6.023 x 1023) it is four.
● The decimal point does not count towards the number of significant figures. For example, the number 345601 has six significant
figures but can be written in different ways, as 345.601 or 0.345601 or 3.45601 all having same number of significant figures.
● Exact numbers have an INFINITE number of significant figures. This rule applies to numbers that are definitions. For example, 1
meter = 1.00 meters = 1.0000 meters = 1.0000000000000000000 meters, etc.
 Addition and Subtraction of Significant Figures

When adding/subtracting, the answer should have the same number of decimal places as the limiting term.
The limiting term is the number with the least decimal places. When multiplying/dividing, the answer should
have the same number of significant figures as the limiting term.
 Retention of Significant Figures - Rounding off Figures
The rounding off procedure is applied to retain the required number of significant figures.

1. If the digit coming after the desired number of significant figures happens to be more than 5, the preceding significant figure is
increased by one, 4.317 is rounded off to 4.32.

2. If the digit involved is less than 5, it is neglected and the preceding significant

figure remains unchanged, 4.312 is rounded off to 4.31.

3. If the digit happens to be 5, the last mentioned or preceding significant figure is increased by one only in case it happens to be odd.
In case of even figure, the preceding digit remains unchanged. 8.375 is rounded off to 8.38 while8.365 is rounded off to 8.36.

PRECISION AND ACCURACY

● Precision refers to the closeness of various measurements for the same quantity.
● Accuracy is the agreement of a particular value to the true value of the result
 DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
Dimensional Analysis During calculations generally there is a need
to convert units from one system to other. This is called factor label
method or unit factor method or dimensional analysis.

For example- 5 feet and 2 inches (height of an Indian female) is to

converted in SI unit
1 inch = 2.54 x 10-2 m

1. A piece of metal is 3 inch (represented by in) long. What is its length in cm?
2. A jug contains 2 L of milk. Calculate the volume of the milk in m3.
3. How many seconds are there in 2 days?
4. What is the volume in Liters of a room that is 10 meters wide by 15 meters long
and 8 ft high?
5. Convert the density values from 7.8x103 kg/m3 into g/cm3.
6. A mole of hydrogen atoms contains 6.02 x 1023 atoms and occupies 22.4 L. How
many H atoms are present in 25.00 ml of this gas?
LAWS OF CHEMICAL COMBINATIONS
 Law of Conservation of Mass
● Antoine Lavoisier developed this law in 1789.
● This law states that whenever matter undergoes a
chemical or physical change in an enclosed system,
the total mass of reacting matter (reactants) is
exactly equal to the total mass of reaction products.
Because no products or reactants are allowed to exit
the system, there is no substance loss and mass is
conserved.
 Law of Definite Proportions
● In 1799, Joseph Louis Proust developed and proved
this law.
● According to the law, ‘a given compound always
contains exactly the same proportion of elements by
weight.’
● When a compound is broken, the masses of the
constituent elements remain in the same proportion,
according to the law of constant proportions.
● In simple terms, the percent composition of elements
by weight in a given compound will always remain
the same regardless of its source, origin, or quantity.
 Law of Multiple Proportions
● Dalton issued this law in the year 1803.
● This law states that ‘if two elements combine to form more than one
compound, their masses in the reaction are in the ratio of small whole
numbers.’
● According to the law of multiple proportions, when two elements combine to
form more than one compound, the mass of one element combined with a
fixed mass of the other element will always be ratios of whole numbers.

The mass of Carbon is 12g.

The mass of Oxygen is 16g.
As a result, 12g of carbon combines with 32g of oxygen to form
CO2.
Likewise, 12g of carbon reacts with 16g of oxygen to form CO.
As a result, the oxygen ratio in the first and second compounds
is 2:1= 32/16 =2, (whole number).
 Gay Lussac’s Law of Gaseous Volumes
● Gay Lussac enacted this law based on his observations in 1808.
● his law states that “when gases are produced or combined in a chemical reaction,
they do so in a simple volume ratio provided that all the gases are at the same
temperature and pressure.”
● This law is regarded as the law of definite proportions by volume.
● The difference between these two chemical combination laws is that Gay Lussac’s
Law is stated in terms of volume, whereas the law of definite proportions is stated
in terms of mass.

● In the above example 2 volumes of H2 combines 1 volume of O2 to form 2 volumes of H2O.

H2 (g) + O2 (g) ——–> 2H2O (g)
● If the volume of Hydrogen is taken as 100 ml , then the volume of oxygen it can combine with is 50 ml
which produced 100 ml water.
● Thus the volumes of hydrogen and oxygen which combines bears a simple ratio of 2:1.
 Avogadro's Law
● In 1811, Avogadro proposed this law.
● According to this law, ‘equal volume of all gases contain the equal number
of molecules under the same conditions of temperature and pressure.’ This
means that two liters of hydrogen have the same number of molecules as
two liters of oxygen at the same temperature and pressure.
 DALTON’S ATOMIC THEORY
● All matter is made up of tiny, indivisible particles called atoms.
● All atoms of a specific element are identical in mass, size, and other properties. However, atoms of
different element exhibit different properties and vary in mass and size.
● Atoms can neither be created nor destroyed. Furthermore, atoms cannot be divided into smaller
particles.
● Atoms of different elements can combine with each other in fixed whole-number ratios in order to form
compounds.
● Atoms can be rearranged, combined, or separated in chemical reactions.
ATOMIC MASS, MOLECULAR MASS AND FORMULA MASS
 Mole Concept
● 7th base unit of the SI system.
● One mole is the amount of substance that contains as many particles or entities as there are atoms
in exactly 12g or 0.012 kg of the carbon 12 isotope.
● Weight of one carbon 12 atom- 1.992648 x 10-23g
● Stoichiometry- deals with the calculation of masses (sometimes volumes also) of the reactants and
the products involved in a chemical reaction.

● LIMITING REAGENT: In a chemical reaction the reactant which is present in the least amount gets
consumed after sometime and after that further reaction does not take place whatever be the
amount of the other reactant. Hence, the reactant, which gets consumed first, limits the amount of
product formed and is, therefore, called the limiting reagent.
 CONCENTRATION TERMS
The concentration of a solution or the amount of substance present in its given volume can be expressed
in any of the following ways.

● Mass percent or weight percent (w/w %)- grams of solute per grams of solution, multiplied by 100 to
gives the mass percentage.

● Mole fraction- It is the ratio of number of moles of a particular component to the total number of
moles of the solution.
○ If a substance ‘A’ dissolves in substance ‘B’ and their number of moles are nA and nB,
respectively, then the mole fractions of A and B are given as:
Normality- The normality of a solution is defined as the number of gram equivalents of the solute present
per litre of the solution. It is represented by the symbol, N.

Molarity- denoted by M. It is defined as the number of moles of the solute in 1 litre of the solution. Thus,

For a balanced equation involving n1 moles of a reactant 1 and n2 moles of a reactant 2

Molality- It is defined as the number of moles of solute present in 1 kg of solvent. It is denoted by m.