Water:

● Most known Substances because of abundance/uses

● Most popular solvent

Uses:

Home: Drinking/cooking, Cleaning, Sanitation

Industry: Solvent, Coolant to prevent overheating, Hydroelectric power, raw material for chemical
processes, Watering crops

Tap water:

1. Mixture of natural materials (dissolved salts) because of humans

2. Experiments involving water should use distilled water instead of tap, as the chemicals in the tap
water could interfere with the experiment and give unwanted side reactions
3. Distillation removes impurities and uses the idea that different substances have different boiling
points

Substances in natural water:

Some are beneficial and some are harmful

1. Dissolved Oxygen
2. Metal compounds
3. Plastic
4. Sewage
5. Harmful microbes
6. Nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers

Beneficial:

Dissolved Oxygen:

● The number of living organisms is determined by the oxygen levels

● It enters by photosynthesis from aquatic plants and diffusion from the environment. Removed
by respiration
● Affected by temperature and whether it’s salt or freshwater

Metallic Compounds:

● As water passes over rocks, It dissolves some of the metals in them

 ● Lots of metal ions from group 2 and transition metals are needed to support good health

Examples:

1. Calcium: Supports the health of teeth and bones

2. Iron: Needed for production of hemoglobin in RBCs

Substances That are Harmful

Some Metallic Compounds:

Heavy Metals (lead Pb, Mercury Hg,) usually enter from mining, smelting, corrosion, waste disposal, and
metal processing plants

Examples:

1. Lead: Liver/Kidney damage

2. Mercury: Linked to damage in the nervous system

Sewage:

● Wastewater made by humans includes multiple contaminants

● Sewage is usually carried through pipes and taken to wastewater treatment plants

● Wastewater treatment plants remove harmful substances as the effluent (cleaned) water is
taken back to rivers and seas
● Sewage water can leak into drinking water as a result of natural disasters like earthquakes and
extreme weather
● Harmful substances can cause diseases such as Diarrhea, Cholera, Dysentery, Typhoid, and Polio

Nitrates and Phosphates:

● NPK fertilizers are used to increase crop number and health by adding 3 plant nutrients:
Nitrogen(N), Phosphorus(P), and Potassium(K) which are absorbed by the roots
● Heavy rain causes NPK to get washed off the soil into waterways. This process is called Run Off

● When NPK enters waterways, it leads to rapid growth of algae

● The algae from big blooms that cover the surface of the water and blocks sunlight

● With no sunlight, aquatic plants can’t perform photosynthesis and die

● This leads to a drop of oxygen levels in the water which results in the death of aquatic animals.
This is called Deoxygenation of the water
 ● Phosphates can enter waterways by washing. Penta-sodium triphosphate is widely used as an
ingredient in biological washing powders

Plastics:

● Plastics are polymers used a lot in daily life. They are insoluble in water so they are easier to
remove. They generate a lot of waste and cause a lot of pollution
● Poor disposal and lack of use of biodegradable plastics means they are increasingly polluting
clean water sources

Problems of plastic pollution in the ocean and waterways:

1. Larger sea creatures and birds can be caught in discarded fishing nets
2. Plastic bags can be mistaken for prey by many sea creatures like whales, turtles, and large fish
3. Microplastic debris accumulates on the surface of the ocean and these small pieces of plastic
can easily enter a fish’s mouth and harm their digestive systems
4. Scientists are now developing plastics that dissolve in water

Purification of domestic water

Steps:

1. Screening: Remove large insoluble pieces such as rocks, branches, and plastic bags
2. Sedimentation: The water is taken to a sedimentation tank where the soil and sand drop to
the bottom as sediment
3. Filtration: Removes smaller insoluble particles like sand
4. Water can contain dissolved substances that can cause a bad smell or taste. They are
removed by using an active carbon filter
5. Chlorination: Before water can be given to homes, it has to be disinfected. Different
countries do this in different ways but most countries do this by adding small amounts of
chlorine to kill bacteria.

Test For Pure water:

Check boiling point Result: Boils at 100 C

Chemical test For water:

1. Anhydrous Copper(II) sulfate turns from white to blue when water is added
2. Anhydrous Cobalt(II) turns from blue to pink when water is added

Climate Change
Increased global warming will lead to climate changes – changes in the average weather experienced
over 30 years or more

Climate change cause:

1. Climate changes make it impossible to grow certain crops

2. Melting polar Ice and the thermal expansion of seawater could lead to the rising of sea levels
and flooding low land cities and islands could disappear
3. Extinction of some species that can’t adapt to the new climate
Formation of Carbon Dioxide in the lab:

● This gas is easily made in the lab by adding hydrochloric acid to marble chips

● It is collected by downward delivery as it is heavier than most other gasses

- We can test for carbon dioxide gas as it will turn Lime water milky or it will put out a lighted
splint

Reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere:

1. There have been many Climate Change Conferences where agreements have been made to
start reducing emissions from burning fossil fuels and polluting industries like oil, coal and
gas
2. Reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for transportation and electricity generation
3. Remove Carbon Dioxide from the atmosphere
4. Plant additional trees (afforestation)
Reducing the amount of methane released into the atmosphere:

1. Both rotting vegetation and livestock emit methane. People have tried to come up with
solutions like dietary changes and trying to catch the methane
2. Educating people on the harmful effects of a meat-rich diet
3. Landfill methane can be trapped and burnt as a clean energy source

Methane CH4

● It’s found in gas deposits on the ocean floor and on land as natural gas and we use this natural
gas as an energy source
● It also forms wherever bacteria break down plant material and in the absence of oxygen

● Some animals give out methane as a waste product of digestion

Ammonia NH3

1. It is a colorless gas with a strong choking smell

2. It is less dense than air
 3. It reacts with hydrogen chloride gas to form a white smoke of tiny particles of solid
ammonium chloride
4. It is very soluble in water
5. It reacts with acid to form salts:
NH3 + HNO3 🡪 NH4NO3
2NH3 + H2SO4 🡪(NH4)2SO4
3NH3 + H3PO4 🡪(NH4)3PO4
● This is an important compound because it Is needed to make fertilizers.

● It makes nitric acid (HNO3)

Making Ammonia in the lab:

● It is made in the lab by heating any ammonium compound with a strong base

● The base displaces ammonia from the compound

Ammonium Chloride + Calcium Hydroxide 🡪Calcium chloride + water + ammonia

2NH4Cl + Ca(OH)2 🡪 CaCl2 + 2H2O +2NH3

● Calcium oxide (Lime): drying agent that dries the ammonia gas produced

● Don’t dry with sulfuric acid: It reacts with ammonia

● Collect the ammonia by upward delivery as it is less dense than air

● Don’t collect the ammonia under water as it dissolves in water

Fertilizers:

● Plants need water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to perform photosynthesis to make their own
food. They also need Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), and Potassium (K). We call them NPK
fertilizers.
● Plants obtain these elements from the soil through the roots as a solution

Fertilizer: Is any substance added to the soil to make it more fertile

● Animal Manure is a natural fertilizer

● Synthetic fertilizers are nitrogenous chemicals added to the soil to:

1. Aid the growth of healthy plants and increase crop yield
2. Make soil more fertile by replacing the nitrogen/nutrients depleted from
the soil
 ● All fertilizers need to be soluble to be absorbed by the plant’s roots
Synthetic fertilizers used such as:

- Ammonium nitrate NH4NO3

- Ammonium sulfate (NH4)2SO4
- Ammonium phosphate (NH4)3PO4
- Potassium sulfate K2SO4

What It Does Fertilizer Neutralization

N To Make proteins in the plant Ammonium Nitrate NH3+HNO3🡪NH4NO3

(Growth)
Ammonium Sulfate 2HN3+H2SO4🡪(NH4)2SO4

P To Improve Crop yield Ammonium Phosphate 3NH3+H3PO4🡪(NH4)3PO4

K To protect plants against Potassium nitrate Occurs Naturally

diseases

Overuse of fertilizers:

● In Rivers: Fertilizers can seep into rivers from farmlands. They help algae to grow, covering the
surface. When the algae die bacteria feed on them and use up the oxygen dissolved in the water,
leading to the death of fish
● In water supply: The nitrates in rivers can end up in our water supply. When they end up in our
body it makes the body carry around less oxygen in the blood which can lead to illnesses.
Sulfur

● Brittle yellow solid non-metal that is insoluble in water

● Has a low melting point

● A molecule of sulfur has 8 atoms

● Doesn’t conduct electricity

● It burns in oxygen to give sulfur dioxide

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)

● Acidic gas, forms when sulfur is gently heated

● Colorless toxic gas, heavier than air, strong chocking smell

● Produced by burning fossil fuels

● It removes the color from colored compounds

● It can kill bacteria

● Sulfur dioxide which changes a filter paper soaked in acidified aqueous potassium manganate
from purple to colourless
● It’s the main cause of acid rain
Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4)

● Pure sulfuric acid is a viscous, dense liquid with a high boiling point

● It is a strong acid
Uses of Sulfuric Acid:

1. Car Batteries
2. Making detergents, paint pigments, and explosive
3. Often used as a drying agent for gasses (Except ammonia because it reacts with it)
4. As a dehydrating agent. It decomposes water or its components
5. Sucrose or glucose turns slowly brown then black in the presence of acid and then it produces
steam
6. Dehydrate alcohols to form alkenes
7. Making ammonium sulfate, for use as a fertilizer