C2 The Nature of Matter

In this chapter we will learn about:

- the three states of matter
- changes of state
- atoms molecules and ions
- separating and purifying substances
- filtration
- use of a separating funnel
- crystallization
- distillation
- paper chromatography
- criteria of purity
- elements and compounds
- atomic theory
- the kinetic model and changes of states
- diffusion
- atomic structure and subatomic particles
- proton ( atomic) number and nucleon (mass) number
- isotopes
- relative atomic mass
- the arrangement of electrons in atoms

C2.01 The states of matter

Chemistry is the study of how matter behaves and how one substance may be
changed into another. Whichever chemical substance we study we find that it may
exist as a solid, a liquid or a gas and this depends on the physical conditions in which
we find that substance. These physical conditions depend on the temperature and the
pressure at which we find the substance.

There are many different states of matter however we will be looking at the three main
most commonly known ones; these are solid, liquid and gas.

Key Term: anything that has mass and takes up space. There are three physical states:
sollid, liquid and gas.

Solids, liquids and gases all show a change in volume when the temperature is increased
and a decrease in volume when the temperature is lowered. This effect is seen very easily in
liquids and gases.

In the case of gases when we increase or decrease the pressure we get a change in
volume, gases are easy to compress. Liquids can be compressed or only slightly, while
solids are unaffected by changes in pressure.
 Physical state Volume Density Shape Fluidity

Solid Fixed volume High Definite shape Does not flow

Liquid Fixed volume Medium to high No definite Flows easily

shape

Gas Variable volume Low No definite Flows easily

shape

Changes in state

When we vary the temperature and pressure of a substance we can see that it changes
state. In this diagram we can see the various ways in which a substance can change from a
solid to a liquid or a gas. This may occur for any chemical substance.
 In this ship natural gas has been cooled and compressed to turn it into a liquid

Melting and boiling.

The temperature at which a pure substance turns to a liquid from a solid is called the
melting point. Once we reach the melting point of a solid it begins to turn to a liquid.
When we are turning a substance from a liquid to a solid we call this the freezing
point.

The temperature at which a pure substance turns from a liquid to a gas is called the
boiling point. Once we reach the specific boiling point of a particular substance then
it begins to vaporise as a gas. When a liquid is boiling we see that small bubbles
begin to form within the liquid this means that the gas is being formed at all levels of
the liquid.

This should not be confused with evaporation, this only occurs at the surface of the
liquid.

For example, after it has been raining we can see some puddles in the street. When the sun
comes out the water begins to evaporate from that puddle. After a period of time all the
water has evaporated however that does not mean that the puddle of water was at 100℃.
Only the liquid at the very surface of the puddle was being converted into a gas as we can
see in the diagram below.
Some liquids will boil or evaporate easier than others and this is called volatility. A
volatile liquid is one which evaporates easily and has a relatively low boiling point.
Water as we know has a boiling point of 100℃ and alcohol has a boiling point of 78℃.
Therefore we would say that alcohol is more volatile than water.

When we are cooling a gas down it will become a liquid and this is called
condensation. We can also condense a gas by increasing pressure on that gas and it
would also turn into a liquid.

Think of the gas bottle that you use for cooking on a barbecue or heating. If you shake the
bottle it feels and sounds like there is a liquid inside it. What it is, in reality is actually a gas
which has been compressed and condensed into a liquid form. When you open the valve on
the top of the bottle gas is released. This happens because the pressure outside of the bottle
is lower than the pressure inside of the bottle and the liquid instantly boils and rushes out of
the valve.

Pressure or atmospheric pressure at which substance stored will affect its boiling point, for
example water will boil at 100℃ when it is at one atmosphere of pressure this usually occurs
at sea level. However here in Valladolid as we are 650 m above sea level so the boiling point
of water will be slightly lower, it is approximately 97℃. The higher up we go, the lower the
atmospheric pressure and therefore the lower the boiling point.
Some solids such as carbon dioxide will change directly from the solid state to the
gas state, this change of state is called sublimation. Other substances such as Iodine
also sublimate.

We can use the melting point and boiling point of an unknown substance to help us to
identify it. We need to be careful as only a pure substance will melt and boil at the
correct temperatures. A pure substance is made up of only one substance, there are
no extra contaminating impurities to be found.

Melting and boiling points of pure substances are very well known and very
predictable so therefore they can be used to help us to identify a substance.

Many times we will hear the term room temperature, this refers to 20°C. A
substance's melting and boiling points in relation to room temperature determine
whether we usually see it as a solid, a liquid or a gas.

Typically we think of Iron as a solid but it can also be a liquid or a gas depending on the
temperature which it is currently at.

Substance Typical physical Melting point ℃ Boiling point ℃

state at room
temperature (20℃)

Oxygen Solid -219 -183

Ethanol Liquid -117 78

Water Liquid 0 100

Sulphur Solid 115 444

Table Salt Solid 801 1465

Copper Solid 1083 2600

Carbon Dioxide Gas -78 Sublimes so there is

no liquid phase

Iron Solid 1538 2862

Gold Solid 1064 2700

Because we know the exact melting and boiling points of a pure substance this means we
can test them for purity. We can set up the following apparatus to measure the melting point
of an unknown substance. A water bath is used to heat the tube if the melting point is below
100℃ and an oil bath must be used if the melting point is above 100℃.

The effect that impurities have on a substance is that it lowers the melting point and raises
the boiling point.

Heating and cooling curves

Using the apparatus above we can produce what is known as a heating curve. This is a
special type of graph that shows the melting and boiling points of a substance. As you can
see in the graph below the water stays solid while it is being heated. When we reach 0℃
solid water ice begins to melt. It is not until all of the solid phase changes to liquid that the
temperature begins to rise again. Once the water reaches 100℃ so we can see that the
temperature again stays constant as the liquid is turning to a gas.

If we are to produce a cooling curve we must modify our apparatus slightly. In this set-up the
thermometer must be inside the test tube containing the substance being studied.

Here we can see the steam is at 110℃ and lowering in temperature until it starts to
condense at 100℃. The temperature stays constant until all of this steam has condensed. At
which point we see a range of temperatures for the liquid phase until we reach 0℃. While all
of the liquid is freezing at this temperature it stays constant until the ice has formed and the
temperature begins to drop again.

When a solid is melted or a liquid is boiled the temperature stays constant until the
process is complete. The same is true in reverse when a gas condenses or a liquid
freezes.
Types of mixtures

In our day to day life it is unusual for us to deal with completely pure substances. Most
substances that we deal with are mixtures or are slightly impure. The air that we breathe is
not a pure substance, as we have seen before it is a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen along
with several other minor gases. The water that we drink from the tap is most certainly not a
pure substance; it is a mixture of water and several different minerals that have been
dissolved in it.

A mixture is made up of at least two parts which may be solids, liquids or gases. In
the photograph below we can see: the solute is a solid blue substance, the solvent is
liquid water and this produces a blue colored liquid solution.

The solute is the substance that is being dissolved, the solvent is the substance
doing the dissolving and the solution is the final result.

In other types of mixtures we may see that the various parts stay separate. One
phase may remain as gas bubbles inside the main phase or may form a suspension of
fine particles known as a precipitate.

The different substances in a mixture may interact in different ways. As we can see in the
photograph above we normally think of a solution being made up of a solid and a liquid. This
of course is true in many instances, think again of the water that comes from your tap.
Although we can't see them there are many different minerals dissolved in that water, or
think of the sea and all of the salt that is dissolved in that body of water.

However gases may also be dissolved in a liquid, think of the last time that you opened a
can or bottle of a fizzy drink. What noise did you hear? What do you see inside your glass or
bottle when you start to drink?

Oxygen is also dissolved in the rivers, lakes and seas of the world and this allows aquatic life
to breathe underwater. As we have seen before, this oxygen gets dissolved into the water
due to the movement of waves crashing on the shore and water smashing into rocks high up
in the mountains.

We can also have liquids in a mixture, ethanol is completely miscible with water and
they make a solution. Miscible means that the two liquids will mix with each other,
immiscible means the opposite.

When we make an alloy, which is a special mixture of two or more metals, it is a solution
although we do not normally call it as such.

C2.02 Separating and purifying substances

In order to understand the physical world around us it is often necessary for us to separate
mixtures so that we can analyze the individual components of that mixture. Sometimes we
may find a solid dissolved in a liquid, a gas dissolved in a liquid, two or more liquids together,
two solids mixed together etc. To allow us to separate these different substances we have
several techniques depending on what we believe to be in the mixture.

Mixture Method of separation

Solid & solid ( powdered mixture) Some difference in properties, e.g. density,
solubility, sublimation, magnetism

Suspension of solid and liquid Centrifugation or filtration

Liquid & liquid (inmiscible) Use a separating funnel or decantation

Solution of solid in liquid To obtain the solid: use evaporation

To obtain the liquid: use distillation

Two or more liquids mixed together Fractional distillation

(miscible)

Solutions of two or more solid in a liquid Chromatography

Separating insoluble solids from liquids.

In many ways these are the easiest mixtures to separate. More often than not if we
leave this solution standing for a period of time we will see that the insoluble solids
will settle to the bottom of the container. Once that happens we can carefully pour off
the liquid leaving the particles of the solid behind. This process is called decanting.

Another way of removing an insoluble solid from a liquid is through filtration. Here the
insoluble solid is collected by the filter paper and the liquid passes through. The
insoluble material is known as residue and the liquid is called filtrate.
To speed up this process we may use what is known as a Buchner funnel and flask

The final way that we can separate an insoluble solid from a liquid is by
centrifugation. A centrifuge is a machine that will rotate at very high speeds and this
causes the solid to be deposited in the bottom of the test tube.
Separating immiscible liquids
To separate two immiscible liquids they must first be left to stand for a period of time in a
separating funnel to allow them to be completely separate. Once they have settled we
carefully open the top at the bottom of the separating funnel and we allow the water to flow
out. Once the oil starts to approach the top we control the flow of the water very carefully so
that no oil drops into our beaker below.

Separating mixtures of solids

When we wish to separate mixtures of different solids we need to identify some physical
property which would allow us to differentiate them. Separations could be based on density,
magnetic properties or sublimation. The difference in solubility between two solids may also
help us to separate them.

In this photograph we can see how a mixture of sand and iron filings are being separated,
the iron is magnetic and the sand is not.
Separation based on differences in solubility

One way of separating a solid substance from a solid mixture is as follows, first the mixture
is ground into a fine powder and a suitable liquid solvent is found. In many cases this may be
water however other liquid solvents may also be of use. It is important to note that if a
solvent other than water is being used then a fume cupboard should be used. A fume
cupboard is a special piece of lab equipment that is sealed and has a fan which extracts the
fumes to the outside atmosphere.

The solvent used must dissolve one of the substances in the mixture but not the other.

The mixture and the solvent is then heated and stirred until completely dissolved. It is then
carefully poured out into the filter paper where the insoluble substances are left behind as a
residue. The soluble substance is in the liquid filtrate. Dry crystals can be obtained through
evaporation and crystallization.

Separating solutions
Separating solutions is a little bit more complicated because there is no physical separation
between the phases. The different separation methods here normally require differences in
solubility or differences of boiling point.

Separating a solid from a liquid can be carried out through evaporation or crystallization. In
evaporation the liquid phase of the solution is boiled and vaporised. the solid part of the
solution will be left behind. When we are using evaporation only small crystals or powder will
be left behind. If we require large crystals then the evaporation is stopped when solution
concentration is quite high. This solution is allowed to cool slowly and large crystals will form
inside the beaker.

separating a liquid from a solution is normally done by distillation. This process relies on that
the boiling point of one of the liquids is quite different from the boiling point of the second
liquid. As we mentioned before water has a boiling point of 100℃ while acetone has a
boiling point of 56℃. This means that if we were to bring our solution up to 56℃ then the
acetone will boil and vaporize while the water will be left behind.
Here we can see that the acetone has been separated from the water and has been
collected in the beaker and this is called distillate.

When we have two liquids with similar boiling points we must use fractional distillation and a
distillation column. This is a special column which is filled with glass beads that provide a
large surface area for condensation to take place. This is needed, as if we were to heat an
alcohol and water mixture to 78 ℃ then some water would also evaporate into our distillate.
To prevent this from happening the fractionating column allows for the water to condense
and drop back into our solution of ethanol and water while the ethanol passes through the
condenser and end up as distillate in our beaker.

For this to work we must carefully control the temperature of the round bottom flask, to do
this we have a thermometer placed inside the fractionating column. In the diagram you can
see we are using a Bunsen burner, we can however, also use a warm water bath or an
electrical hot plate.

Fractional distillation is used to separate any solution containing liquids with different boiling
points. the liquid with the lowest boiling point with distilled first and will then be followed by
the liquids with higher and higher boiling points. Fractional distillation is a very important
industrial process which is used in the manufacture of petroleum.

To separate two or more dissolved solids in a solution we use a process called

chromatography. chromatography is a very widely used technique in chemistry and there
are several types of chromatography all of them follow essentially the same idea. Paper
chromatography is one of the simplest techniques that we can use if we wish to analyze
substances present in a solution. It can tell us for example if a solution has become
contaminated something which has wide-ranging applications in the food industry.
To carry out paper chromatography we first must take a piece of paper and draw a pencil
line. We then place a concentrated sample of the substance to be tested on this line. Then
carefully we place the paper and the sample into a suitable solvent. It is very important that
the sample does not come into direct contact with the solvent. We then allow the solvent to
slowly seep up through the paper and we will see that the different components with different
solubilities will be separated along the solvent front.

Many different solvents may be used in paper chromatography. Water and organic solvents
such as ethanol ethanoic acid solution and propanone are common. These organic solvents
are quite useful as they will dissolve many substances which water will not. It is important to
note that when using organic solvents they should be used in a container with a lid to stop
the solvent evaporating.

To work out which substances we have present we need to measure the distance moved by
a particular spot in relation to the original sample line. This figure is called the Rf value or
retention factor.

Originally paper chromatography was used to separate solutions of colored substances

such as dyes and pigments. However its usefulness was greatly increased with the use of
locating agents. This is a substance which can be added to the paper after the
chromatography has run and this allows certain transparent substances to appear. This has
been especially useful in the analysis of biologically important molecules such as sugar
amino acid and nucleotide bases.
The solubility of solids in liquids
This is probably one of the most common mixtures that we see. Water is the most common
solvent and it is capable of dissolving many many other substances. When we say that a
substance may be dissolved in a solvent it is said to be soluble, and when we say that a
substance may not be dissolved in a solvent it is said to be insoluble.

However not all solutions are the same, a solution becomes more concentrated the more
solute that we add. A concentrated solution is said to contain a large amount of solute while
a dilute solution contains a small amount of solute.

If we were to keep adding more solute to a solution we will get to a point where the solvent
can no longer dissolve any more solute and this is called a saturated solution. In order for us
to get more solute to dissolve we need to raise the temperature of the solvent. a solvent will
be able to dissolve a certain amount of solute at each particular temperature. the higher the
temperature the more solute that may be dissolved.

The opposite however is true when we are talking about gases and liquids. gas becomes
less soluble in a solvent as the temperature rises. It is interesting to note that oxygen is more
soluble in water than nitrogen and this means that the gas is dissolved in the ocean contains
61% nitrogen and 37% oxygen compared to our atmosphere which has 78% nitrogen and
21% oxygen. This increase in oxygen supports the vast variety of life that we can find in the
seas and oceans.

Questions
C2.01 give the names for the following physical changes
a. liquid to solid
b. liquid to gas at a precise temperature
c. gas to liquid
d. solid to gas directly

C2.02 What effect does the presence of an impurity have on the freezing point of a liquid?

C2.03 Sketch cooling curve for water from 80℃ to -20℃, note what is taking place in the
different regions of the graph.

C2.04 What does the word volatile mean when used in chemistry?

C2.05 Put these liquids in order of volatility with the most volatile first, water with a boiling
point of 100℃, ethanoic acid with a boiling point of 128℃ and ethanol with a boiling point of
78℃.

C2.06 How would you separate the following?

a. water from seawater
b. ethanol from an ethanol and water mixture
c. sugar crystals from a sugar solution

C2.07 What does the term sublimation mean?

C2.08 What type of substance was chromatography originally designed to separate?

C2.09 How can we extend the use of chromatography to separate colourless substances?

C2.10 What is the formula for the Rf value in chromatography?

C2.03 Atoms and molecules

When we study chemistry we are constantly talking about atoms, elements and molecules.

There are two types of pure substances elements and compounds

- Elements are substances that cannot be chemically broken down into simpler
substances they only have atoms of the same type.
- Compounds are pure substances made from two or more elements which have
been chemically combined together.

When we look at the periodic table we see that there are over 100 known elements but most
of the universe consists of only two; hydrogen (92%) and helium (7%) all of the other
elements on the table make up the final 1% of the universe.

There are a total of 94 elements found naturally on Earth but just eight of them account for
more than 98% of the Earth's crust. The other elements that we see on the periodic table
have been manufactured in the lab. Only certain elements are able to form the complex
compounds that are found in living things, for example, the human body contains 65%
oxygen, 18% carbon, 10% hydrogen, 3% nitrogen, 2% calcium and 2% of other elements
such as iron, magnesium, potassium, lithium etc.

When we look at substances we can see what are called physical changes and
chemical reactions. A physical change is something that may be reversed for example
a block of ice melting and changing into water. A chemical reaction is usually a
permanent change and leads to the formation of new substances.

When we are studying chemistry it is important to be able to identify which type of

reaction we are performing, they can be broken down into two main groups. Where a
substance is formed by the combination of two or more other substances we call this
synthesis. When a compound breaks down to form two or more substances we call
this decomposition.

An example of a synthesis reaction would be

Fe + S ➝ FeS

An example of a decomposition reaction would be

H2O2 ➝ H2O +O2

 When a mixture forms... When a compound forms...

The substances are simply mixed together, The substances chemically react together
no reaction takes place to form a new compound

The composition of the mixture can be The composition of the new compound is
varied always the same

The properties of the substances present The properties of the new compound are
remain the same very different from those of the elements in
it

The substances in the mixture can be The compound cannot easily be separated
separated by physical methods such as into its elements
filtration, distillation or magnetic attraction

Atomic theory
Elements and compounds mix together to produce everything in the entire universe, they are
responsible for making everything from vast clouds of interstellar gases and dust, our
atmosphere and even the hair on your head. In 1807 John Dalton put forward his theory
explaining that an object may be broken down until we get to a tiny object called an atom.

This reintroduced the ideas of Democritus (460-370BC) and other Greek philosophers who
at the time invented the word atom from the Greek word atomos which means uncuttable or
indivisible.

Dalton suggested that all matter is composed of atoms, the atoms of each element are
different in size and mass to the atoms of other elements. Atoms are the smallest
particles that can take part in a chemical reaction and atoms of different elements can
combine to make molecules.

While Dalton at the time could only suggest the existence of atoms; it has been through
modern technology that we have been able to prove the existence of atoms by observing
them through very powerful microscopes.

Dalton also suggested at the time that each element should have a symbol and that these
symbols should be universal. The modern system takes letters from the name of the element
to give us its symbol. The first letter must always be a capital letter and if a second or third
letter is required then that shall be in lowercase. Some elements have been known about for
a long time and their symbol is taken from the Latin name.
 Element Latin name symbol

hydrogen H

helium He

carbon C

calcium Ca

copper cuprum Cu

chlorine Cl

nitrogen N

sodium natrium Na

phosphorus P

potassium kalium K

iron ferrum Fe

lead plumbum Pb

silver argentum Ag

gold aurum Au

The kinetic model of matter

To help us better understand how solids liquids and gases work we need to look at the
kinetic model of matter. This model basically describes how the particles in each of these
phases interact with each other and how they move.

The main points of the kinetic model are:

- All matter is made up of very small particles
- The particles are moving all of the time, the higher the temperature the faster
the particles move
- The freedom of movement and the arrangement of the particles is different for
the three states of matter
- The pressure of a gas is produced by the atoms or molecules of the gas hitting
the walls of the container, the more often the particles collide with the walls
the greater the pressure.
In a solid the particles are packed close together in a regular Arrangement or lattice.
They are not free to move but simply vibrate in their fixed positions.

In a liquid the particles are closely packed together in an irregular arrangement and
they are able to move around past each other.

In a gas the particles are arranged completely irregularly and they are spread very far
apart when we compare them with solids and liquids, also they move randomly.

A key factor in this model is the increase of temperature between the solid, the liquid and
gas state. When we are melting a solid, changing from a solid to a liquid, the particles gain
energy and begin to vibrate more strongly. As they are vibrating more and more they begin
to occupy more space and this causes the solid to expand. Eventually when enough energy
is introduced into the solid the particles break the lattice and can move around. The solid has
melted and become a liquid.

If we were to continue to heat our liquid the particles will gain more energy and vibrate more.
This causes the liquid to expand and the process of evaporation takes place from the
surface of the liquid only. As the temperature rises, more particles have enough energy to
escape and once we reach the boiling point the particles throughout the liquid have enough
energy to break the force of attraction holding them together. The liquid has reached the
boiling point and turns into a gas.

The idea that particles are moving around in a liquid helps us to explain why diffusion
occurs. You may remember diffusion from a previous chapter when we were talking about
the movement of particles. As the particles of a liquid move around they will carry and push
the other substance along with them.

Diffusion is the process by which different fluids mix as a result of the random
movements of their particles. Diffusion involves the movement of particles from a
region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration and eventually the
particles are evenly spread. Diffusion does not take place in solids. Diffusion in
liquids is much slower than in gases because the particles are moving at a slower
rate.

Questions
C2.11 Define an element.

C2.12 Define a compound.

C2.13 Summarise the differences between the three states of matter in terms of the
arrangement of their particles and their movement.

C2.04 The structure of the atom

When Dalton first proposed his model he believed that atoms were singular indivisible
particles just as the ancient Greek philosopher Democritus but research since then has
shown that atoms are in fact made up of many subatomic particles. The three most
important subatomic particles that we're going to study are the proton, the neutron and the
electron.

In 1897 JJ Thomson discovered the electron and the proton. Further experiments were
carried out by Ernest Rutherford in his laboratory in Manchester and in 1909 he showed that
the atom is largely empty space. By 1932 when the neutron was discovered by James
Chadwick it was clear that atoms consisted of three subatomic particles. These particles are
universal; all atoms are made from them; however it is the atom which remains the smallest
particle that shows the characteristics of a particular element.

Subatomic particles
It is very difficult to imagine just how empty an atom is, some scientists have suggested that
we should imagine a large football stadium where the nucleus would be located at the center
spot and would be about the size of a pea. The electrons would then be scattered around
the stands as tiny particles of dust. They really are empty!!

Protons and neutrons have almost the same mass why electrons have virtually no
mass at all, 1/1840 times smaller than that of the proton. Protons and electrons have
equal and opposite charges while neutrons are electrically neutral.

An atom overall is electrically neutral; this means that in any atom there must be an
equal number of protons and electrons. In this way the positively charged protons in
the nucleus are balanced by the negatively charged electrons surrounding the atom.
 Subatomic particle Relative mass Relative charge Location in atom

proton p+ 1 +1 Nucleus

neutron n0 1 0 Nucleus

electron e- 1/1840 -1 Outside nucleus

Atomic number and mass number ( proton number and nucleon number)

The atomic number and the mass number are very important pieces of information
that the periodic table provides for us. The atomic number he's also known as the
proton number and as the name suggests is the number of protons found in that
particular atom.In a balanced, uncharged atom the number of neutrons and electrons
will be the same as the number of protons. The atomic number is given the symbol Z.

As we already know protons alone do not make up all of the atom, we also have the
neutrons which in the previous table we could see have a very similar relative mass.
therefore the mass number is the number of protons plus the number of neutrons.
The mass of the electrons is so small it is generally ignored as it has very little to
virtually no influence on the overall mass of the atom. The mass number is given the
symbol A.

Carefully look at the diagram above and note the position of each individual letter. It is
very important to follow this systema as each place around the elemental symbol is
reserved for a different value and has a different meaning.
Isotopes

When scientists began to measure the atomic masses of some elements using mass
spectrometers they were very puzzled, it seemed that pure samples of some elements such
as carbon and chlorine were found to contain atoms with different masses even though they
contained the same numbers of protons and electrons. This meant that the number of
neutrons in their nuclei had changed and such atoms are called isotopes.

Key Term
Isotopes are atoms of the same element which have the same proton number but a
different mass number. The atoms have the same number of protons and electrons
but the numbers of neutrons in their nuclei are different. Isotopes of an element have
the same chemical properties because they have the same electron structure, and it is
this electron structure which determines how an element reacts. Some isotopes have
unstable nuclei; they are known as radioisotopes and emit various forms of radiation.

Relative atomic mass is the average mass of naturally occurring atoms in an element. This
number is calculated on the various ratios of the natural mixture of isotopes. It explains to us
why the atomic mass is not an exact number and may vary depending on the percentages of
isotopes present. The relative atomic mass in our books have been rounded to keep the
calculations easy.

Questions
C2.14 How many protons, neutrons and electrons are there in an atom of aluminium?

C2.15 What are the relative masses of a proton, neutron and electron?
C2.05 Electron arrangements in atoms

As we mentioned before it is the electron arrangement that gives each element it's particular
characteristic. When we look at the diagram below we can see that the electrons are placed
in different energy levels around the nucleus. When we add energy normally in the form of
thermal energy to an atom these electrons jump between the different energy levels. This
movement between two different energy levels produces colored light. We can see this when
we heat up certain elements and they produce flames of different colors.

Niels Bohr, a Danish scientist, working along with Ernest Rutherford in Manchester
developed the theory to explain how electrons were arranged in atoms. This helps to explain
how the colours in the previous photograph are produced.

Bohr's model and be simplified into the following main ideas:

- electrons are in orbits around the nucleus of the atom

- the electron orbits are called shells (or energy levels) and have different
energies
- shells further from the nucleus have higher Energies
 - shells are filled starting with the one with lowest energy, closest to the
nucleus
- the first shell can only hold two electrons
- the second and subsequent shows can hold 8 electrons

The first 20 elements in the periodic table follow this model however the others follow
a slightly different system which will be explained in a later chapter.

Elements Symbol Atomic First shell Second shell Third shell Fourth shell Electron
number, Z configuration

hydrogen H 1 ● 1

helium He 2 ●● 2

lithium Li 3 ●● ● 2,1

beryllium Be 4 ●● ●● 2,2

boron B 5 ●● ●●● 2,3

carbon C 6 ●● ●●●● 2,4

nitrogen N 7 ●● ●●●●● 2,5

oxygen O 8 ●● ●●●●●● 2,6

fluorine F 9 ●● ●●●●●●● 2,7

neon Ne 10 ●● ●●●●●●●● 2,8

sodium Na 11 ●● ●●●●●●●● ● 2,8,1

magnesium Mg 12 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●● 2,8,2

aluminium Al 13 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●●● 2,8,3

silicon Si 14 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●●●● 2,8,4

phosphorus P 15 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●●●●● 2,8,5

sulfur S 16 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●●●●●● 2,8,6

chlorine Cl 17 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●● 2,8,7

argon Ar 18 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●● 2,8,8

potassium K 19 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●● ● 2,8,8,1

calcium Ca 20 ●● ●●●●●●●● ●●●●●●●● ●● 2,8,8,2

A graphical way of representing a Bohr diagram is seen in the following picture.

Here we can see an atom of sodium and an atom of chlorine along with the corresponding
number of electrons in each energy level.

Questions

C2.16 What is the maximum number of electrons that can fill the first energy level?
C2.17 What is the maximum number of electrons that can fill the second energy level?
C2.18 How many electrons are there in the outer shell of the atoms of the noble gases argon
and neon?
C2.19 Carbon-12 and carbon-14 are different isotopes of carbon. How many electrons are
there in an atom of each isotope?
C2.20 Write down the electron configuration for nitrogen.

Summary

You should know:

- There are three different physical states in which a substance can exist
- About the different changes in states that can take place including sublimation
- How these changes of state can be produced by changing the conditions of
temperature and/or pressure
- How the kinetic model describes the idea that the particles of a substance are in
constant motion and that the nature and amount of motion of these particles differ in
a solid, liquid and gas.
- How changing physical state involves energy being absorbed or emitted
- The temperature of the substance stay in constant while the change takes place
- How pure substances have precise melting and boiling points and the variation of
those as an indicator of purity
- There are different separation methods which can be used to purify a substance from
a mixture
- How pure chemical substances can either be elements or compounds
- That elements are the basic building blocks of the material world and they cannot be
chemically broken down into anything simpler
 - How compounds are made from two or more elements chemically combined and
that the property of the new substance is very different from those of the elements
being joined
- How each element is made from atoms and atoms can join together to make a
molecules either of an element or a compound
- How atoms of the elements are made up of different combinations of subatomic
particles- protons, neutrons and electrons
- The electrical charges and relative masses of these subatomic particles
- How in any atom, neutrons and protons are bound together in a central nucleus and
the electrons orbit the nucleus in different energy levels
- That the number of protons in an atom is defined as the atomic number (Z) and the
total number of protons and neutrons in an atom is defined as the mass number (A)
- How isotopes of the same element can exist which differ only in the number of
neutrons in their nuclei
- How are electrons in atoms are arranged in different energy levels
- How energy levels can have a maximum number of electrons and that the shells
closest to the nucleus are filled first

End of chapter questions

1. a. Substances can be categorized in two ways: as an element, mixture or

compound or as a solid, liquid or gas. Which of these methods is most useful to a
chemist and why?

b. The word particle can be used to describe a speck of dust, a molecule, an atom
or an electron. How can we avoid confusion in using the word particle?

2. Sand and salt ( sodium chloride) are both solids.

a. Describe the arrangement and movement of the particles in a solid.
b. Describe how you could separate the sand from a mixture of sand and salt.
explain fully the procedure that you would use.

3. The diagram below shows the apparatus used to separate ethanol and water from a
mixture of ethanol and water
Write out and complete the following sentences about this separation using words from the
list below.

condenser crystallization distillation flask heavy

higher lower solid volatile vapour

Fractional ……………….. is used to separate a mixture of water and ethanol. The

temperature at the top of the fractionating column is………………… than the temperature at
the bottom. The more……………… liquid evaporates and moves further up the column. It
eventually reaches the……………………. where the………………………. changes to a
liquid.

( Cambridge IGCSE chemistry 0620 paper 2103 c,d November 2012)

4. The diagram below shows an iceberg floating in the sea.

a. Which of the materials named in the diagram best fits the following description of the
organization of the particles?
“ the particles are able to move, they are randomly arranged and a closely packed”.

b. name the processes by which water molecules in the sea become:

- water molecules in the air
- water molecules in the ice
5. Stearic acid is a solid at room temperature. The diagram below shows the apparatus used
for finding the melting point of stearic acid. The apparatus was heated at a steady rate and
the temperature was recorded every minute.

a. Name the pieces of equipment A and B.

b. Suggest why the water needs to be kept stirred during this experiment.
c. A graph of temperature of stearic acid against time of heating is shown below.

i. What is the temperature of the stearic acid after 3 minutes of heating?

ii. Use the information on the graph to determine the melting point of stearic acid.

d. Describe the arrangement and motion of the particles in liquid stearic acid.
e. A sample of stearic acid contains 1% of another compound with a higher relative
molecular mass.
i. which one of the following statements about the sample of stearic acid is correct:
- its density is actually the same as that of pure stearic acid
- its boiling point is the same as that of pure stearic acid
- its melting point is different from pure stearic acid
- its melting point is the same as that of pure stearic acid

ii. Describe one area of everyday life with the purity of substances is important.

(Cambridge IGCSE chemistry 0620 paper 21 q1 a, b, c, e June 2012)

6. Helium and argon are noble gases.

a. State one use of helium
b. the atomic structures of helium and argon are shown below

i. What is the name of the central part of the atom?

ii. which of these statements about helium and argon is correct:
- argon has an incomplete inner shell of electrons
- an atom of argon has 16 electrons
- helium has a complete outer shell of electrons
- helium has an incomplete outer shell of electrons

iii. How many protons are there in an atom of argon?

c. Argon is a liquid at a temperature of -188 ℃

Complete the diagram below to show how the atoms of argon are arranged at -188 ℃
(Cambridge IGCSE chemistry 0620 paper 21 Q3 November 2010)