Chemistry

Goal 6

The Periodic Table of Elements

The periodic table contains the elements name, symbol, atomic number, and atomic mass. It is organized so that elements can easily be identified as metals, metalloids, non-metals, and noble gases depending on their positions in the table.

 The arrangement of the periodic table consists of rows called periods and columns called groups. The elements within a period have the same number of energy levels. The elements within a group have the same number of valence electrons.

 The number of energy levels increases from top to bottom within all groups. The number of valence electrons increases from left to right across period 1-3 and 14-18. A group is also called a family because the elements in it have related chemical properties.

 Group 1 elements are called the alkali metals.

Group 2 elements are called the alkaline earth metals. The elements in groups 3 through 12 form the biggest family of all, the transition metals.

 Group 17 (7A) elements are the halogens.

Group 18 (8A) elements are the noble gases.

 The atomic number is a whole number that tells how many protons are in the elements nucleus. The number increases by one for each element as you go along the table. The atomic mass number is the weighted average atomic mass of the elements natural isotopes. It is always a larger number than the atomic number and usually has a decimal remainder.

 The elements in the periodic table are classified as metals, non-metals, and metalloids based on their physical and chemical properties. More than 75 percent of the elements in the periodic table are metals. They are located to the left of the dark step-like line starting in Group 13 and ending in Group 16.

 Metals have luster (are generally shiny), are malleable (able to be pounded into different shapes), are ductile (able be stretched into wires), are solid at room temperature (except for mercury, which is a liquid at room temperature), and are good conductors of heat and electricity. The most reactive metals are located at the bottom of their groups.

 Solid non-metals are dull in appearance, usually brittle, and poorly conductive of heat and electricity. Many non-metals are gases at room temperature. These include nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, chlorine, and the noble gases. One non-metal, bromine, is a liquid at room temperature.

 The most reactive non-metals are at the top of their groups. Metalloids have some characteristics of metals and non-metals and are semiconductors (partial conductors) of electricity.

 Energy levels are locations where electrons can be found within an atom of an element. The number of energy levels found within an element is equal to the period number in which the element is found. Only electrons found in the outermost energy level of atoms have enough energy to form chemical bonds with other atoms. The bonding electrons are called valence electrons. The elements in a group all have the same number of valence electrons and form similar chemical bonds.

Practice Problems

Chemical Bonding
Chemical bonding is where compounds are formed by various combinations of atoms held together by an electrical force of attraction.
The electrons in atoms are organized in energy levels. The valence electrons in the outermost level are the least stable in every group except Group 18, the noble gases. They have the only stable arrangements of valence electrons.

 The way in which atoms rearrange electrons defines the types of bonds that from: ionic, covalent, or metallic. Atoms can gain, lose, or share electrons during the rearrangement.

When atoms gain or lose electrons, they become electrically charged ions.

 An ion is an atom or group of atoms carrying an overall positive or negative charge. When an atom loses electrons, which are negatively charged, protons, which are positively charged, outnumber the electrons and the atom becomes a positive ion.

 When an atom gains an electron, the electrons outnumber the protons so a negative ion is formed. The ions charge equals the number of electrons gained or lost. This is called the oxidation number.

Ionic bonds form between metal and non-metal atoms when they exchange electrons.

 Metal atoms have 1, 2, or 3 valence electrons. When they lose these few electrons to a nonmetal atom, the outer level of electrons vanishes. The remaining inner energy level now becomes the stable outer level since it already contains 8 electrons. Non-metal atoms have 5, 6, or 7 valence electrons. They gain 3, 2, or 1 electrons from metal atoms to reach the stable number of 8.

 After the electron exchange, each atom becomes an ion. The metal ion has a positive charge; the non-metal ion has a negative charge. The oppositely charged ions strongly attract each other and form an ionic bond.

 Covalent bonds form when a non-metal combines with a non-metal by sharing, not gaining or losing, electrons. Both atoms share valence electrons to become stable. The two non-metal atoms share valence electrons instead of exchanging electrons. Thus no ions are formed.

The number of electrons shared by each is equal to the number of electrons needed by the atom to make it stable.

 A single covalent bond has one pair of shared electrons. It is the most stable covalent bond. There is also a double covalent bond which shares two pairs of electrons, an a triple covalent bond which shares three pairs of electrons.

 In a metallic bond, valence electrons leave the metal atoms and form an electron sea within the crystal lattice. The atoms become positive ions, but do not repel each other. Clusters of different atoms can combine to form a charged particle that is called a polyatomic ion. The cluster stays together as a group when it combines with other atoms to form ionic compounds.

Practice Problems

Chemical Reaction
During chemical reactions, the reactants change their composition and become different substances, the products.

The changes occurring in a chemical reaction are represented by a chemical equation. In any chemical equation, the products contain all of the atoms that were in the reactants, but the atoms are rearranged in new ways.

 The law of conservation of matter is the principle that atoms that were in the reactants before the rearrangement still exist after the reaction in the products. In order to verify that a chemical equation for a reaction obeys the law of conservation of matter, it has to be a balanced equation.

A balanced equation is where each side of the equation must have the same number of atoms of each element, which follows the law of conservation of matter.

 Steps to balance and equation:

Step 1: Count the number of atoms of each element in the reactants and products. Step 2: Balance the elements, one at a time, by using coefficients.

 There are four types of chemical reaction: single replacement, double replacement, synthesis, and decomposition reactions. A single replacement reaction occurs when one element replaces another element in a compound. Zn + 2 HCL H2 + ZnCl2 A + BC B + AC

 A double replacement reaction occurs when two compounds interchange their component elements and form two different compounds. NaCl + AgF NaF + AgCl AB + CD AC + BD

 A synthesis reaction occurs when two substances chemically combine to form a single compound.
C + O2 CO2 A + B AB

 A decomposition reaction is the opposite of synthesis. 2H2O 2H2 + O2 AB A + B

Practice Problems!

Indicators of Chemical Change

A chemical property of a substance describes how it can interact with other substances to undergo a chemical change to form new substances.
A chemical change is any change that results in the formation of new substances. Some examples of chemical properties include the potential to oxidize, to burn, and to corrode.

 During oxidation, a substance combines with oxygen by donating electrons. In the process, a new substance with new properties is formed. Combustibility is a chemical property of substances with the potential to combine rapidly with oxygen and burn, forming new products with new properties.

 Corrosion is a general term for chemical changes thats weaken or discolor useful metals. Chemical changes produce observable evidence that a change has occurred, such as production of a gas (bubbles), a change of color, precipitate formation, energy changes, and presence of an odor.

 A precipitate is a solid that forms when two liquids are mixed. An exothermic reaction releases energy during a chemical reaction. An endothermic reaction absorbs energy during a chemical reaction.

Practice Problems

Solutions
When substances dissolve in solvents, they form solutions. The rate at which substances dissolve depends on temperature, surface area and agitation (stirring). Acids and bases are two types of substances that dissolve in water. Whether a solution is classified as an acid, base, or simply neutral is indicated by a measure called the pH.

 A solution is a mixture of two or more substances. The solute is the substance that dissolves in the solvent and the solvent is the substance that dissolves the solute.

Polarity is where one part of the molecule is slightly negative, and the other part if slightly positive (EX: water).

 Four factors affect the rate at which a solid solute dissolves in a liquid solvent. These are temperature, amount of surface area, stirring, and concentration.

The concentration of a solution is a ratio of the amount of solute dissolved per quantity of solvent.

 An acid is a substance that releases hydrogen ions, H+, in solution. Acids are easily recognized because their chemical formulas begin with the symbol for hydrogen, H (EX: HCl or HNO3). Properties of an acid are they conduct electricity, taste sour, turn blue litmus paper red, have a pH less than 7, react with metals, react with bases to produce water and salt.

 A base, or alkali, is a substance that releases hydroxide ions (OH-) in solution. Many bases have chemical formulas that end in OH (EX: NaOH, Ca(OH)2). Properties of a base are they conduct electricity, taste bitter, turn red litmus paper blue, have a pH greater than 7, feel slippery, and react with acids to produce water and salt.

 The pH scale is used to indicate how strongly acid or basic a solution is. It is a measurement of the concentrations of H+ ions in the solution. The pH scale goes from 0 (most acidic) to 14 (most basic), with 7 being neutral (pure water).

 A neutralization reaction is a double replacement chemical reaction in which an acid and a base combine to form a salt and water.

Practice Problems!

Radioactivity
Radioactivity is due to spontaneous changes in the nucleus of an atom that often transform it into a different element. Three kinds of radioactivity are alpha, beta, and gamma decay.

The two major types of nuclear reactions are nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

 Radioactivity is the release of subatomic particles and powerful energy due to the spontaneous disintegration of unstable nuclei in the atoms of certain elements.

The two subatomic particles associated with radioactivity are alpha and beta particles.

 The alpha particle has a charge of +2 (positive). The beta particle is an electron. During nuclear reactions, elements transform into other elements. An unstable radioactive element will decay into an element or elements with lower mass when an alpha or beta particle is emitted from its nucleus.

 Gamma rays are powerful electromagnetic waves from space of short wavelengths and high frequency that can penetrate 2 to 3 cm of lead. Nuclear fission is the splitting of a heavy nucleus into two lighter nuclei, releasing a tremendous amount of energy. (usually represented by an U235, uranium isotope, nucleus getting hit by a neutron.

 The cascade of continuing nuclear fission reactions is called a chain reaction. The minimum mass of U-235 required for the chain reaction to occur is called the critical mass.

Nuclear Fission

 Nuclear fusion occurs when light nuclei fuse or combine to form a larger, single nucleus.

 Radioactive substances decay at a regular, predictable way. The rate of decay is expressed as the half-life of the substance. The half-life of a substance equals the amount of time required for half of it to decay.

Practice Problems