Basic Chemistry I

Matter

MATTER AND ENERGY

All the materials that interest chemistsin fact, all the things we can see or touch or feelare examples of matter, whether they be books, pencils, telephones, hamburgers, or people. Matter is defined as anything that takes up space and has mass. In setting down this definition, we are very careful to specify the term mass

rather than weight, even though we often use the terms as if they were interchangeable. Mass and weight are not really the same. A Ping-Pong ball moving at 30 km h1 (30 kilometers per hour), for example, is easily deflected by a soft breeze, but a cement truck moving at the same speed is not. Quite clearly, the mass of the cement truck is considerably greater than that of the Ping-Pong ball.

The term weight refers to the force with which an object of a certain mass is attracted by gravity to the earth or to some other body that it may be near, such as the moon. Force and mass are related to each other by Newton's equation (Newton's law). F = ma

100 g mass in your hand; the "push" downward represents a one-newton force..' moon the gravitational acceleration is only about one-sixth of that on earth, so the same object weighs only one-sixth as much on the moon as on the earth, even though its mass is the same in both locations. Even on the earth the value of g has been found to vary slightly from place to place. This means that if very precise measurements are made, an object's weight also varies slightly according to its location on the earth. Because of this, we specify an object's mass instead of its weight when we wish to report the quantity of matter in the object. The measurement of mass (a process, oddly enough, called weighing) is actually performed by comparing the weights of two objects, one of known mass, the other of unknown mass. The apparatus used for this is called a balance. Figure 1.7 is a drawing of a traditional two-pan balance. The object to be weighed is placed on the left pan of the balance and objects of known mass are added to the other until the pointer comes to the center of the scale. At this point the contents of both pans weigh the same, and since they both experience the same gravitational acceleration, both pans contain equal masses.

where F = force, m = mass, and

a = acceleration. In order to accelerate a body, a force must be applied to it. When an object is dropped, it accelerates because of the gravitational attraction of the earth. An object resting on the earth or moon exerts a force (its weight, W) that is equal to its mass, m, multiplied by the acceleration due to gravity, g, that is, W = mg For example, at the earth's surface, g = 9.81 m s-2. Thus a one-kilogram mass would have a weight (or experience a force downward at the earth's surface) of

For convenience, the derived SI unit of force or weight, possessing units 1 kg m s-2, is defined as the newton (N). A one-kilogram mass has a we 9.81 N at the earth's surface. You can experience the magnitude of a one force by placing a large lemon (or any object with slightly more than

In chemistry, as mentioned previously, we generally measure mass in grams. Most balances found in labs today function on the same principle. The most modern electronic balances, operate on a somewhat different principle. They are rugged, fast, and convenient, and make the measurement of mass a routine laboratory operation.

Energy is usually defined as the capacity to do work or to make things happen. When an object has energy, it can affect other objects by doing work on them. A moving car possesses energy because it can do work on another car by moving it some distance in a collision. Coal and oil possess energy because they can be burned and the heat that is liberated can be harnessed to do work. Because energy can be transferred from one object to another as work, the units of energy and work are the same. An object can possess energy in two ways: as kinetic energy and as potential energy. Kinetic energy (K.E.) is associated with motion and is equal to one-half of an object's mass, m, multiplied by its velocity, v, squared. Thus, we see that the amount of work a moving body can do depends on both its mass and its velocity.

Energy When chemical changes occur, they are almost always accompanied by either an absorption or release of energy. These energy changes tell us a great deal about the nature of the chemicals that are reacting, and equally important to us, certain chemical reactions provide the energy that our bodies and our society need in order to function. Therefore, an understanding of what energy is and how it can be transferred from one object to another is as important to those who study chemistry as an understanding of matter itself. Energy itself is a difficult concept to comprehend, because energy is so different from matter. You can't put energy in a bottle to examine it. All you can do is examine the effects of energy on objects.

For example, a truck moving at 30 km h-1 can do more work on the rear end of a car than a bicycle moving at the same speed. We also know that a truck moving at 80 km h-1 can do more work on a car than one traveling at only 5 km h-1. Potential energy (P.E.) represents energy a body possesses because of the attractive or repulsive forces it

experiences with other objects. If there are no attractive or repulsive forces, the body does not possess potential energy. As we have indicated, chemical substances contain energy that can be released through chemical reactions. For example, when wood burns, it reacts with oxygen from the air. As the products of combustion are formed, rather sizable quantities of heat are released. In this case, the wood and the oxygen are sources of potential energy, sometimes called "chemical energy," and the reaction causes this energy to be released into the surroundings as heat. The quantity of energy released or absorbed in a chemical reaction depends on the amounts of materials that react. The burning of a match, for example, releases only a very small quantity of energy, but a large bonfire produces much more. When a change (either chemical or physical) releases energy to the surroundings, it is called an exothermic change. Changes that absorb energy are termed endothermic. It is usually easy to recognize whether a process is exothermic or endothermic; an exothermic change raises the temperature of its surroundings, and an endothermic

change causes its surroundings to become cool The total quantity of energy that an object possesses is equal to the sum of its kinetic energy and its potential energy. In an isolated system, such as we believe our universe to be, the total quantity of energy is constant. This leads to a very important physical law, called the law of conservation of energy, which states that energy can be neither created nor destroyed. It only can be changed from one kind of energy to another. Units of energy Energy is transmitted from one body to another in a variety of ways, for example, as light, sound, electricity, and/or heat. These various forms of energy can be converted from one to another and therefore are ultimately equivalent. The SI (System International) unit for energy is the joule (J), which is defined as 1 kg m2/s2 in terms of the SI base units. It represents the kinetic energy possessed by an object with a mass of 2.0 kg traveling at 1 m/s. In referring to energies involved in chemical reactions, it is useful to use the term kilo joule (kj). One kilo joule is equal to 1000 joules (1 kj = 1000 J). All forms of energy ultimately are transformed into heat, and when chemists measure energy, it is usually in the form of heat.

We know that heat always flows by itself from a region of high temperature to one of low temperature, as when a hot cup of coffee becomes cool. We also know that the rate of heat transfer depends on the difference in temperature between two objects. If we want to warm something slowly, we place it in contact with an object just slightly warmer; if we wish to heat it quickly, we place it in contact with something very hot. The original definition of the unit of heat energy called the calorie (symbolized cal) relied on the concept of temperature. The calorie was defined as the quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water, initially at 15C, by 1C. The kilocalorie (kcal), like the kilojoule, is a more appropriately sized unit for dealing with energy changes in chemical reactions. For example, we might measure the heat liberated during the combustion of natural gas, which is composed principally of the compound methane. The measurement of heat involves the concept of temperature, which we discussed earlier. It is important to remember that heat is not the same as temperature. Heat is energy, while temperature is a measure of the intensity of heat or hotness. Another useful definition of

temperature is that it defines the direction and rate of heat flow. It has also been the unit used in nutrition for reporting the energy content of foodsthe Calorie (written with a capital C) is the same as a kilocalorie. Thus, if we read that a serving of mashed potatoes contains 230 Cal, we are being told that 230 kcal of energy are liberated when the body metabolizes this food. Until recently, nearly all the chemical scientific literature used the calorie (or kilocalorie) in reporting energy changes. With the introduction of SI units, the joule (or kilojoule) is now preferred and the calorie has been redefined in terms of this SI unit. The calorie and kilocalorie are defined exactly by the relationships 1 cal = 4.184 J 1 kcal = 4.184 kJ Thus in terms of SI, one Calorie of food energy is more properly expressed as 4.184 kJ. PROPERTIES OF MATTER Objects are recognized by their characteristics, or properties. For example, Iron has shiny surfaces, pull by magnet, react with oxygen produce rust. If we burn magnesium, bluish white color is emitted. Boiling point of alcohol is lower than water. Luster, color, magnetism, the tendency to corrode, boiling point

are just some of the many properties that we use to recognize and classify different samples of matter. These properties themselves can be divided into two broad categories: extensive properties, which depend on the size of a sample of matter; and intensive properties, which are independent of the sample size. Of the two, intensive properties are the more useful, because a substance will exhibit the same intensive property regardless of how much of it we examine. Examples of extensive properties are mass and volumeas the amount of a substance increases, its mass and volume also increase. Some examples of intensive properties are melting point and boiling point. Another intensive property is density, which is defined as the ratio of an object's mass to its volume. Liquid water, for instance, has a density of 1 g/ cm3. This means that if we had 1 g of water, it would occupy a volume of 1 cm3. If we had 20 g of water, it would occupy a volume of 20 cm3, but the ratio of the water's mass to its volume is the same: 20 g/20 cm3 = 1 g/1 cm3 = 1 g cm-3. Notice that we have created an intensive property by taking the ratio of two extensive ones. Later in our discussion of chemistry, we will encounter quite a few other intensive properties defined in a similar way.

Normally, when a substance is heated or cooled, its volume expands or contracts. This means that the object's mass is packed into either a larger or smaller volume, so the density also changes with temperature. Therefore, for very accurate work, the temperature corresponding to a reported density must be specified. For example, at 25.0C (room temperature) the density of water is 0.9970 g cm-3, while at 35.0C its density is 0.9956 g cm-3. (For most purposes, we can take the density of water to be 1.00 g cm-3.) Density provides a relationship between an object's mass and its volume. It tells us, in this instance, that if we have 1.00 cm3 of copper, its mass is 8.96 g. It also tells us that if we have 8.96 g of copper, its volume is 1.00 cm3. We call/use the density as a conversion factor in two ways Since we are given the mass of copper, we must multiply by the second factor to eliminate the units grams. A property closely related to density is specific gravity (often abbreviated sp.gr.), or relative density, which is defined as the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water. In this way two tablesone containing the specific gravities of substances and the other containing

the density of water in a variety of unitstake the place of the many tables that would otherwise be needed to express the densities of substances in all those different units. EXAMPLE 1.9PROBLEM FINDING SPECIFIC GRAVITY Hexane, a solvent used for rubber cement, has a specific gravity of 0.668. What is the density of hexane in g cm-3 and in kg m-3. Water has a density of 1.00 g cm-3 or 1.00 x 103 kg m-3.

(0.668) x (1.00 x 103 kg/m3) = 6.68 x 103 kg m3 Specific heat capacity An intensive property of matter associated with energy is specific heat capacity (sometimes termed specific heat), the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of a substance by 1C. The specific heat capacity of water is 4.184 J g-1 C-1. Most other substances have smaller specific heats. Iron, for example, has a specific heat of only 0.452 J g-1 oC-1. This means that it takes less heat to raise the temperature of 1 g of iron by 1C than it does to cause the same temperature change for a gram of water. It also means that a given quantity of heat will raise the temperature of 1 g of iron more than it will raise the temperature of 1 g of water. The large specific heat capacity of water is responsible for the moderating effect the oceans have on weather, since they cool very slowly in winter and warm up slowly in the summer. Air moving over the oceans in winter never gets very cold, and in the summer the air never gets very hot.

SOLUTION By definition: dhexan sp. gr. hexane = -----------dwater Therefore (sp. gr. hexane) x dwater = dhexan In units of grams per cubic centimetre dhexan = (0.668) x (1.00 g/cm3) = 0.668 g cm-3 Notice that in units of g cm-3 the numerical values of density and specific gravity are the same. In units of kilograms per cubic metre,

EXAMPLE 1.10 CALCULATIONS INVOLVING SPECIFIC HEAT PROBLEM

dhexan =

How many joules are required to raise the temperature of a 7.5-cm iron nail with a mass of 7.05 g from room temperature

(25C) to 100C? The specific heat capacity of iron is 0.452 J g-1 oC-1. SOLUTION

of a substance to undergo a particular chemical reaction. However, to say simply that a substance is very reactive, without specifying "with what" or under what conditions, is not particularly helpful. Sodium, for example, is very reactive with water but quite unreactive toward the gas helium.

To solve this problem, we must multiply the specific heat capacity by mass (g) and the temperature change (C) to eliminate these units and obtain joules as the units of the answer. specific heat capacity x mass x temperature change = heat energy

ELEMENTS, COMPOUNDS, AND MIXTURES In nature, there are very few material that even approach being pure compounds nearly everything is a mixture. The three words that form the title to this section lie very close to the heart of chemistry, because we work with elements, compounds, and mixtures in the laboratory. We must therefore understand what they are and how to distinguish among them. Elements are the simplest forms of matter that can exist under conditions that we find in a chemical laboratory; they thus are the simplest forms of matter with which the chemist deals directly. Elements serve as the building blocks for all of the more complex substances that we encounter, from common table salt to extremely complex proteins. All are composed of a limited set of elements. At present, there are 108 known elements, but only a much smaller number will be of real interest to us.

Notice that the answer has been rounded to two significant figures. Do you know why? If not, review the significant figure rules for multiplication. Physical and chemical properties In speaking of the properties of substances, we also distinguish between physical properties and chemical properties. A physical property can be specified without reference to any other substance. Density, specific heat, color, magnetism, mass, and volume are all examples of physical properties. A chemical property, on the other hand, states some interaction between chemical substances. When iron is exposed to oxygen and water, it corrodes and produces a new substance called iron oxide rust. This is a chemical property of iron. We also say, for instance, that sodium is very reactive toward water. Reactivity is a chemical property that refers to the tendency

Elements combine with each other to form compounds. A compound is characterized by having its constituent elements always present in the same proportions. For example, you probably know that water is composed of two elements: hydrogen and oxygen. All samples of pure water contain these two elements combined in the proportion of one part by mass hydrogen to eight parts by mass oxygen (for example, 1.0 g of hydrogen to 8.0 g of oxygen). Also, when hydrogen is allowed to react with oxygen to produce water, the relative quantities of hydrogen and oxygen that combine are always the same. Thus, whenever 1.0 g of hydrogen reacts, it is always observed that only 8.0 g of oxygen are consumed, even if more than that quantity of oxygen is available. Mixtures differ from elements and compounds in that they may be of variable composition. (As a result, they are not considered to be pure substances.) A solution of sodium chloride (table salt) in water is a mixture of two substances. We know that by dissolving varying quantities of salt in water (or a bowl of soup), we can obtain solutions with a wide range of compositions. Most materials found in nature or prepared in the laboratory are not pure but instead are mixtures.

Mixtures can be described as being either homogeneous or heterogeneous. A homogeneous mixture is called a solution and has uniform properties throughout. If we were to sample any portion of a sodium chloride solution, we would find that it has the same properties (e.g., composition) as any other portion of the solution; we say that it consists of a single phase. Thus, we define a phase as any part of a system that has uniform properties and composition. A heterogeneous mixture, such as oil and water, is not uniform (Figure 1.11). If we were to sample one portion of the mixture, it would have the properties of water, while some other part of the mixture would have the properties of oil. This mixture consists of two phases: the oil and the water.

If we shook the mixture so that the oil was dispersed throughout the water as small droplets (as in a salad dressing), all the oil droplets taken together would still constitute only a single phase, since the oil in one droplet has the same properties as the oil in another. If we added an ice cube to this "brew," we would then have three phases: the ice (a solid), the water (a liquid), and the oil (another liquid). In all these examples, we can detect the presence

of two or more phases because a boundary exists between them. A useful feature of pure substances is that they undergo phase changes (e.g., solid to liquid or liquid to gas) at constant temperature. Ice, for instance, melts at a temperature of 0C, a temperature that remains constant while the water undergoes the change from solid to liquid. When mixtures undergo phase changes, they generally do so over a range of temperatures. This phenomenon provides us with one experimental test to determine when we have obtained a pure substance. There is another way that mixtures differ from compounds and elements. When a mixture is prepared, the chemical properties (and often, the physical properties) of the components do not change, but when elements are combined to form a compound, very profound changes occur in both chemical and physical properties. For example, copper and sulfur are two elements. Copper, of course, is a reddishcolored metal, a good conductor of electricity, and is relatively resistant to corrosion. Sulfur is a yellow nonmetallic substance A mixture of sulfur and copper is easily prepared, but in the mixture we can still see traces of the properties of copper and the properties of sulfur. The formation of the mixture has involved a physical

processa process that has not altered the chemical characteristics of the components. If the mixture of copper (Cu) and sulfur (S) is heated, a chemical reaction, or chemical change, takes place. The copper and sulfur combine to form a compound and this is accompanied by dramatic changes in the properties of the substances. After the reaction is over, we can't find anything that has the properties copper, and we can't find anything that has the properties of sulfur. We find a new substance, called copper(II) sulfide, that has new properties.

Figure 1.12 (a) Alongside a crucible and its cover we see a coil of red-colored copper wire and yellow powdered sulfur, (b) When mixed in the crucible, the copper and sulfur retain their individual properties, (c) When the mixture of copper and sulfur is heated, a reaction takes place and a new substance called copper(ll) sulfide is formed. The copper(ll) sulfide has the same shape as the coiled copper wire from which it was formed. Notice that its properties differ from both the copper and sulfur. It doesn't conduct electricity; it doesn't have the color of either copper or sulfur; it has a density that is different from both sulfur and copper; and its chemical properties

are entirely different, too. Such changes are what characterize chemical reactions. Separating elements, compounds, and mixtures Since elements form compounds by chemical reactions, decomposing compounds into their elements also involves chemical reactions, and they also are accompanied by drastic changes in properties. Mixtures can be separated by physical processes in which the chemical properties of the components are not altered. Even so, separating mixtures is not always an easy job, and a variety of methods have been devised by chemists for this purpose. For example, a mixture of salt in water can be left to evaporate, and the departure of the water leaves the salt behind as a solid If we wished to recover the water as well, we could boil the mixture in an apparatus similar to the one in Figure 1.14 and collect the water after it has condensed from the steam. This process is called distillation. It is one method that is used to obtain drinking water from sea water (the desalination of sea water). Another method of separating mixtures, called chromatography, makes use of the different tendencies that substances have for being adsorbed onto the surface of certain solids. For example, in thin-layer chromatography (Figure 1.15), a small spot of a solution containing

several components is placed onto one end of a glass plate that is thinly coated with a material such as silica gel. A suitable solvent is then allowed to creep up the coating from a reservoir. As the solvent flows past the spot, the different components tend to be lifted from the silica gel surface with different degrees of ease. This causes the components of the mixture to move through the silica gel at different rates, with the more strongly adsorbed components moving more slowly. The result is a separation of the original spot into a set of spots, each containing (we hope) one component. This technique is widely used today by chemists who synthesize new compounds. Ilustrasion of separating process Plogiston theory

The early history of chemistry was marked, not surprisingly, by incorrect theory about what occurred during chemical reactions. It had long been observed for example, that when the combustion of wood took place, was very light and fluffy. Metals also changed their appearance when heated in air. The resulting material was less dense than the original metal and thus appeared lighter. These observations led to the conclusion something which the German chemists

Becher and Stahl called phlogiston, was lost by substances when they burned. Even when it was pointed out that metals gain mass when they were heated in air, the theory was salvaged by concluding that phlogiston simply had negative mass! The reluctance to abandon the crumbling phlogiston theory demonstrates a general human phenomenon. New theories are difficult to come by, and old ones become so thoroughly entrenched that it is often tempting to try to shore up a sagging theory rather than to dream up a new one that will do a better job of explaining all the observed facts. It was Antoine Lavoisier (17431794), a French chemist, who finally laid the phlogiston theory to rest and set chemistry on the proper course again. He demonstrated by his experiments that the combustion process actually by the reaction of substances with oxygen. He also showed, through careful measurements, that if a reaction is carried out in a closed container, so that none of the products of reaction escape, the total mass of all substance present after the reaction has occurred is the same as before the reaction began. This observations form the basis of the law of conservation of mass, which states that mass is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical

reaction. This is one the most important principles in chemistry, even today. The work of Lavoisier clearly demonstrated the importan of measurement. After his book, Traite Elementaire de Chimie, appeared in 1979, many chemists were inspired to investigate the quantitative aspects of chemical reactions. These investigations led to another important chemical law, the law of definite proportions. The law of definite proportions (also called the law position) states that, in a pure chemical substance, the elements a always present in definite proportions by mass. In the substance water, for instance the ratio of the mass of hydrogen to the mass of oxygen is always 1/8, regardless the source the water. Thus, if 9.0 g of water are decomposed, 1.0 g of hydrogen and 8 g of oxygen are always obtained. If 18.0 g of water are broken down, 2.0 g hyddrogen and 16.0 g of oxygen are produced. The Atomic Theory of Dalton

The real father of modern chemistry could well be considered the Englishman John Dalton (1766-1844), who proposed his atomic theory of matter around 1803. The concept of the atom (from the Greek atomos, meaning indivisible) did not originate with Dalton. The Greek

philosophers Leucippus and Democritus suggested, as early as 400 to 500 b.c., that matter cannot be forever divided into smaller and smaller parts and that ultimately particles would be encountered that would be indivisible. These early proposals, however, were not based on the results of experiments and were little more than exercises in thought. Dalton's theory was different because it was based on the laws of conservation of mass and definite proportions, laws that had been derived from many direct observations. The theory Dalton proposed can be expressed by the following postulates:

are soft; some are very dense and others have very low densities. With such variety, we have to look for ways to classify these properties so that it is possible to make some sense out of them. One of the simplest methods of classification is to divide the elements into three categories: metals, nonmetals, and metalloids. The elements in each of these categories have certain distinctive characteristics. Metals

1. Matter is composed of indivisible particles called atoms. 2. All atoms of a given element have the same properties (e.g., size, shape, and mass), which differ from the properties of all other elements. 3. A chemical reaction merely consists of a reshuffling of atoms from one set of combinations to another. The individual atoms themselves, however, remain intact. SOME PROPERTIES OF THE ELEMENTS The range of properties shown by the elements is tremendous. At room temperature, some are gases, two are liquids, and the rest are solids. Some are metallic and some are not, and some have properties in between. Some are hard and some

Everyone has seen metals of one kind or anotheran iron nail, aluminum foil, copper wire, or a "chrome-plated" bumper on a car, for example. And you are no doubt familiar with some of the properties that characterize metals, even if you haven't thought about them very much. One of these, for instance, is the distinctive appearance that metals have. They shine with a luster that is so characteristic that it's called a metallic luster. Metals are also similar in their abilities to deform without breaking when hit with a hammer and to stretch when pulled. All metals have both these properties to some degree. The ability to deform when hammered is called malleability, and some metals, such

as gold, can be hammered or squeezed into extremely thin sheets. Gold leaf (Figure 3.1), for example, consists of gold with a small amount of silver and copper that has been beaten into sheets that are so thin (about 90 nm) that they are translucent; some light can actually be seen passing through them. Malleability is also a property that a blacksmith relies on when forging a horse-shoe, and a silversmith uses the malleability of silver in hammering a design into a fine silver tray. The ability of a metal to stretch when pulled from opposite directions is called ductility. This property is used in the manufacture of wire, which is illustrated in Figure 3.2. The metal to be made into wire, which might be steel, copper, or brass, is first formed into a rod. One end is tapered, fed through a die, and attached to a pulling device on the other side. The metal is then drawn through the die where it undergoes a reduction in size and an increase in length. Everyone knows that metals are good conductors of electricity. They are also good conductors of heat. If you have ever touched a metal object that has been lying in the sun for a while, you know how very hot it feels. In fact, it feels much hotter than other objects alongside that are not metallic. The reason is that as

your hand absorbs heat from the metal, heat travels quickly from the neighboring parts of the object to replace it. Nonmetallic objects don't feel as hot because when your hand removes heat, it can't be replaced rapidly, and the part of the object in contact with your hand becomes cooler. More than 70% of the elements are metals, and although there are some similarities among them, there are many differences, too. Some metals are quite common and we encounter them nearly every day in their elemental forms, that is, uncombined with other elements. The metals mentioned previously (iron, aluminum, copper, and chromium) are only a few examples. There are other metals that are so reactive only chemists, or chemistry students, ever have an opportunity to see them. For example, in Chapter 1 we mentioned the reaction between sodium and chlorine to form sodium chloride, common table salt. Sodium is a very reactive metal that combines not only with chlorine, but avidly with both oxygen and moisture. In Figure 3.3, we see a bar of sodium, heavily tarnished on the outside, but the element's bright metallic luster is revealed by the freshly cut slice of the metal.

 The range of chemical reactivity of metals is very broad. Sodium is typical of one extreme, while gold is typical of the other. Jewelry is made from gold for several reasons, one of which is the fact that it doesn't tarnish when exposed to air and moisture. This very low reactivity, combined with gold's high electrical conductivity, accounts for one of this metal's most important commercial uses: the plating of electrical contacts in computers and other electronic devices. Besides chemical reactivity, metals differ in certain physical properties such as hardness and melting point. Some metals are very hard, and some are very soft. Chromium and iron are examples of hard metals; gold and lead are examples of soft ones. Sodium is also a soft metal; in Figure 3.3, we see it being cut with a knife. The extremes of melting point are even more impressive. Tungsten has the highest melting point of any element, 3400C, which accounts for its use as the filament in electric light bulbs. Mercury has the lowest melting point of any metal, -38.9C, which means that it is a liquid at room temperature. As you know, mercury is the fluid commonly used in thermometers. Nonmetals

Most of the nonmetallic elements (the nonmetals) are rarely encountered in our daily activities in their elemental forms; instead, they are usually found in compounds. One nonmetal that most people have seen is carbon, which occurs in nature in two different forms (Figure 3.4). The more common variety is called graphite. This is the form that we find in charcoal briquets and the lead in lead pencils. The less common and more valuable form of carbon is diamond. Graphite and diamond have properties that are quite different from those that we associate with metals. Neither has the luster of a metal, and neither is malleable or ductile. Other nonmetals that you have encountered are oxygen and nitrogen, which are the principal components of the atmosphere. Usually, you are not aware of their existence, because they are colorless gases and you can't see them. Oxygen and nitrogen occur as diatomic molecules, molecules containing two atoms each. Other nonmetallic elements form similar molecules, and most are gases, also. These are hydrogen (H2), fluorine (F2), and chlorine (Cl2). Bromine (Br2) and iodine (I2) are also diatomic, but bromine is a liquid and iodine is a solid at room temperature. Just as the properties of the metals cover a broad range, so do the

properties of the nonmetals. As we've seen, some are gases and one (bromine) is a liquid. There are others that are solids; carbon is just one example. Besides differing in these physical properties, nonmetals differ from each other in their chemical properties. Fluorine, for example, is extremely reactive while helium is inert (totally unreactive). These differences, which are very important, will be explored in more detail later in the book. Metalloids Metalloids are elements that have properties that are intermediate between those of metals and those of nonmetals. The best known example is the element silicon. Two others are arsenic (As) and antimony (Sb), which are shown in Figure 3.5. In terms of outward appearances, these elements have something of a metallic look about them, but their dark color gives them away. They certainly differ in appearance from typical metals such as iron or silver. Metalloids are typically semiconductorsthey conduct electricity, but not nearly as well as metals. These semiconductor properties are especially valuable in the electronics industry, because they make possible all the microelectronic devices found in hand-held calculators and microcomputers. Except for their electrical properties, however, the metalloids are much more like nonmetals than metals.

3.2 THE FIRST PERIODIC TABLE Chemical and physical properties like those described in the last section were discovered early on in the history of chemistry. Scientists, even as early as 1800, had accumulated significant quantities of information about the elements

known to them. This knowledge, however, existed for the most part as isolated and unrelated facts that needed to be correlated in some fashion before their total significance could be grasped. Early attempts at a classification of the elements met with only limited success, and it wasn't until 1869 that the forerunner of our modern periodic table was devised. This resulted from the work of two chemists, a Russian named Dmitri Mendeleev and a German named Julius Lothar Meyer. Both worked independently and produced similar tables at about the same time. Mendeleev presented the results of his work to the Russian Chemical Society in the early part of 1869, but Meyer's table didn't appear until December of that same year. Because Mendeleev had the good fortune of publishing first, he is usually given credit for the periodic table. Mendeleev was a chemistry teacher, and while he was preparing a textbook for his students, he discovered that if he arranged the elements in order of increasing atomic weight, elements with similar properties occurred at periodic intervals. For example, he could pick out the elements lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), and rubidium (Rb). Each of these elements forms a water-soluble compound with

chlorine that has the general formula, MCI, where M stands for Li, Na, K, and so on. Although this is an interesting fact by itself, what is especially significant is that if we examine the elements that immediately follow Li, Na, K, and Rb in the list, they form another group of similar elements. Thus, Be follows Li, Mg follows Na, Ca follows K, and Sr follows Rb. These elements form the compounds BeCl2, MgCl2, CaCl2, and SrCl2. Recognizing this, Mendeleev divided the list into a series of rows and stacked them so that those elements having similar properties are arranged in vertical columns. The result was the first periodic table, which is illustrated in Figure 3.6