REVISION NOTES FOR S3 CHEMISTRY TEST 1
To facilitate the revision of your test, the main points from the textbook are extracted and re-organised in this
revision notes.
PLEASE DO READ THE TEXTBOOK DURING YOUR REVISION AS WELL.
much more information which allows you to answer more difficult questions.
1. Hazard Warning Labels (P.20)
Hazard warning labels are used for labelling dangerous chemicals.
2. Common Laboratory Apparatus (P.21)
The textbook contains
3. Classification of Matter: Pure substance and Mixture (P.5-13)
Matter is anything which has a mass and occupies space. Matter can be classified into pure
substances and mixtures.
A single substance that has nothing else mixed with it is a pure substance. A mixture consists
of two or more pure substances which have not been chemically joined together.
Table 3.1 Some examples of pure substances
Pure copper wire
Chlorine
Table 3.2 Some examples of mixtures
Soda water
Wine
Coins
A mixture of water and
carbon dioxide
A mixture of water, alcohol
and other substances
A mixture of different metals
4. Classification of matter: Elements and Compounds (P.5-13)
Pure substances can further be classified into elements and compounds.
ELEMENTS:
Elements are substances which cannot be broken down into anything simpler by chemical
methods.
Fig. 4.1 Examples of some commonly found elements
COMPOUNDS
Although there are millions of different substances in the world, every substance is made up
of one or more of the 118 known elements.
Compounds are substances composed of two or more elements chemically combined
together.
Today, millions of compounds are known and the number keeps growing. Table 4.1 shows
the constituent elements and the common uses of some common compounds.
Table 4.1 Examples of some common compounds
Compound
Constituent elements
Common use(s)
Ammonia
Calcium carbonate
Sodium hydroxide
hydrogen and nitrogen
calcium, carbon and oxygen
sodium, hydrogen and
oxygen
carbon, hydrogen and
oxygen
hydrogen and oxygen
glass cleanser, fertilizer
calcium supplement tablets
drain cleanser
Sugar
Water
flavouring
cooling and cleaning
Once the elements react to become a compound, the properties changes greatly.
shows the differences between a mixture and a compound.
Table 4.2
Table 4.2 Main differences between a mixture and a compound
Mixture
Compound
1 Composition by
mass
substances in a mixture can be the amounts of elements in a
mixed
together
in
any compound are in a fixed ratio
proportion
2 General
properties
properties similar to those of properties very different from
the substances making up the those of the elements in it
mixture
3 Melting point
and boiling point
does not have a sharp melting has a sharp melting point and
point and boiling point
boiling point
4 Separating the
constituents
constituents can be separated can only be separated into its
by simple physical methods constituents elements by chemical
(e.g. evaporation, distillation)
methods (e.g. heating, electrolysis)
5. Classifying Elements by Physical States (P.85)
Among all elements, only mercury and bromine are liquids under room temperature and
pressure.
All of the metals (e.g. copper, iron, gold etc.) are solid except mercury.
Non-metals could be a gas, a liquid or a solid.
6. Classifying Elements into Metals and Non-metals (P.86, 87)
We can classify elements in many different ways. We can use the properties of an element to
classify it as a metal or a non-metal. Most of the elements are metals.
Table 6.1 Comparing the general properties of metals and non-metals
Property
Metals
Non-metals
State at room temperature
solids (except mercury)
and pressure
a few solids (e.g. carbon,
sulphur); many gases (e.g.
nitrogen, oxygen) but only
one liquid (bromine)
Melting and boiling points
usually high
often low
Appearance
shiny
usually dull if they are solids
Electrical conductivity
good conductors
Heat conductivity
good conductors
Effect of bending
hammering
non-conductors
(except
graphite)
poor conductors
and can be bent or hammered
brittle if they are solids
into shape
(malleable and ductile)
7. Semi-metals (Metalloids) (P.88)
Some elements have properties similar to metals and non-metals at the same time. They
are classified as semi-metals (also called metalloids). Silicon is one of the semi-metals.
Table 7.1 Some properties of silicon
Property
Silicon (a semi-metal)
State at room temperature and pressure
solid
Melting and boiling points
high
Appearance
grey and shiny crystals,
or brown powder
crystalline form conducts electricity,
Electrical conductivity
brown powder form does not conduct
electricity
Effect of bending and hammering
brittle
8. Symbols of Elements (P.91)
To help communications between scientists coming from different countries, the elements
are usually represented by some symbols.
of the elements.
Some symbols are taken from the Latin names
Table 8.1 Symbols for some common elements
Symbol (first
Element
Symbol (two
Symbol (taken
letter of the
Element
letters from the
Element
from the Latin
name)
name)
Carbon
Aluminium
Al
Copper
Cu
Hydrogen
Argon
Ar
Iron
Fe
Nitrogen
Calcium
Ca
Potassium
Oxygen
Chlorine
Cl
Sodium
Na
Sulphur
Magnesium
Mg
Silicon
Si
name)
9. Structure of Atoms (P.94)
Atoms consist of a nucleus and some electrons that move around the nucleus. The electrons
move at an extremely high speed, so the electrons actually look like an electron cloud
The nucleus itself contains two types of particles: protons and neutrons. Protons, neutrons
and electrons are called subatomic particles.
10. Atomic Number and Mass Number (P.99, 100)
ATOMIC NUMBER
The atomic number of an element is the number of protons in an atom of that element.
An atom has equal numbers of protons and electrons.
Each element has a unique atomic number, which is used to identify the element.
Table 10.1 Number of subatomic particles in atoms of the 20 simplest elements
Atom
Symbol
Number of protons
(atomic number)
Number of neutrons
Number of electrons
Hydrogen
Helium
He
Lithium
Li
Beryllium
Be
Boron
Carbon
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Fluorine
10
Neon
Ne
10
10
10
Sodium
Na
11
12
11
Magnesium
Mg
12
12
12
Aluminium
Al
13
14
13
Silicon
Si
14
14
14
Phosphorus
15
16
15
Sulphur
16
16
16
Chlorine
Cl
17
18
17
Argon
Ar
18
22
18
Potassium
19
20
19
Calcium
Ca
20
20
20
* There is no trend to predict the number of neutrons in Form 3 level.
** You are not required to memorise the numbers in Test 1
MASS NUMBER
The mass number of an atom = No. of protons + No. of neutrons
Atom
Atomic
number
Mass number
Fluorine
Boron
Phosphorus
Table 10.2
Number of
protons
neutrons
electrons
9 + 10 = 19
10
5 + 6 = 11
15
15 + 16 = 31
15
16
15
Mass numbers of some elements
REPRESENTING AN ELEMENT IN A MORE COMPLETE WAY
The symbol, atomic number and mass number of an element can be represented like this:
* The mass number is always on top and has a value larger than atomic number *
Table 10.3 Including atomic numbers and mass numbers in element
11. Isotopes (P.101-103)
Isotopes are different atoms of an element which have the same number of protons but a
different number of neutrons.
* No atom in answer, no mark *
The isotopes of an element have different physical properties but same chemical
properties.
Table 11.1 Isotopes of some elements
Element
Hydrogen
Carbon
Name of
isotope
Symbol
Number of
Mass
number
protons
neutrons
electrons
2
1
Tritium
3
1
Carbon-12
12
6
12
Carbon-13
13
6
13
Carbon-14
14
6
14
Protium
1
1
Deuterium
12. Relative Isotopic Mass & Relative Atomic Mass (P.104-106)
RELATIVE ISOTOPIC MASS
Since the relative masses of proton and neutron are not exactly 1 (1.007 and 1.009
respectively), calculations will be easier if the numbers are simplified.
The relative isotopic mass of a particular isotope of an element is the relative mass of one
atom of that isotope on the 12C = 12.000000000 scale.
*** No 12C = 12.000000000 scale, no mark ***
The relative isotopic mass of an isotope is roughly equal to its mass number.
RELATIVE ATOMIC MASS
Since most elements have 2 or more isotopes, the relative isotopic masses are always
averaged using their relative abundances (the percentages of the isotopes in nature).
The relative atomic mass of an element is the weighted average of relative isotopic masses
of all the naturally occurring isotopes of that element on the 12C = 12.000000000 scale.
*** No 12C = 12.000000000 scale, no mark ***
CALCULATING RELATIVE ATOMIC MASS / RELATIVE ABUNDANCE (P.106)
You MUST read and fully understand the methods on Example 5.5 (P.106)
