CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS

LECTURE
A COMPILATION OF NOTES
BASIC CONCEPTS – CHEMISTRY & MATTER

PREPARED BY:
ENGR. HONORATO J. CALVO JR., RChE, LPT

2024
BASIC CONCEPTS “Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is really energy, whose vibration
has been lowered as to be perceivable to the senses. There is no matter. There is only light and sound.”
CHEMISTRY & MATTER Albert Einstein

KEY CONCEPTUAL SUMMARY

Chemistry

deals with
can either be can be
Matter Energy Kinetic
exists in
characterized by its can also exist as
States Potential
either as Properties
may change Chemical Energy
Solid states can either be
Mechanical Energy
Liquid Chemical Properties Physical Properties
Electrical Energy
Gas
can either have
Heat Energy
Plasma

BEC Extensive Properties Intensive Properties Solar Energy

Fermionic Condensate
cONCondensates
combines
through to form
Pure Substance Physical Change Mixture
separates into through
can either be can either be

through combines

Element Chemical Change Compound Heterogeneous Homogeneous

separates through such as
can be
represented by differs by Solution
particle
Organic Inorganic
Chemical Symbols size Colloid

classified as Suspension

Metals Metalloids Nonmetals

may exists as either Cations

loss or gain held
Molecule Atom electron Ions by
to form Anions
held by forming forming
Covalent Bond Molecular Compound Ionic Compound Ionic Bond
represented by represented by
called called
Molecular Formula Chemical Formula Formula Unit
 “I feel sorry for people who don’t understand anything about Chemistry.
CHEMISTRY BASIC CONCEPTS They are missing an important source of happiness!”
1-2
CHEMISTRY & MATTER Linus Pauling, Godfather of Vitamin C

INTRODUCTION TO CHEMISTRY AND MATTER

Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this lesson, the student will be able
1. Recall basic concepts of Chemistry on matter, its classification, properties and changes.
2. Define Mass, Volume, Density and Specific Gravity, Atomic Weight and Molecular Weight, Mole

CHEMISTRY

Why Study Chemistry?

Chemistry
– A branch of science concerned with the study of matter, its composition, structure, properties,
changes and energy that accompanies these changes.

Composition – refers to the types of atoms present

Structure – refers to the arrangement of atoms in a material.

Properties – refers to those characteristics that are distinct for each material that helps in their
identification.

Matter – Anything that has mass and occupies space / volume.

Mass – Amount of matter in an object (composition). Permanent

Weight – The force that gravity exerts on an object. It changes depending on location.

Chemistry touches our life every moment. It is concerned not only with the composition and changes of
matter but also the energy changes associated with it. It is energy that causes changes in matter to occur.

BRANCHES OF CHEMISTRY

The science of chemistry is so broad that no one can be expert in all its aspects.

It is necessary to study the different branches of chemistry separately and these are:
 Organic Chemistry – study of the compounds of carbon.
 Inorganic Chemistry – study of all elements and compounds other than carbon.
 Analytical Chemistry – study of what is present (qualitative chemistry)
and how much is present (quantitative chemistry).
 Physical Chemistry – studies the theories, laws, or principles governing physical and chemical changes
of matter.
 Biochemistry – concerned with chemistry that takes place in living organisms.
 Environmental Chemistry – chemistry of our surroundings.
 Industrial Chemistry – concerned with the application of chemical principles in manufacturing
processes.
 Nuclear Chemistry – study of the properties and reactions of atomic nuclei.
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CHEMISTRY & MATTER

MATTER
Matter – anything that occupies space (has volume) and has mass.

Matter includes all things living and non-living, visible and non-visible to the naked eye. The entire physical
universe is made up of matter and energy, thus chemistry begins in the stars. The stars are the source of
the chemical elements, the building block of matter which is the core of chemistry.
To the naked eye matter appears to be continuous and unbroken. Actually, it is discontinuous and
composed of discrete, tiny particles.
Matter is characterized by its properties. Thus, we need to classify matter according to its properties or
characteristics that would be distinct for each material and thereby identify them.

Properties of Matter:
A. Based on the change involved when property is observed:
1. Physical Property – property when observed or measured will not change the composition of
matter.
Ex. Boiling point, density, etc
2. Chemical Property – property when observed or measured will change the composition of
matter.
Ex: corrosion resistance, flammability, etc

B. Based on the amount or magnitude:

1. Intrinsic or Intensive Property – property whose value remains constant regardless of the
amount of matter used.
Ex: boiling point, physical state, etc.
2. Extrinsic or Extensive Property – property whose value varies and depends on the amount of
matter used.
Ex: volume, mass, etc.

Types of Changes of Matter:

1. Physical change – involves change in appearance, size, etc but does not involved change in
composition.
– usually refers to physical transformation
Ex: vaporization, pulverization, etc.

2. Chemical change – involves changes in composition, where original substances undergoing

change are transformed to new substances.
– usually known as chemical reaction or chemical processes.
Ex: combustion, corrosion, etc.

NOTE: The term changes is also known as processes.

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CHEMISTRY & MATTER

Classification of Matter:

Summary Features of the different types of matter:

Classification of Matter Features Examples
I. Pure Substances – matter having constant composition and properties that do not vary
from sample to sample
1. Element - consist of one type of atom. Gold, silver, hydrogen gas, etc.
- considered as the simplest type of
matter.
- represented by letter symbols.
- comprehensive list of elements
with their properties is found in
the Periodic Table
2. Compound - chemical combination of two or Salt, dry ice, calcium carbonate,
more different elements having sulfuric acid, etc.
definite set of composition and
constant properties.
- obeys the Law of constant
composition/definite proportions.
- represented by a formula
II. Mixtures – matter having variable composition and variable properties.
1. Homogeneous Mixture - physical combination of two or Saline water, air, metal alloys, etc.
more substances (elements or
compounds) wherein after mixing
substances remains the same (no
change in composition) but are
not identifiable and exist in one
physical state
- otherwise known as solution.
2. Heterogeneous Mixture - physical combination of two or Immiscible liquids, fruit salad,
more substances (elements or minerals
compounds) wherein after mixing
substances remains the same (no
change in composition) but are
identifiable and may exist in
several physical states.

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Physical States

Gas

Matter Liquid Changes of State

Solid

Pure Substance Mixture

(constant composition, Physical (variable composition,
definite set of properties) Change variable properties)

Element Chemical Compound Homogeneous Heterogeneous

Change (one phase) (2 or more phases)

Metals Inorganic Solution

Metalloids Organic

Nonmetal
s
• Homo is a prefix that means “the same”, and Hetero is a prefix that means “different.”

CHANGE OF STATE
Phase – A region with homogeneous (uniform) properties.
Change of State – A change of a substance from one of its physical states to another in which it can exist.
Matter exists in three physical states at ordinary condition as solid, liquid or gas.

Other states of matter:

Plasma is much like a gas except that the particles are electrically charged.
Plasma is not a common state of matter here on Earth, but it may be the most common state of matter
in the universe
Bose-Einstein Condensate is condensed super-cooled atoms of gas that the particles entered a merged
state.
Fermionic Condensate is a cloud of cold potassium atoms forced into a state where they behave
strangely. Researchers cooled potassium gas to a billionth of a degree above absolute zero – the
temperature at which matter stops moving. They confined the gas in a vacuum chamber and used
magnetic fields and laser light to manipulate the potassium atoms into pairing up and forming the
fermionic condensate.
There are more other states of matter.
However, the basic hypothesis of matter can be classified as solid, liquid, or gas will be enough for now.
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PURE SUBSTANCES: ELEMENTS

PURE SUBSTANCES: COMPOUNDS

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Important Chemical Quantities in Chemistry

1. Mass – represents the amount of matter contained in a body
Common Units include: gram (g), kilogram (kg), pound (lb), milligram (mg), etc.
2. Volume – represents the total space occupied by matter
Common Units include: cubic centimeter (cm3) or milliliter (mL), liter (L), cubic meter (m3), etc.
3. Atomic Weight and Molecular Weight (also known as molar mass)
– atomic weight indicates the relative masses of atoms of elements.
– molecular weight indicates the relative masses of molecules or ions of compounds.
– Indicate how heavy or how light an atom or a molecule.
– assigned an arbitrary unit like – atomic mass unit (a.m.u.), gram per mole (g/mol), ton/tonmol,
lb/lbmol
Where: 1 amu = 1g/mol = 1 ton/tonmol = 1 mg/mmol
NOTE: Atomic Weight is a readily available data found in the Periodic Table and for
computation purposes, values are rounded-off to a whole number.
Ex: Atomic Weights: H =1, C = 12, N = 14, Fe = 56

Molecular weight or Molar Mass is computed equal to the algebraic sum of the atomic weights
of all elements in the formula of the compound.
Sample Exercises: Determine the Molecular weight of the following Compounds:
a.) H2SO4

b.) Fe2(CO3)3

c.) CaCl2  5H2O

4. Density (ρ) – mass of a substance per unit volume

Specific Gravity (SG) – ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water
In Equation Form:
(𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆) 𝑴
𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 =  = (𝒗𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆) = 𝑽

(𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆) substance

𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 =  = =
(𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 H2O

Conditions:
a. The specific gravity (unitless or dimensionless) of a substance is numerically equal to the
density of the substance strictly in g/mL unit.
b. The density value serves as a direct conversion factor between mass and volume

5. Temperature – indicates the degree of hotness or coldness of a body.

Common Units include: degree Centigrade (oC), degree Fahrenheit (oF), kelvin (K), rankine (R)
NOTE: Absolute temperature scale refers to the scale that gives a reading of zero at the
absolute temperature.
Absolute Temperature refers to the hypothetical temperature where velocity of motion of
particles is zero.
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6. Pressure – refers to the force exerted per unit area

Common Unites include: pascal (Pa), atmosphere (atm), millimeter mercury (mmHg),
pound per square inch (psi), etc.
7. Mole (n) – represents the number of pieces of particles contained in a substance.
unit is mol.
Conditions:
1 mol of any substance = 6.02 x 1023 particles of the substance
mol: chemist dozen 6.02 x 1023: Avogadro’s number
1 mol of any substance = mass of the substance is numerically equal to its
Atomic Weight – AW if element
or Molecular Weight - MW if compound

WORKSHEET/EXERCISES (STUDENT ACTIVITY):

PERFORM: LEC WORKSHEET 1 – CHEMISTRY AND MATTER

ENRICHMENT/ASSIGNMENT:

1. Read handouts on Dimensional Analysis

2. List 5 conversion factors or standard equivalent quantities for the ff:

a. length
b. time
c. mass
d. volume
e. density
g. pressure

Accompanying Exercises are for student self-review.

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EXERCISES
 Correctly complete each of the following sentences
by placing the word physical or chemical in the blank.
(a) The fact that the metal gold is yellow in color is a _______________ property of gold.
(b) The process of water evaporating from a lake represents a _______________ change.
(c) The stirring of orange juice using a wooden spoon is an example of a _______________
technique.
(d) Lighting a match is an example of a _______________ change.

 Classify each of the following as an intensive property or an extensive property.

(a) length (b) density (c) color (d) boiling point
(e) mass (f) temperature (g) volume (h) melting point

 The following are properties of the metal beryllium. Classify them as physical or chemical.
(a) In powdered form, it burns brilliantly on ignition.
(b) Bulk metal does not react with steam even when red hot.
(c) It has a density of 1.85 g/cm3 at 20oC.
(d) It is relatively soft silvery-white metal.

 Does each of the following describe a physical change or a chemical change?

(a) The helium gas inside a balloon tends to leak out after a few hours.
(b) A flashlight beam slowly gets dimmer and finally goes out.
(c) Frozen orange juice is reconstituted by adding water to it.
(d) The growth of plants depends on the sun’s energy in a process called photosynthesis.
(e) A spoonful of table salt dissolves in a bowl of soup.

 Assign each of the following descriptions of matter to one of the following categories:
heterogeneous mixture, homogeneous mixture, pure substance.
(a) two substances present, two phases present
(b) two substances present, one phase present
(c) three substances present, one phase present
(d) three substances present, three phases present

 Classify each of the following

as an element, a compound, a homogeneous mixture, or a heterogeneous mixture
(a) seawater (c) table salt (e) milkshake (g) concrete (i) sugar
(b) helium gas (d) a bottle of soft drink (f) air in a bottle (h) gold (j) bronze

 Give the name of change of state associated with each of the following processes:
(a) water is made into ice cubes (c) dry ice disappears without melting.
(b) the inside of your car window fogs up (d) perspiration dries.

 Give the names of the elements represented by the following chemical symbols:
(a) Li (c) P (e) As (g) Cl (i) Mg (k) Al (m) Ne (o) Ds (q) Uuq
(b) F (d) Cu (f) Zn (h) Pt (j) U (l) Si (n) Mt (p) Uup (r) Uuo

 Give the chemical symbol of the following elements:

(a) potassium (c) chromium (e) barium (g) sulfur (i) mercury
(b) tin (d) boron (f) plutonium (h) argon (j) ununseptium

 In which of the following sequence of elements do all of the elements have two-letter symbols?
(a) silver, gold, mercury (c) cobalt, chromium, sodium
(b) copper, helium, neon (d) potassium, iron, lead