Revision: Some Basic Concepts of Chemistry Chemistry HSC Science (General) 11th Standard Maharashtra State Board

Chemistry is the branch of science that deals with the identification of substances, the matter they are composed of, and the investigation of their properties.

The mass of a single atom of an element is called the atomic mass.

Relative atomic mass is defined as the ratio of the average atomic mass to the unified atomic mass unit.

Relative atomic mass (A_r) = `"Average mass of the atom"/"Unified atomic mass"`

Mole is the amount of a substance containing elementary particles like atoms, molecules or ions in 12 g of carbon - 12.

One mole of any gaseous molecules occupies 22.4 dm³ (litre) or 22400 cm³ (ml) at standard temperature and pressure (STP). This volume is known as the molar volume.

The relative molecular mass of a compound is the number that represents how many times one molecule of the substance is heavier than `1/12` of the mass of an atom of carbon ₆C¹².

The quantity of the element which weighs equal to its gram atomic mass is called one gram atom of that element.

A mole is the amount of pure substance containing the same number of chemical units as there are atoms in exactly 12 grams of carbon -12.

Avogadro's number is defined as the number of atoms present in 12 g (gram atomic mass) of C-12 isotope, i.e., 6·022 x 1023 atoms.

OR

Avogadro's number is the number of elementary units, i.e., atoms, ions or molecules present in one mole of a substance. It is denoted by N_A.

Avogadro’s number is defined as the number of atoms present in 12g of ₆C¹² isotope i.e. 6.023 × 10²³ atoms.

"The relative atomic mass or atomic weight of an element is the number of times one atom of the element is heavier than `1/12` times of the mass of an atom of carbon - 12".
Relative atomic mass = Mass of 1 atom of the element `1/12` of the mass of one C¹² atom.

The average atomic mass accounts for the different isotopes of an element and their natural abundances.

\[M_{\mathrm{avg.}}=\frac{M_{1}\times r_{1}+M_{2}\times r_{2}+M_{3}\times r_{3}}{r_{1}+r_{2}+r_{3}}\]

where M₁, M₂, M₃ are atomic masses of isotopes and r₁, r₂, r₃ are their relative abundances.

Five fundamental laws govern how elements and compounds combine chemically:

Law 1 — Law of Conservation of Mass (Antoine Lavoisier)

Mass is neither created nor destroyed during any chemical reaction. The total mass of reactants always equals the total mass of products.

Law 2 — Law of Definite Proportion (Joseph Proust)

A specific chemical compound always contains its elements combined in a fixed ratio by weight, regardless of where the compound comes from or how it was made.

Exception: This law does not hold for compounds made from different isotopes of an element.

Law 3 — Law of Multiple Proportion (John Dalton)

When two elements combine to form more than one compound, the different masses of one element that combine with a fixed mass of the other are always in a simple whole-number ratio. Example: CO and CO₂.

Law 4 — Gay Lussac's Law of Gaseous Volumes

When gases react or are produced in a chemical reaction, their volumes bear a simple whole-number ratio to each other — provided temperature and pressure remain the same.

Law 5 — Avogadro's Law

At the same temperature and pressure, equal volumes of all gases contain the same number of molecules, regardless of the type of gas.

Types of Properties

• Physical Properties — can be observed or measured without altering the chemical nature of the substance. Examples: colour, odour, melting point, boiling point, density.

• Chemical Properties — involve a chemical change in the substance; the original substance is converted into something new. Example: burning coal produces CO₂.

SI Fundamental Units

The International System of Units (SI) defines seven base units that serve as building blocks for all scientific measurement:

Key Notes to Remember:

• Mass measures the quantity of matter and is independent of location. Weight depends on gravity — the same object has different weight on Earth vs. the Moon, but identical mass.
• Temperature and heat are not the same. Heat is energy being transferred; temperature tells us the direction of that transfer.
• 0°C = 32°F; 100°C = 212°F. A rise of 1°C corresponds to a rise of 9/5°F on the Fahrenheit scale.
• Units can be written in two equivalent ways: g/cm³ or g cm⁻³ — both are acceptable.

Dalton's atomic theory laid the foundation of modern chemistry with four core postulates:

1. All matter is made up of extremely small particles called atoms.
2. Atoms of the same element are identical to each other in mass and properties; atoms of different elements differ.
3. Atoms can neither be created nor destroyed — they are indestructible.
4. Atoms combine in fixed, simple whole-number ratios to form compound atoms (molecules).

Note: Modern discoveries have refined some postulates (e.g., isotopes show atoms of the same element can differ in mass), but the core framework remains foundational.