Basic Chemistry Review

Key Vocabulary: Atom Element Synthetic Coefficient Electron Isotopes Radioactive Tracer Molecule Compound Matter Mass SPONCH or CHNOPS Subscript Subatomic Nucleus Proton Nucleus Daltons Atomic # Atomic Mass Radioisotopes Half life Decay

Everything that has mass and takes up space is called matter. Basically, everything you can think of in the world around you is composed of matter. Each of the types of matter in its most basic form is called an element. The individual elements cannot be separated into smaller, more simple substances without changing its properties: IE: physical state (solid, liquid, or gas?) color, freezing/boiling points, odor, texture, reactivity/volatility, flammable? Etc. Each element is made of only one type of atom. This means that atoms are the individual units of matter.

THE ELEMENTS ARE MADE OF ATOMS, THE INDIVIDUAL UNITS OF MATTER!!! There are 92 natural elements found on earth. There are more than 20 synthetic (man-made) which are larger than naturally occurring elements. The elements of life are known by the acronym SPONCH or CHNOPS Based on your knowledge of chemistry, what do you think the individual letters stand for? Most Abundant

Least Abundant

16 15 8 7 6 1 Makes up 99% of all living matter on earth!!!

When an atom bonds to another atom it forms a molecule. When atoms of two or more elements bond it forms a compound.

The number 2 in front of H2O is a coefficient and indicates the number of molecules.

The small number in H2O and H2O2 is a subscript and indicates the number of atoms in the molecule/compound

The number of protons in an atom determines which element it is and is called the atomic number.

Mass is the quantity of matter in an object. In an atom, most of the mass if found in the nucleus in the form of protons and neutrons. The mass of an atom, the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, is called the atomic mass. Molecular mass is the sum of all of the atomic masses of the atoms that make up the given molecule.

The Atom

The mass of a proton and neutron are equal. They are measured in atomic mass units (amu) or Daltons (u)

The nuclei of some isotopes are unstable, or radioactive. This means that the nucleus in these isotopes tends to decay. During this break down, radiation is released in the forms of energy and extremely small subatomic particles. As they lose mass, some of these radioisotopes can turn from one element to another which may or may not, itself, be radioactive. The time required for half of the atoms of any radioactive material to decay is called an isotopes half-life. Man-made, or synthetic, radioisotopes tend to have very short half-lives lasting only minutes or seconds. Most naturally occurring radioisotopes have much longer half-lives.

The radioactive decay of Uranium-238 to Lead-206 takes near 1 billion years!!!! Radioisotopes are used in the following ways: -Dating samples found in the earths crust to point to geological/evolutionary events -Powerful radioisotopes are used in medicine for radiation treatment of cancerous cells. -Radioactive atoms can be used as tracers to follow the formation/transport of molecules in the body.

Electrons Elemental Properties

All chemical reactions depend on the movement and orientation of electrons.

Reacts with

Produces

and Electrons are found in shells outside of the nucleus; the most important shell, in terms of bonding, is the outer shell in which valence electrons area found.

Sodium (Na) atom. Atomic # = 11 Assuming it is neutral, 11e-

-2-8-8-8 octet rule

Noble/Inert Elements H, Li, Na, K = non-reactive b/c they have a full, happy outer shell.

Chemical bonds:
-Covalent bonds: - sharing of electrons between atoms H-H Cl-Cl O=O Cl=Cl

-Electronegativity attraction an atom has for the electrons it is sharing in a covalent bond -Polar covalent bond electronegativity differs between atoms in the molecule forming unequal sharing of electrons -Non-polar covalent bond electronegativity is equal and, therefore, sharing of electrons is equal and balanced.

Table from page 26

-Ionic bonds - Electronegativities differ so greatly that the atom with the greater electronegativity actually steals an electron from the lesser electronegative atom. The resulting opposite ions(charged particle) attract each other.

Opposites attract!!!
-Easily dissociate when placed in water. IE: salt in water -Important because we are 70% water and most of our chemical reactions (metabolism) occur because of ions and dissociation.

Figure 2.9 page 29

-Hydrogen bonds: Do not involve stealing/sharing electrons. Involve electrostatic attractions between a molecule including a hydrogen molecule and a highly electronegative atom and another atom also with a hydrogen molecule and a highly electronegative atom. Due to the fact that there is no electron change between atoms, Hydrogen bonds are far weaker than covalent and ionic.

Carbon Has 4 valence electrons which allows it to bond covalently with other SPONCH elements as well as itself. Carbon is found in all major biological molecules.

= Non-polar

Hydrocarbons Molecules consisting of carbon and hydrogen.

SPONCH continued
Nitrogen found in proteins and nucleic acids Necessary for life and made available by the Nitrogen Cycle/Nitrogenfixing bacteria Phosphorus creates a phosphate when bonded with oxygen. Adenosine Triphosphate will be studied in depth during cellular respiration and is used for energy storage in the phosphate to phosphate bonds. Sulfur Occurs in some amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. Sulfhydryl groups are a sulfur covalently bonded to a hydrogen atom and pairs of sulfhydryl groups create a hook system to keep our proteins together.

Functional groups: R groups commonly found in biological molecules.

Table 2.3