Saturday 2 February 2013

Practical-Bunsen Burner

A Bunsen Burner is a device used in the laboratory for heating activities.


Parts
Functions
Air Holes
To allow air to enter the burner
Barrel
To raise the flame to a suitable height for heating/ burning
Base
To support the burner and make it more stable
Collar
To control the amount of air entering the burner
Gas Intake tube
To allow the gas from the gas supply to rush into the burner
Gas Tap
To control the amount of gas supplied to the burner

Aim: Find out which part of the *non-luminous flame is the hottest.

Procedure of experiment:
  1. Light the bunsen burner with a lighter adjusting the air holes to get non-luminous flame.
  2. Us the metal tongs to grab hold of the thin wires.
  3. Timing with the stopwatch, put the metal thin wires using the metal tongs form 1 minute at the tip of the inner blue flame.
  4. Repeat the step 2 and 3 for the inner blue flame and the tip of the outer blue flame.
  5. Compare the three wires to observe which wire has melted the most  and the colour change of the wires.
Observation


Part of the flame
Observation
Inner blue
The copper wire turned slightly red and melted slightly.
Tip of inner blue
The copper wire glowed brightly in red and it was melted almost halfway through
Tip of outer blue
The copper wire turned quite red and ¼ of  it was melted

Conclusion: The tip of the inner blue flame is the hottest part of the Bunsen flame.



Bunsen burner

Non-luminous flame

Strike back




Tuesday 29 January 2013

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures

Matter can be classified into three groups, elements, compounds and mixtures. 

What is an element?
An element is a pure substance that cannot be split up into two or more simpler substances.

Elements
  • Shiny appearance
  • Solids at room temperature and pressure (except mercury)
  • *Malleable 
  • *Sonorous
  • *Ductile
  • High melting points and boiling point (except potassium, sodium, mercury)
  • Good conductors of heat
  • Good conductors of electricity

  •  Dull appearance 
  • Either gases, volatile liquids or solids with low melting points at room temperature
  • Solids with low melting points at room temperature (except carbon)
  • Brittle 
  • Low melting points and boiling points ( except  carbon and silicon)
  • Poor conductors of heat (except carbon in the form of diamond and graphite)
  • Poor conductors of electricity (except carbon in the form of graphite)


Atoms and molecules
Elements are made up of tiny particles called atoms. The atoms of one element are not the same as the atoms of another element. Atoms are the smallest particles an element that have the chemical properties of that element.

Monatomic elements
Atoms are not joined together chemically. Helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon and radon are the only elements that exist as individual atoms.

Molecule
A molecule is formed when two or more atoms chemically combined to make a group. Molecules formed by the combination of two atoms are called diatomic molecules.
Molecules consisting of three atoms are called triatomic molecules. Molecules that are formed by the combination of four or more atoms are called polyatomic molecules.

What is a compound?
 A compound is a pure substance that contains two or more elements chemically combined. It has a very different properties from the elements that from it. A compound is made up of different elements chemically combined.  It is made up of different elements chemically combined in a fixed ration. The smallest particle of a compound that can exists independently is therefore the molecule. A compound can be represented by a chemical formula.

Decomposition of compounds?
Heat can be used to break down compounds into elements or simpler compounds. Such a chemical reaction is called thermal decomposition. Compounds can also be broken down into elements or simpler substances by electricity.

What is a mixture?
Mixtures are formed when two substances are added together without chemical bonds being formed. Mixtures can be made up of elements and compounds. The components of a mixture are not fixed. They can be present in any ratio. 

What does a chemical formula states?

  • the types of atoms (i.e elements) present in the compound
  • the ratio of the different atoms present in the compound




Difference between Compounds and Elements
compounds elements
made up of 2 or more types of atom `made up of only one type of atom
can be broken down into 2 or more simpler substances
cannot be broken down into 2 or more simpler substances

Difference between mixtures and compounds


Mixtures
Compounds
Separation
The components of a mixture can be separated by physical methods. (e.g. filtration, distillation or chromatography)
The elements in a compound can only be separated  by chemical reactions or by using electricity.
Properties
The chemical properties of a mixture are the same as hose of its components
The physical and chemical properties of a compound are different from those of the elements in the compound.
Energy Change
No chemical reaction takes place when a mixture is formed- usually there is little or no energy charge.
A chemical reaction takes place when a compound is formed- usually there is no energy change (e.g. heat is given out by the reactants.
Composition
The components of a mixture can be mixed in any proportion
The elements in a compound are always combined in fixed proportion.
Boiling points and melting points
Mixtures do not have a fixed boiling point and melting point.
Compound do have a fixed boiling point and melting point.

Periodic table
The elements are arranged in increasing order of proton number or atomic number as you go left from right across the table. The horizontal rows are called periods and the vertical rows are called groups. There is also a progression of metallic atoms to non-metallic atoms across each period from left to right. Group I metals are alkali metals because they react with water to form alkalis. Group II metals are called alkali earth metals because they react with water to form alkalis. They are naturally occurring as stable compounds within the earth's crust. Group VII elements are called halogens. This ter derived from Greeks halos( salt) and suffix-genes(forming), and of course means "salt former".Group VIII elements are noble gases or inert gases . The name is an allusion to the similarity unreactive Noble metals, so called due to their preciousness, resistance to corrosion and long association with the aristocracy. The block of elements (also called d-block elements) between group II and III are called transition elements or metals. Elements 58-71, elements in the Lanthanoid series are known as Lathanides or rare earth elements. These elements are found on earth in only very small amounts.  Elements 90-103 elements in the Actinoid series are known as radioactive elements. They include most of the well-known elements that are found/use in nuclear reactions.







    Wednesday 16 January 2013

    Atomic structure


    Atoms are made up of three different particles- protons, neutrons and electrons. These are called subatomic particles. Protons and neutrons are tightly packed together in the centre of an atom, forming the nucleus of the atom. Electrons move rapidly around the nucleus(made of protons and neutrons).

    ElectronProtonNeutron
    carries on negative charge (-1)carries one positive charge (+1)carries no electric charge
    has a relative mass of 1/1840 has a relative mass of 1has a relative mass of 1
    is represented by the letter, eis represented by the letter, p
    is represented by the letter


    All atoms are electrically neutral. An atom has the same number of protons(positively charged) and electrons(negatively charged). The number of protons in an atom is called the proton number or atomic number which is represented by the symbol Z. Each element has a unique proton number, The total number of protons and neutrons in an atom is called the nucleon number. It is represented by A.


    Isotopes

    Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons. Isotopes of the same element have the same number of electrons. Isotopes have the same chemical properties but slightly different physical properties. The chemical properties of isotopes are similar because chemical reaction involve only the electrons. The physical properties of isotopes are different because of the difference in masses of isotopes. Isotopes that emit high-energy radiation are called radioisotopes. They are classified as radioactive substances. Radiation emitted by radioisotopes danger.

    Arrangement of electrons

    The way in which electrons are arranged around the nucleus of an atom is very important because the electron arrangement determines the chemical properties of the atom.

    First shell
    second, third and subsequent shells
    is the closest to the nucleus
    can hold up to eight electrons each
    can hold a maximum of 2 electrons
    Are filled in order;usually the second shell is fully filled before the third shell and so on
    is always filled first


    The way the electrons are arranged in an atom is called the atom’s electronic structure or electronic configuration. This shell that is the furthest from the nucleus is called the outer shell or the valence shell. The electrons in this shell are called valence electrons. A diagram of an atom’s outer electronic structure shows only the valence electrons in the valence shell.
    Examples of electronic configuration: Hydrogen(1), Lithium(2,1) and sodium(2,8,1) 

    History of Atoms


     
    450 BC
    Democritus,Greece stated that all matter is made up of atoms. He also stated that atoms are eternal and invisible and so small that they can’t be divided, and they entirely fill up the space they’re in.
    400 BC
    Aristotle, Greece - provided the method of gathering scientific facts, which proved as the basis for all scientific work.
    350 BC


       Model  II
        Planetary System
    skip to
    1700's
    1750 AD
     Lavoisier (1777),France - provided the formula for the conservation of matter in chemical reactions, and also distinguished between an element and a compound.

    Model III
    The Plum-Pudding
      
    Couloumb (1780's)France -  formulated the Coulomb's law, which states that that the force between two electrical charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them, one of the main forces involved in atomic reactions.
    1800 AD
      
        
    John Dalton (1803), England - formed the atomic theory, which states that all matter is composed of tiny, indestructible particles called atoms that are all alike and have the same atomic weight. 
    1850 AD
    Crookes (1870),England - created the Crookes’ tube and demonstrated that cathode rays travel in straight lines and produce phosphorescence and heat when they strike certain materials.

             Model IV
               Rutherford's Nucleus Atom
    W.K. Roentgen (1895), Germany -discovered x-rays while experimenting with cathode-ray tubes. 
    Becquerel (1896),France - discovered radioactivity when he investigated uranium and other radioactive substances.The Curies (1898), France -discovered radium and polonium when they started to investigate radioactive substances
    J.J Thomson (1898), England -discovered the electron and developed the plum-pudding model of the atom.
    1900 AD
    Max Planck (1900), Germany -originated the quantum theory
    Albert Einstein (1905), Germany -postulated that light was made up of different particles that, in addition to wavelike behavior, demonstrate certain properties unique to particles.  He also brought forth the theory of relativity.

             The Electron Cloud Atom
    Robert Millikan (1908), USA -found out the electric charge of the electron 
    Ernest Rutherford (1909), England -used the results of his gold-foil experiment to state that all the mass of an atom were in a small positively-charged ball at the center of the atom. 
    Neils Bohr (1913), Denmark -stated that the electrons moved around the nucleus in successively large orbits. He also presented the Bohr atomic model which stated that atoms absorb or emit radiation only when the electrons abruptly jump between allowed, or stationary, states. 
    Geiger (1925),Germany -introduced the first detector of alpha particles and other radiations.
      



      Erwin Shroedinger (1926), Austria -introduced the Shroedinger Equation, a wave equation that describes the  form of the probability waves that govern the motion of small particles and how these waves are altered by external influences.
    Chadwick (1931),England -discovered the neutrally-charged neutron.






               Detail of an Electron Cloud

    Otto Hahn (1938), Germany  - discovered nuclear fission, in which the nucleus of an atom breaks up into two separate nuclei, while experimenting with uranium.

    Lise Meitner (1938), Vienna - worked with Otto Hahn to discover uranium fission.
    1950 AD
    Glen T. Seaborg (1951), USA -isolated and identified elements heavier than uranium, and in the process, added elements number 94 - 102, and 106. 
    Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig (1964), USA - brought forth the idea of "quarks", little bits of matter which when used kind of like building blocks, serve to explain some complex chemical substances.