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Quantitative Chemistry
infoWhy this? This unit shows pupils how chemists measure substances and reactions, using ideas such as conservation of mass, relative formula mass, moles and yields to make chemistry precise and predictive.
scheduleWhy now? It is taught after bonding and formulae so pupils can calculate with substances they already know how to describe and represent.
neurologyYou need to know
- The law of conservation of mass states that in a closed system no atoms are lost or made during a chemical reaction, so the total mass of reactants equals the total mass of products.
- A closed system is one where no substances can enter or leave during the reaction.
- In a chemical reaction, atoms are rearranged to make new substances, but the number and type of atoms stay the same.
- A balanced symbol equation has the same number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation.
- The reactants are the substances that react together and are written on the left-hand side of a chemical equation.
- The products are the new substances made in a reaction and are written on the right-hand side of a chemical equation.
- State symbols show the physical state of a substance in a chemical equation: solid is `(s)`, liquid is `(l)`, gas is `(g)`, and aqueous solution is `(aq)`.
- An apparent change in mass can happen in an open system when a gas escapes from the reaction mixture or when a gas from the air reacts with a substance.
- If a gas product escapes into the air, the measured mass of the reaction mixture decreases even though mass is conserved overall.
- If a gas from the air reacts with a substance, the measured mass of the reaction mixture can increase even though mass is conserved overall.
- Relative atomic mass, `A_r`, is the mean mass of an atom of an element compared with one twelfth of the mass of an atom of carbon-12.
- Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.
- Relative atomic mass takes account of the masses and relative abundances of the isotopes of an element.
- Relative formula mass, `M_r`, is the sum of the relative atomic masses of all the atoms shown in a chemical formula.
- For a substance made of molecules, relative formula mass may also be called relative molecular mass.
- The concentration of a solution in grams per cubic decimetre, `g/dm^3`, is the mass of solute dissolved in one cubic decimetre of solution.
- One cubic decimetre, `1 dm^3`, is equal to `1000 cm^3`.
- The relationship between concentration, mass and volume is `concentration = mass ÷ volume`, where concentration is in `g/dm^3`, mass is in grams, and volume is in `dm^3`.
rocket_launchYou must be able to
- Calculate an unknown mass in a reaction by applying conservation of mass so that total reactant mass equals total product mass.
- Explain apparent mass changes in reactions by identifying whether a gas has escaped or whether a gas from the air has reacted.
- Balance a chemical equation by changing only the coefficients in front of formulae, never by changing the chemical formulae themselves.
- Check a balanced equation by counting the number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation.
- Calculate relative formula mass by adding the relative atomic masses of every atom in the formula, including atoms inside brackets multiplied by the subscript outside the brackets.
- Calculate relative atomic mass from isotope data using `relative atomic mass = sum of (isotope mass × percentage abundance) ÷ 100`.
- Convert volumes between `cm^3` and `dm^3` by dividing by `1000` when changing `cm^3` to `dm^3`.
- Calculate the mass of solute using `mass = concentration × volume`, ensuring the volume is in `dm^3` when the concentration is in `g/dm^3`.
Revision Quiz
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