Chemical Elements

WORLD

What is a Chemical Element?

Answer:
A chemical element, or an element, is a material which cannot
be broken down or changed into another substance using
chemical means. Elements may be thought of as the basic
chemical building blocks of matter. Depending on how much
evidence you require to prove a new element has been
created, there are 117 or 118 known elements.
All substances consist of matter. Matter is anything which has
mass and takes up space. Some important concepts to
remember about matter are:
Matter is made up of one or more of over 92 naturallyoccurring elements.
Each element is a pure substance, made up of only one type
of atom.

The Periodic Table

The periodic table is a chart which organizes the chemical
elements. The elements are categorized according to the
following attributes:
Atomic Number - number of protons in the nucleus
Atomic Mass - sum of the number of protons plus neutrons in the
nucleus
Atomic weight - total mass of protons, neutrons and electrons.
The unit of mass for atoms and their particles is the DALTON. A
neutron has a mass of 1.008 daltons; a proton 1.007 daltons; an
electron 0.0005 daltons, hence practically all the mass of an
atom is in the nucleus.
Group - columns or multiple columns in the periodic table:
-elements in a group share similar chemical and physical
properties.
Period - rows from left to right in the period table:
-elements in a period have the same number of energy shells.

Atom and Its Structure

Chemistry is the study of matter and the
interactions between different types of matter
and energy. The fundamental building block of
matter is the atom. An atom consists of three
main parts: protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Protons have a positive electrical charge.
Neutrons have no electrical charge. Electrons
have a negative electrical charge. Protons and
neutrons are found together in what is called
the nucleus of the atom. Electrons circle
around nucleus.

Isotopes
The difference between one element and other
is due to the difference in the number of
protons in their atoms. However, some atoms
of the same element have different numbers
of neutrons. These different atoms are called
isotopes of the element. All isotopes have the
same chemical properties because the
chemical properties of an element are
determined by their electrons and all atoms
of an element have the same number of
electrons.

Electrons
Electrons posses different amounts of energy
and are located in numbered energy levels up
to n = 7. Electron levels are sometimes called
energy shells and are labelled: K, L, M, N,
etc. To achieve stability, atoms either empty
their outermost energy levels or fill it up to
the maximum. In so doing they may give up,
accept or share electrons with other atoms,
whichever is easiest. The VALENCE (combining
capacity) is the number of of extra or deficient
electrons in the valence energy level.

BONDS
ANIMAL BONDING
HUMAN BONDING
CHEMICAL BONDS

Chemical Compounds - Chemical

Bonds
A compound is a combination of two or
more chemically-bonded elements.
IONIC BONDS
COVALENT BONDS
HYDROGEN BONDS

Ionic Bonds
In ionic bonds, electrons are actually transferred
from one atom to another. Such attoms or
aggregates of atoms are then called ions. The
atom gaining an electron or electrons becomes
negatively charged, called an anion. The atom
which loses electrons becomes positively charged,
called a cation. Since oppositely charged
particles attract each other, oppositely charged
ions can be held together by this attraction to
form electrically neutral ionic compounds. Such
attracttions are called IONIC BONDS.

Covalent Bonds
In covalent bonds, atoms share electrons in their outer
energy level. If one pair of electrons are shared (e.g.
H2) a SINGLE covalent bond is formed. Two pairs
shared (e.g O2) form a DOUBLE bond. Three pairs
(e.g. N2) a TRIPLE bond. Shared electrons, attracted
equally to both atoms, as with H2, form a NON-POLAR
COVALENT BOND. However, if one atom attracts the
shared electrons more strongly than the other, the
bond is a POLAR COVALENT BOND and produces polar
molecules with positive and negative areas. Water is
a polar molecule.

Hydrogen Bonds
Oppositely charged regions of polar molecules
can attract one another. Such a bond
between hydrogen and e.g. Oxygen or
nitrogen is called a HYDROGEN BOND. These
occur in water, proteins and other large
molecules but are weak bonds (5% as strong
as covalent bonds). However, large molecules
may contain many H-bonds, e.g. between
bases in DNA and can thus give strength and
three-dimensional shape to, e.g proteins and
nucleic acids.

Hydrogen Bonding

Basic Constituents of
Protoplasm

ELEMENTS

PERCENT
AGE

MAKE
(H+O)

MAKE
(H+0+C)

MAKE
(H+O+C+N)

HHYDROGEN

9.5%

WATER

CARBOHYDRAT PROTEINS
ES & LIPIDS

O - OXYGEN

65.0%

C - CARBON

18.5%

NNITROGEN

3.2%

Mixtures
A mixture is defined as an impure substance made up of two or
more types of elements (atoms) or compounds or both
mechanically mixed in any proportion, and it can be further
subdivided into simpler substances by physical (mechanical)
means.
The constituents of a mixture retain their original
properties.
The constituents of a homogenous mixture are uniformly
mixed throughout the mixture. The properties and composition
of a homogenous mixture are the same throughout the
mixture.
The constituents of a heterogenous mixture are not
uniformly mixed throughout the mixture. The properties and
composition of a heterogenous mixture are not the same
throughout the mixture.

Mixtures
Examples of Mixtures
Stainless steel is a mixture (alloy) of
iron, carbon, chromium, and nickel.
Carbon gives hardness to the mixture.
Chromium and nickel give a silvery look
to the mixture.
Potassium sulfide solution is a
homogenous mixture.
A mixture of water and oil is
heterogenous in nature.

Compounds
A compound is defined as a pure substance made up of
two or more types of elements (atoms) chemically
combined in a fixed proportion, and it can be further
subdivided into simpler substances by chemical means
only.
A molecule is the smallest part of a compound, whose
properties are the same as those of the compound.
A compound can be represented by using a chemical
formula.
Examples of Compounds
The chemical formulae H2O and FeS represent the
compounds water and Ferrous sulfide (Iron [I] sulfide)
respectively.

States of Matter
There are five main states of matter. Solids,
liquids, gases, plasmas, and Bose-Einstein
condensates are all different states of matter.
Each of these states is also known as a phase.
Elements and compounds can move from one
phase to another phase when specialphysical
forcesare present. One example of those
forces is temperature. The phase or state of
matter can change when the temperature
changes. Generally, as the temperature rises,
matter moves to a more active state.