7: Chemistry in the Environment
- Page ID
- 270492
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- 7.1: Prelude to Solids, Liquids, and Gases
- Solid carbon dioxide is called dry ice because it converts from a solid to a gas directly, without going through the liquid phase, in a process called sublimation. Thus, there is no messy liquid phase to worry about. Although it is a novelty, dry ice has some potential dangers. Because it is so cold, it can freeze living tissues very quickly, so people handling dry ice should wear special protective gloves.
- 7.2: Solids and Liquids
- Solids and liquids are phases that have their own unique properties.
- 7.3: Gases and Pressure
- The gas phase is unique among the three states of matter in that there are some simple models we can use to predict the physical behavior of all gases—independent of their identities. We cannot do this for the solid and liquid states. Initial advances in the understanding of gas behavior were made in the mid 1600s by Robert Boyle, an English scientist who founded the Royal Society (one of the world’s oldest scientific organizations).
- 7.4: Gas Laws
- The physical properties of gases are predictable using mathematical formulas known as gas laws.
- 7.5: Gay-Lussac's Law
- Gay-Lussac's Law states that the pressure of a given mass of gas varies directly with the absolute temperature of the gas, when the volume is kept constant. Gay-Lussac's Law is very similar to Charles's Law, with the only difference being the type of container. Whereas the container in a Charles's Law experiment is flexible, it is rigid in a Gay-Lussac's Law experiment.
- 7.6: Prelude to Acids and Bases
- One of the most concentrated acids in the body is stomach acid, which can be approximated as a 0.05 M hydrochloric acid solution. Special cells in the stomach wall secrete this acid, along with special enzymes, as part of the digestion process. In a laboratory, a 0.05 M solution of hydrochloric acid would dissolve some metals. How does the stomach survive the presence of such a reactive acid?
- 7.7: Arrhenius Definition of Acids and Bases
- Arrhenius acid: a compound that increases the concentration of hydrogen ion (H+) in aqueous solution; Arrhenius base: a compound that increases the concentration of hydroxide ion (OH−) in aqueous solution. the reaction of an acid and a base
- 7.8: Brønsted-Lowry Definition of Acids and Bases
- A Brønsted-Lowry acid is a proton donor, and a Brønsted-Lowry base is a proton acceptor. Brønsted-Lowry acid-base reactions are essentially proton transfer reactions.
- 7.9: Water - Both an Acid and a Base
- Water molecules can act as both an acid and a base, depending on the conditions.
- 7.10: The Strengths of Acids and Bases
- Acids and bases can be strong or weak depending on the extent of ionization in solution. Most chemical reactions reach equilibrium at which point there is no net change. The pH scale is used to succinctly communicate the acidity or basicity of a solution.
- 7.11: The pOH Concept
- As with the hydrogen-ion concentration, the concentration of the hydroxide ion can be expressed logarithmically by the pOH. The pOH of a solution is the negative logarithm of the hydroxide-ion concentration.
- 7.14: Buffers
- A buffer is a solution that resists sudden changes in pH.