1: Chemical Foundations
- Page ID
- 341880
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- 1.1: The Scope of Chemistry
- Chemistry is the study of matter and the ways in which different forms of matter combine with each other. You study chemistry because it helps you to understand the world around you. Everything you touch or taste or smell is a chemical, and the interactions of these chemicals with each other define our universe. Chemistry forms the fundamental basis for biology and medicine.
- 1.2: Taking Measurements
- Chemists measure the properties of matter and express these measurements as quantities. A quantity is an amount of something and consists of a number and a unit. The number tells us how many (or how much), and the unit tells us what the scale of measurement is. For example, when a distance is reported as “5 kilometers,” we know that the quantity has been expressed in units of kilometers and that the number of kilometers is 5.
- 1.3: Scientific Notation - Writing Large and Small Numbers
- Chemists often work with numbers that are exceedingly large or small. For example, entering the mass in grams of a hydrogen atom into a calculator requires a display with at least 24 decimal places. A system called scientific notation avoids much of the tedium and awkwardness of manipulating numbers with large or small magnitudes.
- 1.4: Problem Solving and Unit Conversions
- During your studies of chemistry (and physics also), you will note that mathematical equations are used in a number of different applications. Many of these equations have a number of different variables with which you will need to work. Note also that these equations will often require the use of measurements with their units. Algebra skills become very important here!
- 1.5: Solving Multi-step Conversion Problems
- Sometimes you will have to perform more than one conversion to obtain the desired unit.