Module 1: Chemistry for Engineers

Unit 1: Introduction to Engineering Chemistry

Chemistry is the study of composition, structure, and properties of

matter and the changes it undergoes.

Importance of Chemistry in the Field of Engineering

1. Engineering materials
2. Energy sources
3. The role of chemistry in saving the environment

Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass.

States of Matter

1. Solid are a state of matter characterized by a fixed shape

and volume, where particles are closely packed and can only
vibrate in place.
2. Liquid is a state of matter characterized by having a definite
volume but no fixed shape. Liquids can flow and conform to
the shape of their container, unlike solids, but are not easily
compressible like gases.
3. Gas are a state of matter characterized by having no fixed
shape or volume, meaning they will expand to fill any
container they are placed in. Unlike solids and liquids, gas
particles are widely dispersed and move freely, resulting in
low density and high compressibility.
4. Plasma is an ionized gas. It is an ionized gas, meaning it
contains free electrons and ions (atoms that have lost or
gained electrons). This ionized state makes plasma
electrically conductive and responsive to magnetic fields.
 5. Bose-Einstein Condensate occurs at ultralow temperature
(very near absolute zero), close to the point that the atoms
are not moving at all.

Classifications of Matters
Properties of Matter

 Physical properties are properties which can be measured

without changing the identity and composition of a
substance.
o Color: The visual appearance of a substance.
o Density: The amount of mass per unit of volume.
o Hardness: A material's resistance to indentation or
scratching.
o Melting Point: The temperature at which a solid
change to a liquid.
o Boiling Point: The temperature at which a liquid
change to a gas.
o Conductivity: The ability of a substance to conduct
heat or electricity.
o Solubility: The ability of a substance to dissolve in a
solvent.
o Mass: The amount of matter in a substance.
o Volume: The amount of space a substance occupies.
o Malleability: The ability of a substance to be
hammered or rolled into thin sheets.
o Ductility: The ability of a substance to be drawn into
a wire.
o Luster: The way a substance reflects light.
o Odor: The smell of a substance.
o Texture: The surface quality of a substance.
o State of Matter: Whether a substance is a solid, liquid,
or gas.
o Weight: The force of gravity on a mass.
o Viscosity: A liquid's resistance to flow.
o Freezing Point: The temperature at which a liquid
change to a solid.
o Reflectivity: How well a surface reflects light.
 o Elasticity: How well a substance can be stretched and
return to its original shape.
o Opacity: How much light can pass through a
substance.
o Brittleness: How easily a substance breaks under
stress.
 Physical changes are those changes that do not result in the
production of a new substance.

Here's a more detailed list:

o Changes in State:
o Melting: Solid ice transforming into liquid water.
o Freezing: Liquid water turning into solid ice.
o Boiling: Liquid water turning into gaseous steam.
o Condensation: Water vapor turning into liquid water.
o Sublimation: Solid dry ice turning directly into carbon
dioxide gas.
o Evaporation: Liquid turning into vapor.
o Changes in Shape and Form:
o Breaking: A glass shattering or a pencil breaking.
o Crushing: Crumpling a piece of aluminum foil.
o Cutting: Slicing a piece of paper or chopping
vegetables.
o Folding: Folding a piece of paper or origami.
o Shredding: Tearing paper into smaller pieces.
o Mixing: Combining different substances like sand and
water, or different colored marbles.
o Dissolving: Sugar dissolving in water.
o Melting Wax: Wax changing from a solid to a liquid
when heated.
o Grinding: Grinding coffee beans.
o Bending: Bending a metal wire.
o Crumpling: Crumpling a paper bag.
 Chemical properties are properties that lead to changes in
the identity and composition of a substance.
o Flammability: The ability of a substance to burn or
ignite, reacting rapidly with oxygen to produce heat
and light.
o Reactivity: The tendency of a substance to undergo
chemical reactions with other substances. This can
include reactions with acids, bases, or other
chemicals.
o Toxicity: The ability of a substance to cause harm to
living organisms.
o Oxidation States: The degree of oxidation of an atom
in a chemical compound, which can indicate how
easily a substance can lose or gain electrons.
o Corrosiveness: The tendency of a substance to
damage or destroy other materials through chemical
reactions.
o Heat of Combustion: The amount of heat released
when a substance is burned completely.
o Acidity/Basicity: The ability of a substance to donate
or accept protons (H+ ions), which determines its pH.
o Chemical Stability: The tendency of a substance to
resist chemical change or decomposition under
specific conditions.
o Radioactivity: The emission of energy or particles
from the nucleus of an atom.
o Coordination Number: The number of atoms,
molecules, or ions directly bonded to a central atom
in a complex.
o Enthalpy of Formation: The change in enthalpy when
one mole of a compound is formed from its elements
in their standard states.
 Chemical change or chemical reactions are changes that
result in the production of another substance.
o 1. Burning Wood: When wood burns, it combines
with oxygen in the air, producing ash, gases like
carbon dioxide, and heat. This is a chemical reaction
because the wood's chemical composition changes,
and new substances are formed.
o 2. Cooking Food: Cooking involves chemical changes
like the denaturation of proteins in eggs, the
browning of meat (Maillard reaction), and the
caramelization of sugars. These reactions alter the
molecular structure and properties of the food.
o 3. Rusting of Iron: When iron is exposed to oxygen
and moisture, it rusts. Rust (iron oxide) is a new
substance with different properties than iron.
o 4. Digestion: Digestion involves breaking down large
food molecules into smaller, absorbable molecules.
This process relies on enzymes (proteins) that
catalyze chemical reactions to facilitate digestion.
o 5. Other examples:
o Baking a cake: Yeast fermentation produces carbon
dioxide, causing the cake to rise, and other chemical
reactions create the cake's structure and texture.
o Mixing baking soda and vinegar: This produces
carbon dioxide gas and a new solution.
o Photosynthesis: Plants convert carbon dioxide and
water into glucose and oxygen, using sunlight as
energy.
o Fermentation: Microorganisms like yeast convert
sugars into other products like alcohol or acids.
o Using a battery: Chemical reactions within the
battery produce electricity.
o Fireworks: Fireworks contain chemicals that react
and produce heat, light, and sound.
 o Leaves changing color: The breakdown of chlorophyll
and the formation of other pigments in leaves during
autumn is a chemical change.
o Milk souring: Bacteria convert lactose in milk into
lactic acid, causing the milk to curdle.
 Extensive property is those that do depend on the size of
the sample involved.
o Here's a breakdown of some common examples:
o Mass: The amount of matter in an object.
o Volume: The amount of space an object occupies.
o Length: The measurement of an object's extent in
one direction.
o Heat Capacity: The amount of heat required to raise
the temperature of a substance by a certain amount.
o Internal Energy: The total energy contained within a
system.
o Enthalpy: The total heat content of a system.
o Entropy: A measure of the disorder or randomness in
a system.
o Gibbs Free Energy: A thermodynamic potential that
can be used to determine the spontaneity of a
process.
o Number of moles: A measure of the amount of
substance.
o Spring stiffness: This property relates to the force
required to compress or extend a spring.
o Total charge: The overall amount of electric charge
within a system.
 Intensive property is those which do not depend on the size
of the sample involved.
o Density:
o The mass per unit volume of a substance. Whether
you have a small or large sample of water, its density
 remains the same (approximately 1 gram per
milliliter).
o Temperature:
o A measure of the average kinetic energy of the
particles in a substance. The temperature of a cup of
coffee is the same as the temperature of a pot of
coffee, assuming they are at the same temperature.
o Color:
o The visual appearance of a substance. A diamond is
always colorless, regardless of its size.
o Boiling Point:
o The temperature at which a liquid change to a gas.
Water boils at 100°C (212°F) at standard pressure,
whether it's a teaspoon or a swimming pool.
o Melting Point:
o The temperature at which a solid change to a liquid.
Like boiling point, this is a fixed value for a given
substance.
o Refractive Index:
o A measure of how light bends when passing through
a substance. This property is specific to the material
itself.
o Hardness:
o Resistance to indentation or scratching. A diamond is
hard whether it's a small chip or a large gem.
o Specific Heat:
o The amount of heat required to raise the
temperature of one gram of a substance by one
degree Celsius.
o Concentration:
o The amount of a substance in a mixture or solution.
Whether you have a small or large amount of salt
dissolved in water, the concentration can be the
same.
 o Viscosity:
o A measure of a fluid's resistance to flow.
o Electrical Conductivity:
o The ability of a material to conduct electricity.

Measurement

Fundamental quantities and their SI units

Quantity SI unit
Length meter (m)
Mass kilogram (kg)
Time seconds (s)
Temperature Kelvin (K)
Electric current ampere (A)
Amount of substance mole (mol)
Luminous intensity Candela (cd)

Prefixes for power of tens

SCIENTIFIC NOTATIONS

Scientific notation is a way to express very large or very small

numbers in a more concise form. It involves writing a number as a
coefficient multiplied by a power of 10. The coefficient is a number
between 1 and 10, and the power of 10 indicates how many places
the decimal point needs to be moved to return to the original
number.

Here's how it works:

Identify the coefficient: Move the decimal point in the
original number to create a number between 1 and 10. This new
number is the coefficient.
Determine the exponent: Count how many places the
decimal point was moved. If the decimal was moved to the left (for
large numbers), the exponent is positive. If it was moved to the right
(for small numbers), the exponent is negative.
Write in scientific notation: Express the number as:
coefficient x 10exponent.

Example:
The number 123,450,000 can be written in scientific notation
as 1.2345 x 108.
The number 0.000000789 can be written in scientific
notation as 7.89 x 10-7.

Why use scientific notation?

Conciseness: It simplifies the representation of extremely large or
small numbers, making them easier to read and understand.
Accuracy: It allows for the accurate representation of numbers with
many significant digits, ensuring precision in calculations.
Convenience: It is particularly useful in scientific and engineering
fields where very large or very small numbers are frequently
encountered.

SAMPLE PROBLEM:
Convert to Scientific notations
1. 29
2. 350
3. 4716
4. 600000000
5. 0.3
6. 0.09
7. 0.0071
8. 0.000542
Significant Figures
The digits that carry meaning in a number and contribute to its
precision. The number of significant figures is related to the number of
numerical digits used to express the measurement.

 Any digit that is not zero is significant.

 Zeros between nonzero digits are significant.
 Zeros to the left of the first nonzero digit are not significant.
 If a number is greater than 1, then all zeros to the right of the
decimal point are significant.
 If a number is less than 1, then only the zeros that are at the
end and in the middle of the number are significant.

Rules of Significant Figures in Calculations

 Addition/Subtraction. The number of decimal places in the

result should equal the smallest number of decimal places of
any term in the sum or difference.
Example:
89.332 + 1.1 = 90.432 → 90.4
3.70 - 2.9133 = 0.7867 → 0.79
 Multiplication/Division. The number of significant figures in the
final answer is the same as the number of significant figures in
the quantity having the smallest number of significant figures.
Example:
4.51 × 3.6666 = 16.536366 → 16.5
6.8 ÷ 112.04 = 0.0606926 → 0.061

Accuracy and Precision

Accuracy – how close a measurement is to the true value

Precision – how close a set of measurements are to each other.

Some conversion factors

 Length Mass Volume
1 m = 100 cm 1 kg = 1000 g 1 mL = 1 cm³
1 in = 2.54 cm 1 kg = 2.21 lb. 1 L = 1000 mL
1 m = 3.28 ft. 1 ton = 2000 lb. 1 m³ = 1000 L
1 mi = 5280 ft. 1 metric ton = 1000 kg
1 ft. = 12 in 1 slug = 14.59 kg

Temperature conversion

°C = (5/9) (°F – 32)

°F = (9/5) °C + 32
K = °C + 273
R = °F + 460

Some Derived Units

 Area – products of two lengths (m²)

 Volume – the amount of space that a substance or object
occupies (m³)
 Speed – ratio of distance travel to a time interval (m/s)
 Density – the mass of a substance per unit volume (kg/m³)
ρ=m/V
 ppm or parts per million – tells how many particular substances
are present for every 1,000,000 particles in the sample.
 Force (1 N = 1 kg·m/s²)
 Pressure – force per unit area (1 Pa = 1 N/m²)
 Energy (1 J = 1 N·m)
 Power (1 W = 1 J/s)