​ ​ ​ Chemistry VMA Notes

1.​The Periodic Table

​ ​
​ ​ a. WS 1: The Periodic Table

1a. False, Elements are arranged based on their Atomic Number

1b. False, Helium is a NOble Gas and only has 2 electrons

1c. True, Transition Elements have high densities because their

atomic mass is heavier compared to other types of elements such as
Group 1.

1d. True, Transition Metals are all metals

1e. True, because the period number tells you the number of shells for
the elements in that period.

2a. Group 18, B - Neon, This element is inert (an element which is
unreactive or not chemically reactive).

2b. Elements C and D, The elements present in the same group will
have similar properties and elements C & D are present in the same
group and hence have similar chemical properties.

2c. F is having 2 electrons in the valence shell, as it belongs to group

●​ Group Number (Number of Valence Electrons)

○​ 1. 1 electron in valence shell
○​ 2. 2 electrons in valence shell
 ○​ 13. 3 electrons in valence shell
○​ 14. 4 electrons in valence shell
○​ 15. 5 electrons in valence shell
○​ 16. 6 electrons in valence shell
○​ 17. 7 electrons in valence shell
○​ 18. 8 electrons in valence shell
●​ Group 3 - 12 elements are Transition Metals and have variable
valency, which also means they have variable oxidation states.
●​ Group Number helps to identify the number of valence shells of
electrons or valency of that particular element.

2d. G & A are Transition Metals since they are located between
groups 3 - 12.

3. Elements A & E are the 2 elements which are in the same group
because they have the same number of valence electrons in their
outermost shell. A = 2,7 and E = 2,8,18,7.

4.

5.
 ●​ Group Number = number of electrons in valence shell
●​ Period Number = Number of Shells filled with electrons including
valence shells.

6. Transition Metals
7.

8.

9.
10.

2.​ Fed a Billion, Killed a Million (Scientific

and Technical Innovation)
●​ In the 18th century people were behind Gyano. Guano is bird poop, they
discovered it in Peru, South America. When you add Guano to the soil, it
supports plant growth, therefore the farmers had better yield. One of the
components of Guano is Ammonia. There was an increase in price and demand
in Quano, and for 4 pounds of Guano they used to trade 1 pound of Gold. There
was a scientist called William Crook who proposed that only science could solve
this solution, and then Fritz Haber was a German scientist who created
Ammonia. He did this N2 + 3H2 → 2NH3 with this chemical equation. It took him
5-10 years to work on this, this chemist was also a patriot and won a nobel prize
for this. He then turned evil to help Germany win world war 1 by supplying and
creating harmful chemical warfare he helped in creating the chlorine gas and
other harmful chemical weapons.

There were both Advantages and Disadvantages to Haber’s Process/ The first Benefit is
that the Haber Process caused for an increase in Agricultural Productivity this is
because it helped enable the large scale production of ammonia which was an
important and critical ingredient in fertilization, which allowed farmers to grow more
crops

1.​ Industrial Applications:

 ○​ Ammonia is also used in manufacturing explosives, cleaning agents, and
refrigeration. This supports multiple industries beyond agriculture.

2.​ Global Food Security:

○​ The Haber process helped combat food shortages by making
nitrogen-based fertilizers widely available. This was especially critical
during times of population booms, and food scarcity.

3 Negative Effects of the Haber Process:

1.​ Environmental Impact:

○​ The Haber Process also has negative Environemental Imapcts because it
releases harmful substances as well as energy when being used such as
the Chlorine Gas and other creations.
2.​ Facilitation of Warfare:
○​ The Haber process was pivotal in the production of explosives and
chemical weapons, as seen during World War I. Fritz Haber’s work with
chlorine gas is an example of how his discovery was militarized.
3.​ Dependency on Non-Renewable Resources:
○​ The process requires hydrogen, often sourced from fossil fuels like natural
gas. This creates reliance on finite resources and adds to carbon
emissions.

How Science is Illustrated Through the Story:

1.​ Problem-Solving through Innovation:

○​ The story highlights how science responded to the agricultural crisis
caused by a reliance on guano. Scientists like William Crook foresaw the
need for a sustainable solution, and Fritz Haber delivered one with the
ammonia synthesis process.
2.​ Dual Impact of Scientific Discoveries:
○​ Science can lead to both positive and negative consequences. The Haber
process was a breakthrough for agriculture but also facilitated chemical
warfare, illustrating the ethical dilemmas associated with scientific
advancements.
3.​ The Role of Persistence:
 ○​ Haber's perseverance (5-10 years) in solving the nitrogen fixation
challenge shows the dedication and time required for groundbreaking
innovations.

3. Haber’s Process
●​ The essential conditions used in the Haber Process are:
○​ N2 and H2 are mixed in the ratio of 1:3
○​ An optimum or compromise temperature of 450° C
○​ A pressure of 20000 kPa (200 atmospheres)
○​ A catalysts of finely divided iron

Chemistry of the Environment

●​ Water, Fertilizers, Air Quality,and Climate
●​ Knowing about water is essential
●​ 72% of the Human body mass is made up of water.
●​ There are 2 types of tests for the presence of water

●​ In the presence of water, the salt turns pink, and in absence of water cobalt
chloride‌.
●​ Cobalt Chloride indicates the presence of water.
●​
●​ Test for the presence of water is a qualitative test.
●​ Pure substances boil and melt at specific temperature.
●​ Water has a boiling point of 100 degress celcius.
●​ Water has a melting pointo f 0 degrees celsius.
●​ Boiling = liquid to gas
●​ Melting = solid to liquid.
●​ Mixtures has a range of boiling and melting points as they consists of different
substances the melt or boil different temperatures
●​ Mixtures have range of boiling and melting points which can be used to identify
the
●​ Pure substances have a accurate and specific value for boiling and melting point
●​ Therefore boiling and melting points are used to test the purification of water.
●​ Presence of impurity in water causes it to melt at a lower tempaertaute and boil
at a higher temperature.
●​ Distillation is a sepeartaion techique to purify water by removing impurities.
●​ Water containing impurities goes through the process of simple distillation, when
we boil the water, the liquid gets converted to gaseous form and pwasses
through a condenser.
●​
●​ Condensation = Gas to liquid
●​ Distiled water is water that has been heated to form a vapour, and then
condensed back to a liquid form.
●​ Distilled water is used in practical chemistry because of its high purity.

●​
●​ Tap Water can interfere with chemical reactions.
●​ Different natural sources of water are rain, pond, river, sea.
●​ Natural Water is water from natural sources which contains many dissolved
substances.
●​ The most dominant substances present in natural water include Dissolved
Oxygen, Metallic Compounds, Sewage, Nitrates and Phosphates, and Plastics.
●​ Substantial that are Beneficial
○​ Dissolved Oxygen
■​ Essential for Aquatic Life

■​
○​ Metallic Coumponds
■​ Helpful

■​
■​ Calcium = Essential for Teeth and Bones
■​ Iron = Helps increase level of hemoglobin in blood
■​ Zinc = helps with sleep, reduces stress
 ■​ Harmful Metallic Compounds

■​
■​ Lead affects the brain development, heart, reproductive parts,
respiratory system, liver, production of gametes.
■​ Mercury is also harmful.
■​ Mercury affects neurons in the body

○​ Sewage
■​ Contaminants are harmful.
 ■​
■​ Sewage disease can cause outbreaks and can spread and transmit
during natural disaster as well through water for example.
■​ Nitrates and Phosphates is water that travels over the surface of
the land before entering waterways such as rivers and lakes.
■​ This water runoff from farmland may contain dissolved substances
such as fertilizers, and the most common form of pollutant that
enter water because of run off are nitrates and phosphates.

●​AIR
○​ The atmosphere surrounds the earth and makes up the air we breathe.
○​ Outside Earth's atmosphere there is no Air present.
○​ The Layers of Atmosphere include the Troposphere, Stratosphere,
Mesosphere, Thermosphere, and the Exosphere.
○​ Air is present in all the layer of the atmosphere.
○​ Atmosphere is the layer of air and Water Vapour surrounding the Earth.
○​ 78% of the Air is composed of Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, 0.9% Argon, and
0.06% of other gases, and 0.04% of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) =
COMPOSITION OF CLEAN DRY AIR.
○​ Fractional Distillation works on boiling point.
○​ Fractional Distillation for Liquid Air

■​
○​ Example of Simple Distillation is to remove salt from sea water.
○​ Fractional Distillation Of ethanol and water get mixed and you want to
separate, you will take the mixture and boil it, when it's 78 degrees celsius
ethanol becomes gas and you can condense it in a condenser and get
liquid ethanol. This will separate ethanol from water.
○​ There are 5 main steps in the fractional distillation of liquid air.
○​ First, Liquid Air is pumped into the plant, and filtered to remove dust
particle.
○​ Second, Water Vapour and CO2 and the pollutants are filtreed and
removed.
○​ Third, Liquid Air is forced and compressed into a small space, and then is
cooled.
○​ Fourth, the compressed Liquid Air is passed through a jet into a larger
space. Liquid Air then expands rapidly, and this makes its temperature
very cold.
○​ Steps 3 and 4 are repeated several times to purify the Liquid air as much
as possible.
○​ Fifth, then the liquid air is pumped into the fractionating column, and is
slowly warmed or heated up. This causes liquid Air to boil one by one, as
they transform from liquid to gaseous air. The gaseous air is then collected
in tanks or cylinders
■​ First gas collected is Nitrogen.
○​ Important Terms
■​ Clean Dry Air - Its air containing no water vapour, and only contains
gases which are always present in air.
■​ Pollutants - are substances which are often harmful, which are
added to another substance.
■​ Global Warming - a long term increase in the average temperature
of the Earth’s surface, which may be caused in part by human
activities.
■​ Climate Change - is changes in weather pattern brogugh about by
global warming.
■​ Pollutants present in air are carbon, carbon monoxide, oxides of
nitrogen, and sulfure dioxide.
○​ “MAN” Video Notes
■​ 500k years ago humans were on earth.
■​ They caused violence killing animals for their benfeits
■​ For food, or for crating products
■​ They also polluted the oceans and started fishing reducing
population of sea animals as well.
■​ Thay also cut a lot of tess reducing the amount of tress present and
wasting woord, they are populated tha reas creating cities,
factories, for amss production of meat food, and also experimenting
with animas in labs such as cloning of animals
■​ Overall polluting the world entirety.
○​ Greenhouse Effect (phet simulation)
■​