UNIT

Foundations
of Chemistry
Module: Basic
Concepts of Matter
and Energy
"danger: jiffy pop on open campfire"
by woodleywonderworks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
1
From C&En's Talented 12 (2024)

Spotlight a VITALS
Chemist: Current Affiliation: Bristol Myers Squibb

Dr. Jesus Moreno

After earning a C in organic chemistry, Jesus
Age: 33

PhD Alma Mater: University of California,

Moreno wasnʼt deterred—instead, he embraced Los Angeles
the challenge. “It really taught me how to shift
my problem-solving thinking and my Hometown: San Diego

critical-thinking skills,ˮ he says. He switched his

My Lab Superpower is:
major and later earned a PhD from UCLA. “Good ‘lab hands,ʼ particularly when
Known for his sharp problem-solving and getting toward the end of a total synthesis. I
recall being especially proud of taking an
steady “lab hands,ˮ Moreno helped achieve the
intermediate I had less than 10 mg of
first total synthesis of picrinine, a complex across at least 5 steps to get to a final
natural product. After an early industry product as a proof of concept.ˮ
internship sparked his love for applied science,
My Alternate-Universe Career is:
he joined Merck and later BMS, where he now “Meteorologist. Iʼve always been fascinated
leads work on targeted protein degraders for with the weather and still get excited about
cancer treatment. A first-generation Mexican atypical events.ˮ

American, Moreno also champions diversity in

STEM, mentoring future scientists and giving
back to his community. PARC Innovation Flow Podcast S1E5
2
Foundations of Chemistry Video
In this video, Vernon introduces the key concepts of this unit and explains how they connect to your
everyday life.

Foundations of Chemistry

What surprised or interested

you most about the idea that
everything around us is made
from just 92 types of atoms?
How does this change the way
you see everyday materials
and objects?

Watch Video
 Learning Objective: Determine whether an entity is matter or not

Matter Vs Nonmatter
There are two basic groupings of entities: matter and energy (non matter). Matter is anything that takes
up space and has some mass.

Table Salt Air Lightning

Which of these are matter and which are nonmatter (energy)?

 Learning Objective: Determine whether an entity is matter or not

Matter Vs Nonmatter
There are two basic groupings of entities: matter and energy (non matter). Matter is anything that takes
up space and has some mass.

Table Salt Air Lightning

MATTER You can put it on a MATTER: You can feel the air ENERGY: You can't weigh
scale and it will have a hitting you (lightly) so it is lightning, and you can't
weight, and you can put it into made of stuff, and you can contain it in a space and
a container and it takes up an put it into a container and it measure how much space it
amount of space takes up an amount of space takes up.
 Learning Objective: Determine whether an entity is matter or not

Matter Vs Nonmatter
A helpful model to understand matter and its behavior is the Particle Model of Matter.
Throughout this course you will come to understand how each of these principles helps us
make predictions in chemistry.

1 All matter is
made up of tiny
particles known
as atoms. 2 Particles of
matter are
constantly in
motion. 3 Particles of
matter attract
each other.

4 Particles of
matter have
spaces between
them. 5 As temperature
increases,
particles of
matter move
faster.
6
Atoms of the same
element are
essentially identical
and atoms of
different elements
are different.
 Learning Objective: Determine whether an entity is matter or not

Matter Vs Nonmatter
Since atoms are too small to see, chemists need ways to represent them. The method we choose
depends on the type of information we want to convey. For this topic, a useful tool for distinguishing
different types of matter is particle diagrams. Particle diagrams are visual representations that show
how particles—such as atoms or molecules—are arranged in a substance.

One Particle Four Particles Two Particles Five Particles

A limitation of particle diagrams is that they are static and show unrealistic proportions. So
even though they are useful keep this in mind. ALL MODELS HAVE LIMITATIONS
 Learning Objective: Determine whether an entity is matter or not

Mass & Weight

Mass
The mass of a sample of a substance is a measure of the amount of
matter in it. A common way to determine the mass of an object is to
use a balance.

Weight
Weight refers to the force that gravity exerts on an object. This
force is directly proportional to the mass of the object; that is, the
greater the mass, the greater the gravitational force.

Mass and weight are technically different, but if we're on Earth, we can think about them
pretty much interchangeably.
 Learning Objective: Recognize physical and chemical differences that can be
used as differentiating properties to identify types of matter & differentiate them.

The Same and Not the Same

Some samples of matter can have a lot in common, like twins, other chemicals are easier to tell apart.
For example at first glance water and rubbing alcohol Isopropyl alcohol) look like twins,
indistinguishable. But what are some ways in which we can tell them apart? Think of three ways you
could tell them apart.
 Learning Objective: Recognize physical and chemical differences that can be
used as differentiating properties to identify types of matter & differentiate them.

The Same and Not the Same

We distinguish between different substances by examining their properties, which can be classified
as either physical or chemical.

Physical Properties Chemical Properties

Can be measured without changing the identity Describe the ability of a substance to react and
of the substance. form something new

For either kind of difference—physical or chemical—to be useful in distinguishing between

chemicals, it must not depend on the amount of the substance.

Intensive Property Extensive Property

It does not depend on how much of the It depends of how much of the chemical (mass)
chemical you have. (e.g., color, boiling point, you have (e.g., mass, volume, enthalpy)
density)
 Learning Objective: Read and interpret phase diagrams of single chemicals

Physical Properties
The first question about any sample of matter that we ask as chemists is, What is it? This is one of a
small number of fundamental questions of chemistry that we call chemical identity. However, in the
real world, almost nothing is pure, which makes it challenging to identify what chemicals are in a
sample of matter.

Pure Mixtures
Substances

Element Compound Homogeneous Heterogeneous

 Learning Objective: Read and interpret phase diagrams of single chemicals

Physical Properties
The phases of matter are a model we use to categorize substances based on physical properties.
While useful, this model is a simplification, as matter doesnʼt always fit neatly into one phase and can
change or overlap under different conditions.

States of Matter
Solid Liquid Gas
Solids have tightly packed Liquid particles are close, Gas particles are far apart, move
particles in a fixed pattern that move freely past each other, freely at high speeds, and fill the
vibrate but don't move past and take the shape of their shape of their container.
each other, so they keep their container.
shape.
Elements, Compounds and Mixtures, Oh My!
In this video, Vernon introduces the key concepts of this unit and explains how they connect to your
everyday life.

Elements, Compounds and Mixtures, Oh My!

Using the knowledge

presented in the video, can
you name and describe
instances from your everyday
life when you have seen
elements, compounds, or
mixtures?

Watch Video
 Learning Objective: Read and interpret phase diagrams of single chemicals

Phase Diagrams
For any given substance, different phases are stable at different values of temperature and pressure.

Pressure in
atmospheres (atm)
on the y-axis "L" to denote the
chemical is liquid at
these conditions

"G" to denote the

"S" to denote the chemical is gas at
chemical is solid at these conditions
these conditions

Temperature in
Celsius (℃) on the
x-axis
 Learning Objective: Read and interpret phase diagrams of single chemicals

Phase Diagrams
For water we can then graph the most stable state of matter at specific conditions. For water it would
look like this

At these
So for example we could try to
conditions, water
find the state of matter of water
would be in liquid
at 40℃ and 1.5 atm
phase
 Learning Objective: Read and interpret phase diagrams of single chemicals

Phase Diagrams
Let's go back to our example of how to differentiate water and rubbing alcohol.

Liquid to Gas Liquid to Gas

P  1 atm P  1 atm
T? T?
 Learning Objective: Read and interpret phase diagrams of single chemicals

Phase Diagrams
Let's go back to our example of how to differentiate water and rubbing alcohol.

Liquid to Gas Liquid to Gas

P  1 atm P  1 atm
T  100 ℃ T?
 Learning Objective: Read and interpret phase diagrams of single chemicals

Phase Diagrams
Let's go back to our example of how to differentiate water and rubbing alcohol.

Liquid to Gas Liquid to Gas

P  1 atm P  1 atm
T  100 ℃ T  82 ℃

This allows us to differentiate between the

two chemicals by comparing their boiling
points and noting the temperature at which
each begins to evaporate
 Learning Objective: Interpret a chemical equation
that represents a physical or chemical process.

Chemical Differences
In a chemical change, one or more types of matter change into one or more different types of matter.

Physical Change
Rubbing Alcohol (liquid) Rubbing Alcohol (gas)

C3H8O (l) C3H8O (g)

Chemical Change
Rubbing Alcohol (liquid) Carbon Dioxide (gas) + Water (liquid)

C3H8O (l) + O2 (g) 3CO2 (g) + H2O (l)

Total mass of starting matter = Total mass of ending matter

A chemical change involves the breaking and formation of bonds.

But matter is always conserved Law of Conservation of Matter)
 Learning Objective: Examine the organization
of matter at different distance scales.

Building Blocks of Matter

In chemistry, we consider matter on different scales of distance. The question of what matter is made
of depends on the distance scale we are considering.

"powers of ten" by [Link] is

licensed under CC BY 2.0.
 Learning Objective: Examine the organization
of matter at different distance scales.

Building Blocks of Matter

There are a little over 100 kinds of
atoms, which we call elements, and
every kind of matter that we know of
is made of elements. So, elements
are the basic building blocks of
matter.

Each type of atom has an agreed

symbol (e.g., gold is Au, carbon is C.

There are rules for writing what

elements make up a substance (e.g.,
water is H₂O, not OH₂).

Chemicals have proper names (e.g.,

rubbing alcohol is propan-2-ol).
 Learning Objective: Examine the organization
of matter at different distance scales.

Building Blocks of Matter

A molecule consists of two or

more atoms held together by
strong forces called chemical
bonds. The atoms in a molecule
move around as a unit.
 Learning Objective: Recognize and use four ways of thinking
about energy: vital, functional, causal, and countable.

Change Requires Energy

There are lots of ways that we think about energy and they are useful in doing chemistry. Different
ways of thinking about energy are useful in different types of problems.
Liquid to Gas
P  1 atm
T?

Vital Functional Casual Countable

Learning Objective: Recognize and use four ways of thinking
about energy: vital, functional, causal, and countable.

Change Requires Energy

There are lots of ways that we think about energy and
they are useful in doing chemistry. Different ways of
thinking about energy are useful in different types of
problems.

Vital
We can feel more or less energetic. Energy is
essential to living. We get energy from eating food
and especially from its nutrients. It takes energy for
an animal or a plant to grow. To be active and
healthy requires energy.
Learning Objective: Recognize and use four ways of thinking
about energy: vital, functional, causal, and countable.

Change Requires Energy

There are lots of ways that we think about energy and
they are useful in doing chemistry. Different ways of
thinking about energy are useful in different types of
problems.

Functional
Movement is an indicator that energy is involved.
Energy provides fuel for effort that we can
observe. Energy is a source that can be translated
into power.
Learning Objective: Recognize and use four ways of thinking
about energy: vital, functional, causal, and countable.

Change Requires Energy

There are lots of ways that we think about energy and
they are useful in doing chemistry. Different ways of
thinking about energy are useful in different types of
problems.

Causal
Energy makes things happen—it causes changes.
Energy provides strength and force to do things.
The power that comes from energy is what causes
change.
Learning Objective: Recognize and use four ways of thinking
about energy: vital, functional, causal, and countable.

Change Requires Energy

There are lots of ways that we think about energy and
they are useful in doing chemistry. Different ways of
thinking about energy are useful in different types of
problems.

Countable
Energy can go into stuff and can come out of stuff.
It can be stored and saved for later use. Energy
can be thought of as a fluid that we can keep track
of when we want to know where it was and where
it goes to.
 Learning Objective: Recognize and use four ways of thinking
about energy: vital, functional, causal, and countable.

Change Requires Energy

There are lots of ways that we think about energy and they are useful in doing chemistry. Different
ways of thinking about energy are useful in different types of problems.

ADDING ENERGY Endothermic Process)

Liquid to Gas
P  1 atm
T  82
? ℃
melting evaporation

freezing condensation
Solid Liquid Gas

REMOVING ENERGY Exothermic Process)