Chemistry

States of matter

understand the three states of matter in terms of the arrangement, movement and energy
of the particles

Solid
Arrangement: Particles close together and packed tightly.

Movement: Particles vibrate around a fixed point.

Energy: Particles have less kinetic energy than both liquids and gases.

Liquid

Arrangement: Particles are close together but irregular

Movement: Particles are free to move

Energy: Particles have less KE than gases but more than solids.

Gas

Arrangement: Particles are far apart and no forces between them.

Movement: Particles are free to move.

Energy: Particles have more KE than liquids and solids.

understand the interconversions between the three states of matter in terms of: the names
of the interconversions, how they are achieved and the changes in arrangement,
movement and energy of the particles.

Melting: When a solid is heated, the energy makes the particles vibrate fast enough so that the forces of attraction between the particles break. For
example   H2O(s) –> H2O(l)
Freezing: When a liquid is cooled, the particles move slow enough so that the forces of attraction between them will hold them into a solid. For
example   H2O(l) –> H2O(s)
Boiling: When a liquid is heated strongly, the energy makes the particles move fast enough so that all forces of attraction are broken. For example 
 H2O(l) –> H2O(g)
Condensing: When a gas is cooled, the particles move slow enough so that the forces of attraction between them will hold them as a liquid. For
example   H2O(g) –> H2O(l)
Sublimation: A small number of substances have the ability to change directly from a solid to a gas when heated. For example   CO2(s) –> CO2(g)
understand how the results of experiments involving the dilution of coloured solutions and
diffusion of gases can be explained

Diffusion is the spreading out of particles in a gas or liquid. There is a net movement of particles from areas of high
concentration to areas of low concentration until a uniform concentration is achieved.
 
i) dilution of coloured solutions

Dissolving potassium manganate(VII) in water demonstrates that the diffusion in liquids is very slow because there are only
small gaps between the liquid particles into which other particles diffuse.
The random motion of particles cause the purple colour to eventually be evenly spread out throughout the water........Diffusion
works best in higher temperatures.
Adding more water to the solution causes the potassium manganate(VII) particles to spread out further apart therefore the
solutions becomes less purple. This is called dilution.

ii) diffusion experiments

When ammonia gas and hydrogen chloride gas mix, they react together to form a white solid called ammonium chloride.

ammonia                  +              hydrogen chloride                 –>            ammonium chloride

NH3(g)                     +              HCl(g)                                     –>            NH4Cl(s)

A cotton wool pad was soaked in ammonia solution and another was soaked in HCL=hydrogen chloride solution. The two pads
were then put into opposite ends of a dry glass tube at the same time.

The white ring of ammonium chloride forms closer to the hydrochloric acid end because ammonia particles are lighter than
hydrogen chloride particles and therefore travel faster.
Even though these particles travel at several hundred metres per second, it takes about 5 min for the ring to form. This is
because the particles move in random directions and will collide with air particles in the tube.

know what is meant by the terms: solvent, solute, solution, saturated solution
When a solid dissolves in a liquid:
• the substance that dissolves is called the solute
• the liquid in which it dissolves is called the solvent
• the liquid formed is a solution
• a saturated solution is a solution into which no more solute can be dissolved

Elements, Compounds and mixtures.

understand how to classify a substance as an element, a compound or a mixture
Element: The simplest type of substances made up of only one type of atom.
Compound: A substance that contains two or more elements chemically joined together in fixed
proportions.
Mixture: Different substances in the same space, but not chemically combined.
Note: elements such as oxygen (O2) are described as diatomic because they contain two atoms.
The full list of elements that are diatomic is:
Hydrogen (H2)
Nitrogen (N2)
Fluorine (F2)
Oxygen (O2)
Iodine (I2)
Chlorine (Cl2)
Bromine (Br2)
understand that a pure substance has a fixed melting and boiling point, but that a mixture
may melt or boil over a range of temperatures

Pure substances, such as an element or a compound, melt and boil at fixed temperatures.

However, mixtures melt and boil over a range of temperatures.

Example: although pure water boils at 100⁰C, the addition of 10g of sodium chloride (NaCl) to 1000cm³ of water will raise the
boiling point to 100.2⁰C.
Example: although pure water melts at 0⁰C, the addition of 10g of sodium chloride (NaCl) to 1000cm³ of water will lower the
melting point to -0.6⁰C.

describe these experimental techniques for the separation of mixtures: simple distillation,
fractional distillation, filtration, crystallisation, paper
chromatography.

Simple distillation
This method is used to separate a liquid from a solution. For example:
separating water from salt water.
The salt water is boiled. The water vapour condenses back into a liquid
when passed through the condenser. The salt is left behind in the flask.
Note: cold water is passed into the bottom of the condenser and out
through the top so that the condenser completely fills up with water.
 
Fractional distillation
This method is used to separate a mixture of different liquids that have different
boiling points. For example, separating alcohol from a mixture of alcohol and
water.
Water boils at 100oC and alcohol boils at 78oC. By using the thermometer to
carefully control of temperature of the column, keeping it at 78oC, only the
alcohol remains as vapour all the way up to the top of the column and passes into
the condenser.
The alcohol vapours then condense back into a liquid.
 
 

Filtration
This method is used to separate an insoluble solid from a liquid. For example: separating sand from
a mixture of sand and water.
The mixture is poured into the filter paper. The sand does not pass through and is left behind
(residue) but the water passes through the filter paper and is collected in the conical flask (filtrate).
 

Crystallisation
This method is used to obtain a salt which contains water of crystallisation from a salt
solution. For example: hydrated copper sulfate crystals (CuSO4.5H2O(s)) from copper
sulfate solution (CuSO4(aq)).
Gently heat the copper sulfate solution in an evaporating basin until a hot saturated
solution forms. Leave in a warm place to allow the hydrated copper sulfate crystals to form.
Remove the crystals by filtration and wash with distilled water. Dry by leaving in a warm
place.
If instead the solution is heated until all the water evaporates, you would produce a powder
of anhydrous copper sulfate (CuSO4(s)).
Paper chromatography
This method can be used to separate the parts of a mixture into their components. For example, the different dyes in ink can
all be separated and identified.
The coloured mixture to be separated (e.g. a food dye) is dissolved in a solvent like water
or ethanol and carefully spotted onto the chromatography paper on the baseline, which is
drawn in pencil so it doesn’t ‘run or smudge’.
The paper is carefully dipped into the solvent and suspended so the baseline is above the
liquid solvent, otherwise all the spots would dissolve in the solvent. The solvent is
absorbed into the paper and rises up it as it soaks into the paper.
The choice of solvent depends on the solubility of the dye. If the dye does not dissolve in
water then normally an organic solvent (e.g. ethanol) is used.
solvent rises up the paper it carries the dyes with it. Each different dye will move up the
paper at different rates depending on how strongly they stick to the paper and how soluble
they are in the solvent.

understand how a chromatogram provides information about the composition of a mixture

Paper chromatography can be used to investigate the composition of a mixture.
A baseline is drawn on the paper. The mixture is spotted onto the baseline alongside known
or standard reference materials.
The end of the paper is then put into a solvent which runs up the paper and through the
spots, taking some or all of the dyes with it.
Different dyes will travel different heights up the paper.

The resulting pattern of dyes is called a chromatogram.

In the example shown, the mixture is shown to contain the red, blue and yellow dyes. This
can be seen because these dots which resulted from the mixture have travelled the same
distance up the paper as have the red, blue and yellow standard reference materials.
understand how to use the calculation of Rf values to identify the components
of a mixture
When analysing a chromatogram, the mixture being analysed is compared to standard reference materials
by measuring how far the various dyes have travelled up the paper from the baseline where they started.
For each dye, the Rf value is calculated. To do this, 2 distances are measured:
• The distance between the baseline and the dye
• The distance between the baseline and the solvent front, which is how far the solvent has travelled
from the baseline
If the Rf value of one of the components of the mixture equals the Rf value of one of the standard reference
materials then that component is know to be that reference material. 
Note that because the solvent always travels at least as far as the highest dye, the Rf value is always
between 0 and 1.
Dyes which are more soluble will have higher Rf values than less soluble dyes. In other words, more soluble
dyes move further up the paper. The extreme case of this is for insoluble dyes which don’t move at all (Rf value = 0). The other
aspect affecting how far a dye travels is the affinity that dye has for the paper (how well it ‘sticks’ to the paper).

practical: investigate paper chromatography using inks/food colourings

• A pencil line (baseline) is drawn 1cm from the bottom of the paper. Pencil will not dissolve in the solvent, but if ink were
used instead it might dissolve and interfere with the results of the chromatography.
• A spot of each sample of dye is dropped at different points along the baseline.
• The paper is suspended in a beaker which contains a small amount of solvent. The bottom of the paper should be
touching the solvent, but the baseline with the dyes should be above the level of the solvent. This is important so the
dyes don’t simply dissolve into the solvent in the beaker.
• A lid should cover the beaker so the atmosphere becomes saturated with the solvent. This is so the solvent does not
evaporate from the surface of the paper.
• When the solvent has travelled to near the top of the paper, the paper is removed from the solvent and a pencil line
drawn (and labelled) to show the level the solvent reached up the paper. This is called the solvent front.
• The chromatogram is then left to dry so that all the solvent evaporates.
Common solvents are water or ethanol. The choice of solvent depends on whether most of the dyes are soluble in that solvent.