Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved

Copyright 2011 2012


Atoms elements and compounds
All substances are made out of atoms.
Compounds are different types of elements mixed together.
These are held by chemical bonds.
An atom has a nucleus with electrons around it.
Atomic structure
In the nucleus of an atom, there are protons and neutrons.
Electrons orbit the nucleus.
Any atoms have the same number of electrons as it has protons.
Protons are positive.
Neutrons are neutral.
Electrons are negative.
Because an atom contains equal numbers of electrons and
protons, the overall charge is zero.
The number of protons in an atom is its atomic number.
The elements in the periodic table are arranged in order of their
atomic number.
If the atomic number is eight, then it will be the eighth element
listed.
The mass number of an atom is protons plus neutrons.
Number of neutrons = mass number atomic number
The arrangement of electrons in atoms
Each shell represents a different energy level.
The lowest energy shell is the one next to the nucleus.
The first energy shell can only hold up to two electrons.
The rest can hold up to 8.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


All the elements in group 1 have 1 electron. All the elements in
group 2 have 2 electrons. This carries on and on, in this manner.
Group 0 or 8 are unreactive. These are called the noble gases.
Forming bonds
Some atoms react with each other by transferring electrons to
form chemical bonds. This happens when metals react with non-
metals.
When a metal bonds with a non-metal, the metal atom gives one
or more atoms to the non-metal.
Both are charged atoms called ions.
Therefore metal is then positive.
Non-metal is negative.
Opposite charges attract with each other, this forms strong
bonds.
This is called ionic bonding. This is called an ionic bond.
However, non-metals reacts with each other in a different way.
They share their electrons by overlapping each other. This is called
covalent bonding.
Limestone and its uses
Limestone is a rock mainly made out of Calcium carbonate.
Powdered limestone can be heated with powdered clay to make
cement.
When you mix cement with crushed rock, sand, and water you get
concrete.
When limestone is heated strongly, you get calcium oxide. This is
called thermal decomposition. Carbon dioxide is also formed.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


Reactions of carbonates
Buildings made out of limestone suffer from acid rain.
The limestone reaction cycle
Adding water to calcium oxide makes calcium hydroxide.
Calcium hydroxide is an alkali.
Farmers use it improve soil that is acidic.
It is also used to neutralize acidic waste gasses.
Cement and concrete
Calcium hydroxide mixes with sand and water to produce mortar.
Mortar holds building materials together.
The more sand there is the weaker it is.
Lime mortar does not harden quickly.
It will not harden when in contact with water.
Cement is made when limestone and clay are heated together.
Water, cement and sand makes concrete. Rocks or aggregate is
also used.
This is very strong.
Extracting metals
Oxygen is normally combined with these metals.
Metals are found in the earths crust.
The way you extract a metal depends on its reactivity series.
A more reactive metal will displace a less reactive metal.
Carbon is used to extract a metal.
We must heat the metal with carbon. We call the removal of
oxygen reduction.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


Metals that are more reactive than carbon usually end with ium.
These then have to be extracted by electrolysis. This is usually
expensive.
Irons and steels
An iron ore normally is combined with oxygen to form iron oxide.
Iron from the ore normally has a lot of carbon in it.
It also has other impurities.
Pure iron is very brittle.
We extract iron from a blast furnace.
A metal that is mixed with other elements are called alloys.
Steel is an alloy of iron.
By adding the elements in controlled amounts, you can change
the property of steel.
There are lots of different types of steel.
Carbon steels are the simplest.
You have to remove most of the carbon from it.
These are the cheapest steels to make.
These contain small amounts of carbon.
Low alloy steels are more expensive because they contain more
metals. These are easily shaped.
High alloy steels are more expensive and harder.
These contain a much higher percentage of other metals.
Stainless steels do not rust and have a great hardness and
strength.
The more carbon there is in the steel, the harder it is, and more
expensive it is.
Aluminium and titanium
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


Aluminium and titanium have a low density and are very
strong.
These do not corrode.
Aluminium is a good conductor, and has many other uses.
Because aluminium is reactive than carbon, it has to be
extracted by electrolysis.
This is a very expensive process.
Titanium has a very high boiling point.
Normally used for bikes and jet engines.
Titanium is less reactive than carbon. Unfortunately, carbon
reacts with titanium, making it very brittle. This means sodium
or magnesium has to be used. But these are first extracted by
electrolysis.
These two metals are very expensive.
Extracting copper
Cooper ores are in danger of running out.
There are 2 main ways in which copper is extracted.
One way is to use sulphuric acid to produce copper sulphate
solution, before extracting the copper.
The other process is smelting (roasting). You heat copper ore
very strongly in a furnace with air to produce copper.
Care has to be taken to avoid sulphur dioxide to get into the
air.
These methods are expensive, and use enormous amounts of
heat and energy.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


Metal ions are always positively charged. So in electrolysis,
they are attracted to the negative electrode. This pure's the
copper from other elements.
Copper can also be extracted from copper sulphate solution, by
adding scraps of iron. Iron is more reactive than copper so it
can displace copper from its solutions.
We can now use bacteria to get copper from low grade ores.
We can now use a bacteria (bioleaching), and even plants
(phytomining) to help extract copper.
In phytomining, plants absorb copper ions as they grow. Then
the plants are burned, and the metals can be extracted from
ash. This forms the solution copper sulphate. Then it can be
purified by electrolysis or using scrap iron.
In bioleaching, bacteria feed on the low grade ores; by a
combination of biological and chemical processes you can get a
solution of copper ions called leachate. Once again you have to
use electrolysis or use an iron scrap.
Useful metals
The transition metals can be bent into any shape, and are good
conductors of electricity and energy.
Transition metals make them useful for building, and making
things. Copper gold and aluminium are all alloyed to make
them harder.
Fuels form crude oil
Crude oil is a dark and smelly liquid.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


It contains a mixture of two or more elements or compounds,
which are not chemically combined together.
Nearly all of the compounds in crude oil contain a single bond
alkane. We call these hydrocarbons.
These are saturated hydrocarbons.
Their general formula is: C
n
H
(2n + 2)


Fractional distillation
Some hydrocarbons are small and others are large.
The short ones are the ones that are the most useful.
The longer the chain, the higher the boiling point is.
The longer the chain it takes longer for it to turn to gas.
The longer the chain the thicker it is.
The longer the chain the harder it is to burn.
We separate crude oil into hydrocarbons with similar boiling
points. These then come out of the appropriate fraction.
This is called fractional distillation.
Crude oil is fed into the bottom of a fractionating column.
The column is very hot near the bottom and cool near the top.
Shorter chains come out form the top, and the longer chains
come out from the bottom.
Then the alkanes come out of the appropriate column.
Burning fuels
Lighter fractions are very useful as fuels.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


When you burn hydrocarbons in plenty of air, carbon dioxide
and water are released.
The carbon and hydrogen are oxidised completely.
Oxidised means adding oxygen in a chemical reaction in which
oxides are formed.
All fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide and water when they
burn in plenty of air.
For an example: Propane + oxygen carbon dioxide + water
C
3
H
8
+ 5O
2
3CO
2
+ 4H
2
O

BUT these fuels also contain impurities such as sulphur.
This then reacts with oxygen to produce sulphur oxide. This is
acidic and poisonous and is bad for the environment.
It can also cause engine corrosion.
However when we burn fuels in a place where there is NOT
ENOUGH oxygen such as a car engine, more pollution can be
produced.
When there is not enough oxygen, we get incomplete
combustion.
Instead of all the carbon turning into carbon dioxide, we also
get carbon monoxide. This is very poisonous.
Your red blood cell can pick this up and carry it around your
blood as oxygen.
The high temp. of a cars engine can also lead to nitrogen and
oxygen reacting.
This produces nitrogen oxide.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


These are poisonous and can trigger some peoples asthma.
This can also lead to acid rain.
Diesel engines burn much bigger chains of hydrocarbons, with
bigger molecules than petrol.
When this burns it gets carried into the air. These are called
particulates. These are made out of carbon, and unburnt
hydrocarbons.
These can cause cancer and can damage cells in our bodies.

Cleaner fuels
When we burn a fossil fuel, carbon dioxide is produced.
This then adds to the atmosphere, increasing carbon. This can
cause global warming.
We can use catalytic converters. This reduces carbon
monoxide and nitrogen oxides produced in the car engine.
These are expensive.
Alternative fuels
Biofuels are fuels made out of plant or animal products.
This is much less harmful to plants and animals.
More cleaner.
We can also use ethanol. We can ferment the sugar from the
sugar cane to produce ethanol. You can then add it to petrol.
The sugar absorbs the CO
2
when burnt.
Cracking hydrocarbons
Some of the heavier fuels are not very useful.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


We can then break them down by cracking.
This takes place in a cracker. It is heated and thermal
decomposition takes place.
When we burn a hydrocarbon, we get other alkanes, but we
also get alkenes.
Alkenes are unsaturated hydrocarbons. These contain double
bonds.
To check of you have an alkane or an alkene you can use
bromine water.
Unsaturated hydrocarbon + bromine water colourless
Saturated hydrocarbon + bromine water no reaction

Making polymers from alkenes

We can use hydrocarbons to make a range of things. From
cosmetics to explosives. The most important way is to produce
plastics.
Plastics are made out of huge molecules made out of small
molecules called monomers.
A lot of monomers joined together are called polymers.
Ethane can be a monomer. We can then join these up, and
then this is then called poly (ethene). This can be used for
plastic bags and plastic bottles.
When the alkene molecules join up together the double bond
they have opens up and is replaced by a single bond. This is
called polymerisation.
New and useful polymers
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


There are light sensitive polymers, hydrogels, shape memory
polymers.
Plastic waste
Scientists are working on biodegradable plastics.
Microorganisms can break them down.
Plastics will cause crops to get expensive.
We can now recycle plastics.

Ethanol
Ethanol is one of the members of the alcohols.
It is the one that is found in alcoholic drinks.
It is made by fermentation of sugar from plants. Enzymes in
the yeast break down the sugar into ethanol. Carbon dioxide
gas is also given off.
Sugar (glucose) [yeast] ethanol + carbon dioxide
Ethanol is also a solvent.
Ethanol for fuel or for any other industrial use can be made
from ethene instead of fermentation.
Ethene + steam [catalyst] ethanol
This reaction is called hydration.
This reaction is also reversible.
It produces no waste products.
Extracting vegetable oils
Plants use the suns energy to produce glucose from carbon
dioxide.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


Carbon dioxide + water glucose + oxygen.
Plants then turn this glucose into other chemicals such as
vegetable oils.
We find these oils inside the seeds of a rape plant.
We can then crush the seeds to produce oil. The impurities are
removed to make it useful.
We extract other vegetable oils by steam. We can extract
lavender plants by distillation.
The plants are placed into water, and then boiled. The oil and
the water evaporate, to give pure lavender oil.
Vegetable oils are very important foods.
They provide nutrients.
They are a source of vitamin E
All vegetable oils have chains of carbon atoms.
The double bonds carbons are healthier because they are
unsaturated hydrocarbons. We call these unsaturated oils.
We can detect them using bromine water.
Cooking with vegetable oils
When cooking food, we heat them to a temp. where chemical
reactions cause permanent changes.
When using vegetable oils, the food cooks quickly. Often the
outside changes colour, and turns crispier. Inside the food
should be softer, so you shouldnt cook for that long.
No chemical bonds are broken when vegetable oils melt or boil.
These are physical changes. Not chemical.
Unsaturated vegetable oils are liquid at room temperature.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


The boiling and melting point can be increased by adding
hydrogen to the molecules.
This reaction replaces some or all of the double bonds with
single bonds.
With higher melting point, the liquid becomes solid at room
temperature. This process is called hardening.
We do this by reacting it with hydrogen (H
2
).
To do this process, we must use a nickel catalyst at around
60
o
C.
When hardening, a chemical change takes place.
This is normally used for margarines, cakes, biscuits, and the
like.
Emulsions
Oil and water do not mix. Obviously.
However if you add oil in small amounts, the oil spreads out.
This mixture is called an emulsion. Milk is just water and small
amounts of animal fat dispersed.
A substance that stops oil and water separating is called an
emulsifier.
This means that the emulsion is thick and smooth due to an
emulsifier.
An emulsifier is a molecule with a tail that is attracted to oil,
and head that is attracted to water. The tail is hydrophobic,
and carries a charge. While the head is hydrophilic.
Food issues
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


Additives are substances that preserve food; make it look
better, make it to taste better, and to improve its appearance.
In Europe, they are known as E numbers.
Emulsifiers make a food less obvious that it contains a lot of fat.
Vegetable oils reduce chances of heart disease.
Structure of the earth
The earth has a dense core, surrounded by mantle. Outside the
mantle you will find the crust.
Above the earths crust there is a thin layer of gases
surrounding the earth. This is the atmosphere.
Outer core is liquid, while the inner core is solid.
We get all the natural resources and materials from the crust,
oceans, and atmosphere.
The restless earth
The continents move a few cm a year.
The earths crust is broken into tectonic plates.
Deep within the earth, radioactive atoms decay, producing vast
amounts of energy. This heats up molten minerals in the
mantle which expand. This rises towards the surface. Cooler
material sinks to take its place. This process is cause by
convection currents.
Where the edge of the plates meet, huge stress builds up and
causes earthquakes.
Earthquakes and volcanoes happen where tectonic plates
meet.
The earths atmosphere in the past
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


Scientists think that the earth was formed 4.5 billion years ago.
Volcanoes released carbon dioxide, water vapour, and
nitrogen gas.
As plants spread, it increased the level of oxygen in the
atmosphere.
Life on earth
One theory states that the compounds needed for life came
from reactions involving hydrocarbons, such as methane and
ammonia. The energy provided for the reaction, could have
been lightning.
All the theories explaining how life started on earth are
unproven. This is because they talk bull shit.
The only thing is to believe in Islam.
Gases in the atmosphere
Carbon dioxide, in early earth had a lot. Now it is just 0.4%.
The carbon ends up in new plants material during
photosynthesis.
The animals then eat the plants and then the energy is
transferred into the animals teeth, bones, skin and so on.
Over millions of years, the dead bodies are ended up in the
bottom of oceans. They then form sedimentary carbonates
rocks like calcium carbonate. Some of these living things form
into fossil fuels by the movements of the earth heated within
the crust. The carbon is then locked up into these living things.
At the same time ammonia and methane reacted with oxygen
formed by plants.
Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012


This got rid of ammonia and methane.
Fractional distillation is the process in which liquids with
different boiling points are separated.
The first step to separate the gases in the air is to turn it get air
cold enough for it to condense into a liquid. It has to be cooled
to a temperature of -200
o
C.
In industry, they do this by compressing the air about 150
times.
It is then boiled into different boiling points until the gases
enter the appropriate fraction.
Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are increasing.
This is mainly due to fossil fuels.










Chemistry Core science revision notes C1 AQA

Abdullah Ahmed All rights reserved
Copyright 2011 2012
















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