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Year 8 Chmistry Note

Elements, molecules, and compounds are the fundamental building blocks of matter. An element is a pure substance made up of only one type of atom and cannot be broken down further. A molecule consists of two or more atoms of the same or different elements bound together. A compound is formed when two or more elements are chemically bonded together and has unique properties different from its constituent elements.

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103 views2 pages

Year 8 Chmistry Note

Elements, molecules, and compounds are the fundamental building blocks of matter. An element is a pure substance made up of only one type of atom and cannot be broken down further. A molecule consists of two or more atoms of the same or different elements bound together. A compound is formed when two or more elements are chemically bonded together and has unique properties different from its constituent elements.

Uploaded by

Franca Okechukwu
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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TOPIC: ELEMENTS, MOLECULS AND COMPOUNDS

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: I will be able to:

i. Differentiate between elements, molecules and compounds.


ii. Give examples each from elements, molecules and compounds.

Elements

All living things on Earth are composed of fundamental building blocks of matter called
elements. An element is a substance that cannot be chemically decomposed. There are over 118
different elements occurring naturally on Earth. However, some are created in a laboratory by scientists
by nuclear processes Oxygen, iron, calcium, sodium, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen are examples
of elements.

An element is a pure substance made up of only one type of atom. Elements are further subdivided into
two groups, metals and non-metals, based on their physical and chemical properties

Note that an element:

 consists of only one kind of atom,


 cannot be broken down into a simpler type of matter by either physical or chemical
means, and
 can exist as either atoms (e.g. argon) or molecules (e.g., nitrogen).

Characteristics of Elements

 An element is homogeneous in nature; it is a pure substance, made up of only one kind of


atoms. For example, iron and silver are made of only iron and silver atoms.
 An element cannot be broken down into simpler substances by any physical or chemical
methods such as heat, light electricity, or chemical reactions with other substances. For
example, if you were to smash a piece of iron into smaller pieces or heat it, the piece still
remains as the element iron.
 An atom is the smallest unit that shows all the properties of an element. For example, an
atom of iron shows all the properties of that metal.
 Elements have sharp melting and boiling points. 

A molecule consists of two or more atoms of the same element, or different elements, that are
chemically bound together. Note that the two nitrogen atoms which comprise a nitrogen
molecule move as a unit.
Compounds

A compound is a substance formed when two or more chemical elements are chemically bonded
together. Compounds can be decomposed chemically into their constituent elements. It has
unique properties that are different from the properties of its individual elements. The elements
in any compound are always present in fixed ratios.

The chemical elements are divided into metals, metalloids, and non-metals.

Note that a compound:

 consists of atoms of two or more different elements bound together,


 can be broken down into a simpler type of matter (elements) by chemical means (but not
by physical means),
 has properties that are different from its component elements, and
 always contains the same ratio of its component atoms.

Properties of Compounds

 A compound is homogeneous in nature, made up of the same type of molecules. 


 A compound can be broken into its constituents. 
 A compound has a fixed composition.                                                                          
 A compound has a distinct set of properties which is not similar with the properties of its
constituent elements.                                                                                       
 A compound has a sharp melting and boiling point.     

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