Chapter I: Fundamental

notions of Chemistry I

Solid Liquid Gas

Biology

Year 2023-2024
Dr. Ouksel Louiza
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General and organic chemistry courses Dr. Ouksel Louiza

CHAPTER I: Fundamental notions of Chemistry I

I.1. Introduction

Matter appears in the form of solid, liquid or gas, it is capable of passing from one state
to another under very specific temperature and pressure conditions.
a) Solid: It is rigid, the shape and volume of the solid matter are almost constant and the
arrangement of its particles follows a well-defined order, we cite as an example: salts.
b) Liquid: The particles in liquid solutions are more agitated than in the solid state, it has a
fixed volume but a variable shape, it takes the shape of its container.
c) Gas: In this state the atoms and molecules are excessively agitated and therefore very
disordered. They occupy a very large volume; the gas takes the shape of its container.
In fact, we regularly encounter water in all three phases: ice (solid), water (liquid), and steam
(gas).

Fusion Evaporation
Solid Liquid Gas
Solidification Condensation

Condensation

Sublimation

Figure I.1: Phase changes.

I.2. Concepts of atoms, molecules, moles and Avogadro’s number

Matter is made up of elementary grains called atoms. The atom is an infinitely small
quantity of matter; the order of magnitude of its mass is 10-26 kg. The size of the atom is a few
Angstrom (A°). Atoms combine to form molecules. A molecule is therefore an union of atoms.

The Avogadro number of atoms or molecules corresponds to 1 mole of atoms or molecules.

NA= 6.023 1023, 1 mole of O2 equal to 16 g.

I.2.1. Atomic mass unit (amu)

By definition, 1uma corresponds to 1/12 of the mass of a carbon atom.

1uma = 1/12 (mass of a Carbon atom) = 1/12 (1x12g)/ NA = 1/NA= 1/6.023 1023 = 1.66 10 -27
Kg.

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General and organic chemistry courses Dr. Ouksel Louiza

I.2.2. Atomic, molecular molar mass

Atomic molar mass is the mass of 1 mole of atoms or NA of atoms.

Molecular molar mass (M) is the mass of 1 mole of molecules or NA of molecules.

I.2.3. Molar volume

We define the molar volume as being the volume of one mole of substance, this
expression is used mainly for gases.

I.3. Qualitative aspect of the material

Matter appears in a pure body (simple or compound) or in a mixture state.

I.3.1. simple pure body

The material that composes it is a single chemical species distinguished by

physicochemical properties such as density, melting and boiling temperatures, odor, color, etc.
Like H2, O2, N2…

I.3.1.1. Solute

Is a chemical species (molecular or ionic) dissolved in a solvent.

I.3.1.2. Solvent

It is the liquid in which the solute is always dissolved in a quantity much greater than
the solute(s). The solvent can be distilled water, ethanol, etc.

I.3.1.3. Solution

This is the name for the homogeneous mixture of solute and solvent. When the solvent
is water, the solution is called aqueous. The dissolved species is characterized by different types
of concentration.

I.4. Concentration of a dissolved species

I.4.1. Molarity (mol/L).

It is equal to the quotient of the quantity of material of A dissolved by the volume V of

solution. CM = n moles of solute / V solution

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General and organic chemistry courses Dr. Ouksel Louiza

I.4.2. Mass concentration (g/L)

It is equal to the ratio of the mass m (in g) of dissolved solute by the volume V (in l) of
solution Cm = m solute (g) / V solution (l)

I.4.3. Mole fraction

Is the ratio of the quantity of material of compound (i) in moles contained in a certain
volume of solution divided by the sum of the quantities of material of all the constituents i,j…
present in this volume of solution. Xi = ni (mole) /Σ ni,j (mole).

Example:

We have an aqueous solution of ethanol, we can calculate the mole fraction of each
constituent of this solution. X ethanol = n ethanol / (n ethanol + n H2O).

I.4.4. Molality

It corresponds to the quantity of material of X for 1Kg of solvent. This concentration

unit is very rarely used. It is denoted by C molale.

I.4.5. Normality

The normality of an acidic or basic solution in water is defined as respectively the

number of moles of (Z) H+ or OH- ions likely to be released by one liter of solution.

Similarly, the oxidation-reduction normality of a solution corresponds to the number of

moles of electrons (Z) likely to be released by one liter of solution.

It is denoted by N and is calculated according to the following formula:

N = number of gram equivalents / V solution (L)

N = CM×Z

Z: depends on the nature of the solution.

CM: Molar concentration of the solution

✓ Acid solution: CH3COOH, Z=1, H2SO4 Z=2.

✓ Basic solution: NaOH, Z=1

✓ Salts: FeSO4 ↔ Fe 2+ + SO4 2- Z = |+2 × 1| or |-2 × 1|

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General and organic chemistry courses Dr. Ouksel Louiza

Redox normality: Z is the number of electrons exchanged between the reactive ions in the
solution.

I.4.6. Mass fraction (purity)

It is the ratio of the mass of a compound (solute) X, contained in a certain volume of

solution divided by the mass of the solution. For example, a 10% solution of X contains 10g of
X per 100g of solution. % mass = (m solute / m solution) × 100

I.4.7. Volume percentage

It is the ratio of the volume of compound (solute) X divided by the volume of the
solution.

% Volume= (V solute ⁄ solution) ×100

I.4.8. Volumic mass ρ

Is the mass per unit volume of a substance, i.e. the mass m of a substance of volume V.

Ρ = m solution ⁄ V solution

With:

m: is the mass in Kg, g.

V: is the volume in m3, l or cm3

Then ρ is expressed in kg/m3, g/l or g/cm3.

I.4.9. Density

The density of a substance is defined relative to that of water.

d substance = ρ substance ⁄ ρ solvent
The two densities being expressed in the same unit, it follows that the density
is a dimensionless number.
For gases, the density is calculated with respect to the density of air.
d gas = ρ gas ⁄ρ air

The density of air is low (1.2 kg/m3 at sea level at 20°C) compared to that of water (1000 kg/m3
at 20°C).

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General and organic chemistry courses Dr. Ouksel Louiza

I.5. Dilution of an aqueous solution

The dilution of an aqueous solution consists in reducing its concentration by adding

solvent (water). The initial solution of higher concentration is called stock solution. The final
solution of lower concentration is called the daughter solution (dilute solution). During a
dilution, there is conservation of the quantity of matter of solute so that one can write:
ni = nf Ci ×Vi= Cf ×Vf

With:

ni: Quantity of initial material relative to the stock solution.

nf: Quantity of final material relative to the daughter solution (diluted).

V: Volume.

C: Concentration.

Example:

We have 100 ml of aqueous solution of diode I2 with a concentration of 5.10-2 mol. l-1.
What volume of stock solution should be used to produce 50 mL of diluted iodine solution with
a concentration of 1.10-2 mol. l-1?
I.5.1. Dilution in biology

Dilutions are carried out in many cases, for example:

a) Dosage reaction for a protein: albumin using a standard range. The standard range is a
dilution series to be carried out from a stock albumin solution (reference) of known
concentration.

b) Blood count: We take a small volume of fresh blood, dilute it 1/100 in physiological water.
We take some of this dilution and count the blood cells under a microscope.

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