STUDY GUIDE 1

CHEMISTRY AND SOCIETY

Spring 2007

For the first examination, you should be able to:

  1. use critical thinking skills in analyzing problems
  2. explain these terms as applied to the development of scientific ideas:  hypotheses, deductions, laws, theories, correlation, causation, falsification
  3. understand the difference between homogeneous (solutions) and heterogeneous mixtures and the difference between pure elements and pure compounds, giving examples.
  4. understand the principles underlying methods to separate the components of mixtures into pure substances; explain methods used to separate mixtures, including filtration, distillation, paper chromatography.
  5. understand the differences between chemical and physical reactions.
  6. explain our modern concepts of atoms (protons, neutrons, and electrons), the difference between molecules, atom, ions, molecular ions.
  7. given the atomic number, determine the number of protons, electrons, and neutrons in an atom.
  8. explain how the structure of the periodic table, and the reactivity of elements in groups in the table is determined by the arrangement of elements' electrons into shells.
  9. explain the different types of bonds (ionic, polar covalent, nonpolar covalent) between atoms or ions in molecules,
  10. determine the formal charge on an atom or ion, and determine if an atom in a covalent bond as a slight negative or positive charge
  11. draw the best Lewis structures for covalently bonded molecules and molecular (polyatomic) ions, showing the formal charge and presence of slight positive and negative charge on the atoms within the structure
  12. predict the geometry of the electrons clouds and of the atoms around the central atom of a molecule or molecular ion
  13. explain bond polarity and molecule polarity, and be able to predict their existence in a given molecule.
  14. identify and explain the different types of intermolecular forces (IMF) including ion..ion, dipole..dipole, H bond, and London forces
  15. explain how the strength of IMF affects boiling and melting points
  16. describe different types of solutions, their characteristics, and solubiility
  17. explain how solubility can be explained through IMF
  18. explain the difference between electrolytes and nonelectrolytes
  19. draw "cartoon" structures of simple lipids and use them to explain the solubility properties of lipids in water.
  20. explain how detergent micelles and bilayers form through IMF.
  21. identify precipitation reactions, and predict the products of precipitation reactions (such as for the reaction of NaCl (aq) and AgNO3(aq) using solubility rules.
  22. define an acid and a base, identify acid/base reactions, and predict the products of that reaction.
  23. explain the differences between strong and weak acids. 
  24. know three strong acids and two strong bases; know one weak acid and one weak base;
  25. draw a mechanism to show how water reacts with acids and bases;
  26. define oxidation, reduction, oxidizing agent, reducing agent, and oxidation numbers.
  27. identify redox reactions and assign oxidation numbers to all atoms in the equation.