FUNDAMENTAL CHEMISTRY

As we all know, the study of chemistry deals with the study of chemical
substances, their composition and different chemical reactions. All these
substances are made up of matter and the fundamental unit of matter is
Atom.
An atom is the basic unit of matter. The atom constitutes the smallest particle of
an element.
Element
An element is a substance made up of one kind of atoms. Ex: carbon, hydrogen.
Discovery of atom
John Dalton(1808) :
In the early 18
th
century , Dalton observed that Matter is made up of tiny
particles called atoms . Atoms are indivisible and cannot be created or destroyed.
Atoms of the same element are identical in all respect. He called this theory as
ATOMIC THEORY.
J.J. THOMSON(1897) :
By the end of 18
th
century i.e, in 1897, Thomson conducted some experiments in
lab and studied Structure of atom and concluded that- Atoms are indivisible and
atoms contain negatively charged particles. He called these particles as
Electrons.
Goldstein (1900) :
Soon after 3 years i.e, in 1900 ,Goldstein further studied the structure of an
atom and stated that: since all atoms contain negatively charged particles then
there must be positively charged particle in them. He named these positively
charged particles as Protons .
E.Rutherford(1911):
It took nearly 11 years after Goldstein i.e, in 1911, Rutherford came up with
Atomic model. Rutherford proposed that atoms contain centrally located
Nucleus. The positive charge is in the central nucleus .The electrons revolve
round the nucleus.
J.Chadwick (1932):
After a long time Chadwick in the year 1932, studied the subatomic particles and
concluded that atoms contain subatomic particles which are electrons and
protons. In the nucleus are present neutral particles called Neutrons. These
neutrons do not posses any charge. They are electrically neutral.
N. Bohr(1940) :
Soon after 8 years. i.e, 1940 Bohr visualized the Modern concept and stated that
atoms consists of a central nucleus containing protons- positively charged and
neutrons no charge. Electrons revolve around the nucleus in different shells or
orbits which are imaginary paths surrounding the nucleus.
These were some of the important discoveries made by great scientists.
Elements, Molecules and Compound
An Element is a substance made up of one kind of atoms. The atoms
constitute the smallest particle of an element.
Ex: O atom + O atom O
2
oxygen element

The elements discovered so far are about 120. These elements are
arranged according to their increasing atomic numbers in a table called the
Modern periodic table.
Atomic number of an element: is the number of protons present in the
nucleus of an atom. (number of protons is equal to the number of electrons)
Molecule : atoms of same element or different element combine to form a
molecule. A molecule is the smallest particle of a substance that can
normally exist independently.
E x:- H atom +H atom H
2
hydrogen molecule
C atom + O atoms(2) CO
2
carbon-dioxide molecule
Compound: atoms or molecules of different elements combine to form a
compound. The elements in a compound are chemically in a fixed
proportion.
Ex: Zn(zinc atom) + S (sulphur atom) ZnS(zinc sulphide compound)
H
2
(hydrogen molecule)+O
2
(oxygen molecule) H
2
O(water compound)

REPRESENTATION OF ELEMENTS: SYMBOL

SYMBOL- An atom of any element is denoted by a symbol. A symbol is the
short form or abbreviated name of the element. A symbol distinguishes one
element from the other and is characteristic of that element only. It
denotes one atom of that element. Ex:
Metals : aluminum Al, iron Fe , gold- Au ,silver- Ag
Non-metals: carbon- C , phosphorus P , hydrogen H
Inert gases : helium He, Neon Ne ,argon- Ar

How is a symbol represented?
John Dalton (1807) came up with the idea of representing the elements by
figurative symbols. This method was discarded because it was tedious and
non-practical.
Berzelius (1814) proposed the idea of representation of elements by First
two letters of the name of the element. Ex:Hydrogen-H symbol.
this method was not approved completely as two elements can have the
same first letter.
Representation of elements by First two letters of the name of element.
Ex: magnesium-Mg, Calcium Ca, Cobalt Co.
This method was accepted but not completely because large number of
symbols could be written in this manner.
Finally a method of representing elements by derivation of elements from
their Latin names was accepted completely.
SOME IMPORTANT ELEMENTS AND RADICALS AND THEIR SYMBOLS
Metallic elements Non-metallic elements Radicals
Potassium[K] Hydrogen[H] Bicarbonate[HCO
3
]
Aluminium[Al] Nitrogen[N] Bisulphite[HSO
3
]
Magnesium[Mg] Phosphorus[P] Bisulphate[HSO
4
]
Sodium[Na] Bromine[Br] Sulphite[SO
3
]
Copper[Cu] Silicon[S] Sulphate[SO
4
]
Mercury[Hg] Sulphur[S] Nitrate[NO
3
]
Iron[Fe] Carbon[C] Hydroxide[OH]
Gold[Au] Helium[He] Phosphate[PO
4
]
Lead[Pb] Chlorine[Cl] Carbonate[CO
3
]
Silver[Ag] Oxygen[O]
Tin[Sn] Boron[B]
Zinc[Zn] Fluorine[F]

CHEMICAL FORMULA:- It is the representation of a substance like element
or a compound by means of symbols. Chemical formula denotes the
number of atoms of each element present in a compound.

SUBSTANCE SYMBOLS NO. OF ATOMS
IN COMPOUND
CHEMICAL
FORMULA
Potassium
chloride
Potassium[K],chloride
[Cl]
1 atom of K,1
atom of Cl
KCl
water Hydrogen[H],oxygen[O] 2 atom of H,
1 atom of O
H
2
O
Ammonia Nitrogen[N],hydrogen[H] 1 atom of N,
3 atom of H
NH
3

Hydrochloric
acid
Hydrogen[H],chlorine[Cl] 1 atom of H,1
atom of Cl
HCl


For writing a chemical formula the symbols of the elements should be
known and the valency of the elements should be known.
VALENCY:
In chemistry valence, also known as valency or valence number, is the number
of valence bonds a given atom has formed, or can form, with one or more other
atoms. For most elements the number of bonds can vary.
The IUPAC definition limits valence to the maximum number of univalent atoms
that may combine with the atom that is the maximum number of valence bonds
that is possible for the given element.
The valence of an element depends on the number of valence electrons that may
be involved in the forming of valence bonds.