Some facts about chemistry

CHEMISTRY

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INTRODUCTION

Chemistry is the science which deals with materials, their properties and the transformations they undergo. So chemistry is the study of the composition and properties of matter, their changes, the conditions under which such changes take place, and the energy changes which accompany them.

Chemistry is concerned with the nature of fire and the structure of water, it deals with colours, catalysis and crystal structure, with physical properties and chemical reactivity.

Chemistry is one of the fundamental sciences. It plays an important part in the development of biochemistry, physics, geo­logy and many other fields of science. Chemistry’s origin goes back to ancient times, with the manufacture of bronze, iron, ceramics, glass.

Everyone now understands the importance of chemistry. The future of chemistry is practically unlimited. Rapid development of chemical industry will make it possible to create many new goods, machines, plastics, polymers; it will help to under­stand many new phenomena.

In your study of chemistry you will learn many things about substances, compounds, materials, chemical and physical changes, chemical properties, reactions and many other interesting and important things. It is to be remembered that:

1. Chemistry is the study of substances, their structure, properties, and their reactions.

2. Matter exists as solids, liquids, or gases.

3. Homogeneous material is material with the same properties throughout.

4. Heterogeneous material is material consisting of parts with different properties.

5. Compound is a substance that can be decomposed into two or more substances.

6. Substance is a homogeneous species of matter with defi­nite chemical composition.

7. Chemical reactions are the processes that convert substances into other substances.

8. Alloy is a metallic material containing two or more ele­ments.

Words to be remembered:

to deal with heterogeneous

to undergo chemical composition

origin to convert

rapid alloy

compound to contain

homogeneous

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SOME FACTS ABOUT CHEMISTRY

The science of chemistry deals with substances. Chemistry is the investigation and discussion of the properties of substances.

Common examples of substances are: water, sugar, salt, copper, iron and many others.

Chemists study substances in order to learn as much as they can about their properties and about the reactions that change them into other substances. This knowledge is very important as it can make the world a better place to live in, it сan make people happier, it can raise their standard of living.

Chemists discovered many laws, investigated many important phenomena in life. They produced many artificial substances which have valuable properties.

Chemistry has two main aspects: descriptive chemistry, the discovery of chemical facts, and theoretical chemistry, the formulation of theories.

The broad field of chemistry may also be divided in other ways. An important division of chemistry is that into the branches of organic chemistry and inorganic chemistry.

Organic chemistry is the chemistry of the compounds of carbon that occur in plants and animals.

Inorganic chemistry is the chemistry of the compounds of ele­ments other than carbon. Both of these branches of chemistry is in part descriptive and in part theoretical.

Analytical chemistry deals with the methods of separation. Synthetic chemistry deals with the methods by which complex bo­dies can be built from simpler substances. Physical chemistry deals with changes of state and with the motions of molecules. But at present time the scientists don’t maintain this defini­tion.

The discovery of X-rays, an electron, and radioactivity mark­ed a new era in all sciences and in chemistry. It was a very important discovery in science. It plays an important part in the development of geology and physiology, in technology and engineering.

Chemistry deals with medicine and agriculture as they are all concerned with the properties and changes of chemical sub­stances.

Words to be remembered:

investigation separation

in order to motion

phenomena to be concerned with

artificial carbon compounds

division

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SOME FACTS ABOUT ATOMS (I)

An atom may be spoken of as the smallest particle of any substance. If atoms cannot be seen it does not necessarily mean that they do not exist. It indicates that any particle, if pre­sent, must be extremely small. There are methods by means of which the sizes of atoms and their arrangement in molecules can be determined. One of these methods uses X-ray diffraction.

The results of a number of investigations show that when atoms are in contact with other atoms in molecules, their ra­dius is as much as 0,1· m(0,1nm).

Some idea of how small atoms are can be obtained by imagin­ing one million copper atoms / radius = 0,13· m (0,13 nm). If these copper atoms are stacked one on the top of the other, the pile will be as high as the full stop at the end of this sentence.

In the course of many investigations, chemists came to a conclusion that the atoms of different elements are all made essentially of three simple types of units, which were referred to as protons, neutrons, and electrons.

The following diagram shows us the constituents of the atoms. Atoms contain the following structural units:

Electrons Protons Neutrons

Charge –1, Charge +1, Zero charge,

very small relative relative mass 1 relative mass 1

mass

Notes on the text:

a full stop - точка in the course of - в ходе, процессе

Words to be remembered:

particle by means of

necessary arrangement

to mean conclusion

to indicate constituent

extremely charge

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SOME FACTS ABOUT ATOMS (II)

The position and numbers of these structural units in an atom is shown below:

Electrons fill the space around nucleus. Number of electrons = Atomic number. Very small nucleus. Number of protons = Atomic number. Number of protons + Number of neut­rons = Relative atomic mass.

The numbers of electrons, protons, and neutrons in an atom of an element can be calculated if the atomic number and rela­tive atomic mass of the element are known:

Number of electrons + Number of protons = Atomic number of element.

Number of protons + Number of neutrons =Relative atomic mass of element.

It was also found that many elements and compounds are com­posed of small numbers of atoms which are held together in a regular arrangement. These groups of atoms are referred to as molecules. The gas hydrogen, for example, is composed of pairs of hydrogen atoms and each pair is called a molecule and its formula is H2.

Another example is the compound carbon dioxide which is com­posed of molecules, the formula is CO2.

Words to be remembered:

space to be composed of

nucleus hydrogen

relative carbon dioxide

calculate

Note on the text:

regular arrangement - упорядоченное расположение

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THE ATOMIC MODEL

The electron, the proton, and the neutron gather together into what can be called the atom.

Our concept of the atom derives from a series of observati­ons. As a result of these observations, we now believe that an atom is composed of a cloud of electrons that revolve about a central core of protons or of protons plus neutrons. Repeated experiments, which were referred to above, show that every atom has the same number of electrons as well as protons. The positively charged protons form the nucleus of the atom, and balance the positive charges of the protons in the core of the atom. The neutrons are also found in the nucleus of the atom. The neutrons are also found in the nucleus of the atom.

An atom has already been spoken of as the smallest unit of an element. It is known that ninety-two elements occur in nature, and a number of others have been made by man in the laboratory. Every element is a special combination of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Each element is identified by the number of protons in its nucleus and is designated by a name and a symbol.

Element Number 1 is a combination of one proton and one electron. Long before its atomic structure was known, this ele­ment was referred to as hydrogen, or "water-former", because water forms when hydrogen burns in air. Its symbol is H. Hydro­gen has the first place in the list of elements because it has one proton in its nucleus. Element 1 is followed by Element Number 2. It consists of two protons and two electrons. It was named he­lium, with the symbol He.

Words to be remembered:

concept to identify

revolve to designate

core to refer to

as well as to burn

to balance to occur

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THE NATURE OF CERAMICS

What is ceramics? Can this question be answered? Essentially it is defined as a combination of one or more definite metals with a non-metallic element, usually oxygen. The comparatively large oxygen atoms serve as a matrix with the small metal atoms. The main characteristics of the construction of ceramic crystals is that the atoms are linked by bonds that are primarily ionic
but also to a significant extent covalent. These bonds are re­sponsible for the stability and strength of ceramic materials. In the combination of oxygen atoms with metal atoms the ionic bonds are particularly strong. It should be noted that each oxy­gen atom with two electronic vacancies in its outer shell bor­rows two electrons from its metal neighbours, thus both kinds of atoms become highly ionized - one negatively, the other po­sitively.

As highly oxidized compounds the ceramics are strongly re­sistant to attack by nearly all chemicals. This accounts for many of their uses, even the making of steel depends on the use of ceramics.

A lot of analyses have been made by chemists. They found that the principal elements, for instance, in natural clays were oxy­gen, silicon, and aluminium. They form the compounds known as aluminosilicates.

But a giant step forward in ceramic science came when crys­tal structures were analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction. It has been found that in the construction of ceramic materials much depends on how the atoms are stacked.

Words to be remembered:

to define outer

definite resistant

bond neighbour

significant silicon

to be responsible for to find cut

particularly

Notes on the texts:

it should be noted - необходимо отметить

to account for - объяснять

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CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS

With few exceptions, construction materials are solid materials or hardened into solid materials. Solid materials can be grouped into three fundamental types: ceramics, metals and organics. The ceramic materials are rock or clay minerals, or are compounded from such minerals. Examples are: sand, limestone, glass, brisk, cement, gypsum, etc. These are materials which are dug from the earth’s crust. Since they are extracted from the earth, they are relatively inexpensive as compared to me­tals or the organic materials. The ceramics have been used as building materials since ancient times.

Silicate materials include glass, porcelain, enamel and cement. Ordinary glass is a mixture of silicates in the form of su­percooled liquid. It is made by melting a mixture of sodium carbonate (or sodium sulphate), limestone and sand.

Ordinary glass contains about 10% sodium, 5%calcium, and 1% aluminium, the remainder is silicon and oxygen. It consists of an aluminosilicate tetrahedral framework, within which are embedded sodium ions and calcium ions.

Portland cement is an aluminosilicate powder which sets to a solid mass on treatment with water and consists of a mixture of calcium silicates and calcium aluminate. When treated with water the calcium aluminate hydrolyzes and forms calcium hydro­xide and aluminium hydroxide. These substances react further with the calcium silicates and produce calcium aluminosilicates in the form of crystals.

Words to be remembered:

exception limestone

solid porcelain

to harden enamel

rock sand

clay sodium

to extract hydroxide

Notes on the text:

tetrahedral – тетраэдрический

framework – каркас, конструкция, остов

portland cement - портландцемент

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