Chemistry 

● science that examines the properties (physical and chemical), composition, structure, 
and changes in matter together with the energy involved 
● study of very small things (microscopic) in order to understand big things (macroscopic) 
● the central science (at the heart of many public concerns such as improvement of health 
care, conservation of natural resources, protection of environment, energy supply) 
 
 
GRAPHITE  DIAMOND 

soft   

opaque   

planar structure   

3 covalent bonds around 1 carbon atom   

   
 
 
Scientific Method 
● process of experimentation and reasoning that starts from observation to the 
construction of unifying principles for explanation and prediction 
● Steps: 
○ Make observations 
○ Identify problem 
○ Formulate hypothesis 
○ Perform experiments 
○ Gather and analyze data 
○ Make conclusions 
 
Types of Data 
Qualitative data 
● general observations about the system 
Quantitative data 
● comprising of numbers obtained by various measurements of the system 
 
Hypothesis 
● an educated guess to explain an observation 
● a possible solution or explanation to the problem 
● tentative assumption 
● some call this the “model” 
 
Experiments 
● when you control variables, you perform an experiment 
● carried out to test the hypothesis 
● involves data/information gathering 
● processes or procedures involved should be ​reproducible 
 
Analysis of Data 
● carefully analyze the data obtained by considering the raw and processed data 
● tabulate or make a graph representation of the processed data obtained 
● look for a similar study for reference of data gathered 
 
Conclusion 
● a conclusive statement based on the data gathered 
● a recommendation of the scope of the study is limited 
● when the hypotheses agree with various observations obtained, formulate a THEORY 
 
Theory 
● a set of tested hypotheses that gives an overall explanation of the same phenomenon 
● interpretation or possible explanations 
● changes eventually as more information become available 
● attempts to explain observed natural behaviors 
● can be proven wrong 
 
Scientific Law 
● a pattern of consistency in observation of natural phenomena 
● a verbal or mathematical statement which relates a series of observations consistently 
observed 
● a verbal or mathematical statement of a relationship that is always true under certain 
circumstances 
● no need for explanations, just observations 
 
Matter 
● physical material of the universe 
● anything that occupies space and has mass 
 

 
 
Some Physical Separation Techniques 
Distillation 
 ● purification of a liquid by heating it to its boiling point, causing ​vaporization​, and then 
condensing the vapors into the liquid state and collecting the liquid 
● Separation of two or more liquids requires that they have different​ boiling temperatures 
Extraction 
● removal of one substance from a mixture because of its greater ​solubility​ in a given 
solvent 
Filtration 
● process of removing or “straining” a solid from a liquid by the use of filter paper or 
other porous material 
● Whatman filter paper 
Decantation 
● pouring​ of a liquid from a solid-liquid mixture, leaving the solid behind. It allows a 
mixture of solid and liquid or two immiscible liquids to separate by ​gravity 
Centrifugation 
● process of separating a suspended solid from a liquid by whirling the mixture at a high 
speed 
Sublimation 
● physical property of some substances to pass directly from the solid state to the 
gaseous state without the appearance of a liquid state 
● Not all substances possess this characteristic 
● Iodine (I​2​), naphthalene (C​10​H​8​), ammonium chloride (NH​4​Cl, and dry ice (solid CO​2​) 
Chromatography 
● process of separating a mixture by the distribution of the components between two 
phases, one phase being stationary and the other phase moving 
 
Types of Mixture 
Homogeneous mixture 
● composition of the mixture is the same throughout 
Heterogeneous mixture 
● composition is not uniform 
 
Types of Pure Substances 
Element 
● substance that cannot be separated into simpler substances by chemical means 
Compound 
● substance composed of atoms of two or more elements chemically united in fixed 
proportions