Chapter3—20110308.pptVIP

Chapter 3 Matter, Element, Compound and Mixture;If you’re planning to be an engineer, you can be sure that many of the materials you will work with have been synthesized by chemists. Some of these materials are organic (carbon-containing).;They could be familiar plastics like polyethylene or the more esoteric plastics used in unbreakable windows and nonflammable clothing. Other materials, including metal alloys, semiconductors, and superconductors, are inorganic in nature.;Perhaps you are a health science major, looking forward to a career in medicine or pharmacy. If so, you will want to become familiar with the properties of aqueous solutions, which include blood and other body fluids.;Chemists have made many life-saving products over the past few decades. These range from drugs used in chemotherapy to new antibiotics used against resistant microorganisms.;Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. It exists in three phases: solid, liquid, and gas. A solid has a rigid shape and a fixed volume. ;A liquid has a fixed volume but is nor rigid in shape; it takes on the shape of the container. A gas has neither a fixed volume nor a rigid shape; it takes on both the volume and the shape of the container.;Matter can be classified into two categories: pure substances are either elements or compounds, while mixtures can be either homogeneous or heterogeneous (see Figure 1-3-1).;matter;An element is a type of matter which cannot be broken down into two or more pure substances. Many elements are familiar to all of us.;The charcoal used in outdoor grills is nearly pure carbon. Electrical wiring, jewelry, and water pipes are often made from copper, a metallic element.;Another such element, aluminum, is used in many household utensils. The shiny liquid in the thermometers you use is still another metallic element, mercury.;Some elements come in and out of fashion, so to speak. Fifty years ago, elemental silicon was a chemical curiosity.;Today, ultrapure silicon has bec