Fundamentals of Chemistry - Study Material and Solved Assignments

Running head: FUNDAMENTALS OF CHEMISTRY 1
Fundamentals of Chemistry
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FUNDAMENTALS OF CHEMISTRY 2
Fundamentals of Chemistry
Question 1
Matter is anything that has mass and occupies space. It has both physical and chemical
properties. Physical properties occur without the change of the substance. For example, density.
On the other side, chemical properties result to change of the original content through a chemical
reaction. Additionally, matter is composed of tiny and discrete fundamental particles known as
atoms.
Matter is composed of either pure substances such as elements or compounds and mixtures
(uniform and non-uniform). Matter exists in three physical states. Solids are substances with a
“fixed shape and volume, liquids fixed volume but take the shape of the container.” On the
contrary, gases have no shape and no fixed volume and are compressible.
Regarding states, heating or cooling changes the states of most substances. The common states
include: melting, boiling and freezing.
Question 2
An atom refers to the “smallest particle of an element that can exist” whereas an element refers
to a substance that consists of only one kind of atoms.
A molecule refers to “a group of atoms bonded together, representing the smallest unit of a
chemical compound that can take part in a chemical reaction” whereas a “compound is a
substance with two or more elements chemically bonded.”